Optical Illusion: Can You Find The Hidden '10' In The Circles of 100?

Optical illusions have a way of stopping us mid-scroll, nudging our brains to slow down and really look. And the latest viral puzzle—“Can You Find the Hidden ‘10’ in a Sea of 100s?”—is doing exactly that.

At first glance, the image appears to be an endless grid of identical black-and-white circles, each stamped with a neat “100.” But somewhere inside this hypnotic pattern, one solitary “10” sits quietly, waiting to be discovered.What makes this illusion so fascinating is how confidently our minds assume uniformity. When dozens of repeating symbols are placed together, the brain starts grouping them rather than analysing them individually. It’s a protective mechanism: efficiency over precision. But this illusion plays on that very instinct. The challenge?To slow down enough to override that autopilot mode.Experts say puzzles like this are more than just online distractions, they’re simple cognitive workouts. Searching for anomalies boosts visual scanning abilities, improves concentration, and even gives a small dopamine kick when you finally spot the odd one out. These illusions also highlight why eyewitnesses can miss obvious details and why our brains sometimes trick us into seeing what we expect rather than what’s actually there.In this puzzle, the trick lies in maintaining visual patience. The repetitive circles lull the eyes, making it easy to skim past the one element that breaks the pattern. The hidden “10” has the same shape, same circle, same colour palette, nothing about it screams for attention. That’s why most people overlook it on the first few attempts.

If you look closely enough, though, you’ll eventually notice a slight shift in the visual rhythm somewhere around the centre-left portion of the image. One circle doesn’t align with the rest, not in design, but in its number. And that’s the subtle thrill of it: the illusion teaches you to look where your brain thinks there’s nothing to see.These trending visual puzzles may seem simple, but they tap into deep cognitive behaviour. They remind us that attention is a skill, not a default setting. And in a world overflowing with information, training the mind to focus, even if only to find a tiny “10” lost in a forest of 100s, might be more useful than we think.