Memory Games Online: Card Matching, Sequences and Patterns
Updated
Memory games online ask you to remember where something was or in what order it happened. The classic is card matching: flip two cards, keep them if they match, turn them back if they do not, and clear the board. Others show you a sequence, a path or a shape, hide it, and ask you to repeat it. Below are the kinds, with games from the memory games collection.
Kinds of memory games
| Kind | What you remember | Try first |
|---|---|---|
| Card matching | Where each picture is on a grid of face-down cards | Memory Master |
| Look first, then match | A full board you see for a moment before it flips | Memory Mystery |
| Sequence | An order of lights, sounds or moves | Baby Repeater |
| Path and shape | A route or a pattern that disappears | PondHero |
| Two players | The cards your opponent turns as well as your own | Mischievous Pairs |
How card matching works
Card matching is an old card game, known as Concentration, Memory, Pairs or Pelmanism. According to Wikipedia's article on Concentration, all cards lie face down and each turn you flip two face up. A match is yours to keep, and with several players you go again; no match, and both cards turn back face down and the turn passes. With several players the most pairs wins; played alone, the aim is to clear the board in the fewest turns.
Browser versions keep that core and add a clock, a move limit or stars.
- Memory Master has three boards: Easy is 4x4, Medium is 4x6 and Hard is 6x6. Clear the board in the fewest moves for a 3-star rating.
- Find Pair: Attention Memory limits the number of moves on each level. A hint shows all the cards for a few seconds.
- The Best Memory has no time limit, but the faster you finish, the better the result.
- Fruit Memory Extravaganza has 6 levels against the clock, each faster than the last.
- MemoPlay matches sports items over 3 difficulty levels with 10+ stages each, and no time limits.
- PairScape pairs vegetable and flower tiles over more than 100 levels.
The board size tells you how much there is to remember: a 4x4 grid holds 8 pairs, 4x6 holds 12 and 6x6 holds 18.
Habits that clear the board in fewer flips
- Sweep in order. On the first pass, flip cards row by row. You always know which cards you have not seen yet.
- Match before you explore. When your first card shows a picture you have already seen, flip its partner straight away.
- Explore with the second card. When your first card is new, turn over an unseen card next, not one you already know. Even a miss then shows you something new.
- Name what you see. "Banana, top left" in your head is easier to hold than a picture.
- Use hints late. In Find Pair: Attention Memory a hint shows every card for a few seconds, which helps most when only a few pairs you have not seen are left.
Sequence and path games
These games show you something once and ask you to repeat it exactly.
- Baby Repeater plays a sequence of lights and sounds, and you repeat it for as long as you can. It is the same idea as Simon, the electronic memory game from 1978 described on Wikipedia, where each round adds one more step.
- Halloween Remembers shows a sequence of moving pumpkins, and you reproduce it from memory.
- PondHero shows a safe path across a pond, then hides it; you guide the frog along the same route. One wrong step and you try again, over 40+ levels.
- Memorize and Repeat the Shape draws a pattern of connected dots for a short time. When it disappears, you connect the dots to draw it again. Later levels add more lines, a bigger grid and diagonals.
For sequences, break the run into groups of three or four, the way you would remember a phone number. For paths and shapes, trace the route with your eyes while it is still on screen, and say the turns to yourself: up, up, right.
Memory games for two
Mischievous Pairs has a local two-player mode. You keep your turn by finding a match before a 10-second timer ends, and a surprise Shuffle Time moves the cards around. Alone, you match pairs or triples across hundreds of levels, with coins for hints and time refills.
Alien Memory matches aliens, spaceships and cosmic symbols, and its description invites you to play with friends to see who remembers more.
When you play against someone, watch their flips as closely as your own. Every card they turn over shows you a position too, and a miss by them can hand you a pair.
Card matching with a twist
- Memory Mystery shows the cards face up for a short time before they turn over, so the first look counts.
- Math Pair Pop never puts two equal numbers on the board; you match each card N with the card that shows N-1+1.
- Mythiq matches dragons, phoenixes, griffins and other legendary creatures, with new twists as the levels go on.
- Pixel Car Memory Quest matches pixel-art cars two cards at a time.
- Boomix, PyroPairs and SweetFlip are quick boards with a time limit or a score for speed.
If you like looking closely at a picture, the same attention works in hidden object games; see hidden object games tips. Other thinking games are in brain games and puzzles.
Memory games FAQ
What is the card matching game called?
Concentration, also known as Memory, Pairs, Matching Pairs or Pelmanism. All cards start face down, you flip two per turn, and matching pairs stay up.
How many pairs are on a memory board?
Half the number of cards. Memory Master's 4x4 board has 8 pairs, its 4x6 board 12 pairs and its 6x6 board 18 pairs.
Can two people play a memory game together?
Yes. Mischievous Pairs has a local two-player mode with a 10-second timer for each turn.
Do memory games work on a phone?
Yes. The games above are played with a tap or a click, and the site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer.
More boards, sequences and pairs are in the memory games collection.
