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Brain Games · Memory
12 cards, 6 pairs. Find them all in as few moves as you can.
In short
The memory game is a card matching game. All cards lie face down; you turn two at a time, and a matching pair stays face up. You win by finding every pair in as few moves as you can. Here you can play the memory game online on 12 to 36 cards, alone or against a friend.
Below: the three modes, par for each board, the best strategy, and what the game says about memory and IQ.
How to play
Pick a mode at the top and press Start. You see your moves against par, the number of moves perfect memory would need, and you can send the same board to a friend.
Visual and spatial short-term memory.
How much you hold after one look.
A friendly match: who remembers more?
Your score
Par is how many moves a player with perfect memory needs on average: about 1.61 moves per pair (Velleman and Warrington 2013). Our own simulation of 40,000 games per board gives the same numbers.
| Board | Par (perfect memory) |
|---|---|
| 12 cards · 4 x 3 | 9.2 moves |
| 16 cards · 4 x 4 | 12.4 moves |
| 24 cards · 6 x 4 | 18.9 moves |
| 36 cards · 6 x 6 | 28.5 moves |
Your memory score is par divided by your moves, up to 100%. On a small board, luck matters more.
Strategy
This is how perfect memory plays, and the strategy par is based on.
Ways to play
Yes, the rules are the same. The memory card game uses a real deck laid face down. The online version shuffles for you, counts every move and shows how close you came to perfect memory.
Memory match, matching game, Concentration, Pairs and Pelmanism are all names for one game. Some versions use pictures, others numbers or colours. The skill is the same: remember where each card was.
Classic is the game everyone knows. Snapshot shows every card for a moment, then tests what you held. Two players share one screen and take turns, like the table game.
Bigger boards need more moves, even with perfect memory: about 1.6 moves per pair on any board. So par, not the raw count, is the fair way to compare a 12-card game with a 36-card one.
Adults and seniors
Memory games for adults and seniors are a calm workout for attention and short-term memory. But the evidence says practice mostly makes you better at the game itself, not at remembering names or where you left your keys.
Pick a board that stretches you: 24 or 36 cards in Classic, or Snapshot, which tests what you take in from one look. Aim to beat your own par rather than a clock.
As memory games for seniors go, this one is easy to start: your score counts moves, not seconds, and there is no signup. Two players turns it into a game to share with a grandchild.
A large review found that people improve on the games they practise, with little proof of wider gains (Simons and colleagues, 2016). Our article on whether brain training apps work looks at the longest trial.
Photographic memory
Snapshot is the closest thing here to a photographic memory test: every card shows for a moment, then you find the pairs from that one look. Most researchers doubt that true photographic memory exists in adults, so read it as how much you hold, not a yes or no.
On 16 cards, Snapshot shows each card for half a second: 8 seconds in all. Your score is the pairs you find without a single miss.
It tests visual short-term memory: where things were, after one look. Practice and a plan, such as scanning row by row, raise the score.
Our article on photographic memory and IQ covers what the studies found.
With real cards
Lay the cards face down in rows, then take turns turning two. A pair stays with you and you go again; the player with the most pairs at the end wins.
Start young children on 12 cards, then move up a board. Two players makes it a 2 player memory game to share at home, with no timer to rush anyone.
Concentration, Pairs, Pelmanism, Pexeso and Match Up are all the same game: find the pairs by turning two cards at a time.
Skills
Holding where each card sits on the board. It is the main skill this game uses.
Taking in every card as it turns over, even the ones that do not match.
Keeping several cards in mind at once. Tests such as the WAIS score working memory as its own index.
And IQ
A good memory helps, but it is only one part of IQ. Working memory, holding things in mind while you use them, is one of the five areas a modern IQ test reports. Visual-spatial skill is another.
The memory game uses both, yet it cannot give an IQ score on its own. Read memory and IQ, explained for the research, or take the IQ test to see your memory next to reasoning and speed.
The five areas of a modern IQ test
The five primary index areas of the WISC-V (children, 2014) and the WAIS-5 (adults, 2024). See WAIS-5 index scores explained.
FAQ
Turn over two cards at a time. Matching cards stay face up and the others turn back. Find all the pairs in as few moves as you can.
A player with perfect memory needs 12.4 moves on average on 16 cards (Velleman and Warrington 2013). Most people need more, because the first look at each card is luck. Your memory score shows how close you came: par divided by your moves.
Flip a card you have not seen yet. If you know where its partner is, take the pair; if not, flip another new card and remember both. Never spend a move on two cards you know do not match.
A slip is a miss you could have avoided: the partner of your first card had already been shown, but you turned a different card. Slips show memory lapses, not bad luck.
Concentration, Pairs, Pelmanism or simply a matching game. The rules are the same: find the pairs by turning two cards at a time.
It exercises visual and spatial short-term memory while you play. Practice mostly makes you better at this game; it does not raise your IQ.
Yes. Choose Two players: you take turns on one screen, a pair lets you go again and a miss passes the turn.
No game has been shown to prevent dementia. Memory games are a pleasant way to stay mentally active; if you are worried about your memory, talk to a doctor.
Yes. After a Classic game, send the link: your friend gets the very same cards in the same places and sees both scores.
Yes. Use the arrow keys to move between cards and Enter or the Space bar to turn one over. Each card is a button with its own label for screen readers.
Yes. It is free to play, with no signup, and your scores stay in your browser.
Sources
The full picture
Each game looks at one skill. The IQ test brings speed, reasoning and memory together in one score, with your percentile and a certificate.
