How do you play a memory game?

All cards lie face down. You turn over two. If they show the same symbol, they stay open and you have a pair. If not, they turn back after a moment. You keep going until every pair is open.

What counts as a move?

Every time you turn over a second card, that is one move, whether or not it is a pair. The lowest possible score on a grid is the number of pairs: 8 on 4x4, 18 on 6x6 and 32 on 8x8.

Which grid should I start with?

Start with 4x4: 16 cards and 8 pairs, done in a few minutes. 6x6 has 36 cards and 8x8 has 64, with symbols that share a shape or a colour, so you have to look closer.

Only on your own device, as your best score per grid. Fewer moves count first; with the same number of moves the faster time wins. There is no account and nothing goes to a server.

Memory game

Pick a grid to start

Take the full Brain Check

A free memory matching game with three grids: 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8. Turn over two cards at a time and find every pair. The game counts your moves and your time and keeps your best score per grid on your own device.

How to play

Pick a grid and the cards are dealt face down. Tap or click a card to turn it over, then a second one. Two cards with the same symbol stay open. Two different cards turn back after just under a second, so take a good look before they flip. The clock starts with your first card and stops when the last pair is open. With a keyboard, Tab moves along the cards and Enter turns one over; every card has a label that names its symbol once it is open.

Three grids

4x4 has 16 cards and 8 pairs. 6x6 has 36 cards and 18 pairs. 8x8 has 64 cards and 32 pairs. The deck has 32 symbols: eight shapes (circle, square, triangle, star, heart, diamond, moon and plus) in four colours. A red star and a blue star are not a pair. On the small grid that rarely matters, but on 8x8 every shape appears in all four colours, so you need to remember both. Each game draws a new order, and on the smaller grids a new set of symbols as well.

Three ways to find pairs faster

Turn a new card first. When you do not know where the match of a symbol is, start your move with a card you have not seen. If it matches one you saw earlier, you can pick that one second and score a pair. If you start with a known card, you learn less.

Work in rows. Open new cards from left to right, row by row, instead of jumping around. Remembering “the green moon was third in the top row” is easier than remembering a spot somewhere in the middle.

Name what you see. Say the symbol and its place to yourself: “red heart, top right”. Words give you a second hook next to the picture, which helps on the big grid where similar shapes pile up.

How the score works

A move is two cards. The best you can do on a grid is one move per pair, which only happens with luck on the first cards. Your best score per grid is the one with the fewest moves; when two games have the same number of moves, the shorter time wins. You can share your score as a short line of text. There is no ranking against other players.

More games

If you want to test how many items you can hold in mind at once, try the memory test. For more puzzles, see the full list of brain games, or play sudoku. The Dutch version of this page is memory spelen, next to hoofdrekenen oefenen.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play a memory game?: All cards lie face down. You turn over two. If they show the same symbol, they stay open and you have a pair. If not, they turn back after a moment. You keep going until every pair is open.
What counts as a move?: Every time you turn over a second card, that is one move, whether or not it is a pair. The lowest possible score on a grid is the number of pairs: 8 on 4x4, 18 on 6x6 and 32 on 8x8.
Which grid should I start with?: Start with 4x4: 16 cards and 8 pairs, done in a few minutes. 6x6 has 36 cards and 8x8 has 64, with symbols that share a shape or a colour, so you have to look closer.
Is my score saved?: Only on your own device, as your best score per grid. Fewer moves count first; with the same number of moves the faster time wins. There is no account and nothing goes to a server.