Memory Match guide
Memory Match tips: how to remember more cards and win
Memory Match is a game of remembering, but good players win by choosing which card to flip as much as by remembering. This page covers the rules as our board plays them, how to decide what to flip, a few ways to remember where everything is, and how the three computer levels behave.
Updated
The rules
The cards lie face down in a grid. On your turn you flip two cards, one after the other. If they show the same picture it's a pair: you keep them and you go again. If they don't match, they turn back over by themselves after a moment and it's your opponent's turn. The pictures are things like a puppy, a pizza slice or a rocket; if you'd rather have coloured shapes, pick Shapes under Cards on the game's menu.
The game ends when every card has been matched. Whoever has found the most pairs wins. If you each have the same number of pairs, it's a draw.
There are two boards. The 4 by 4 board has 16 cards, which is 8 pairs, and it's the default. The 6 by 6 board has 36 cards, which is 18 pairs, and it makes for a much longer game. You can play the computer, take turns on one screen, or send a friend an invite link and play from separate devices.
Which card to flip first
Before you flip anything, think about what you already know. If you've seen both cards of a pair earlier in the game and neither has been matched, flip one, then the other. It's a free pair and you go again.
If you don't know a pair, flip a card you haven't seen. That is the only flip that can teach you something. If it matches a card you saw earlier, you've found a pair with your second flip. If not, you've learned where one more card is.
The second flip: safe or risky?
This is where the game is won or lost. When your first card doesn't match anything you know, your second flip has two options. You can flip another new card, which could be the match, or flip a card you've already seen, which can't be.
A new card is a gamble. It might match your first card, but it's far more likely to show something new, and both of your new cards are now face up for your opponent to remember. Early in the game that's fine, because there's little to give away. Later, when many cards have been seen and few are still unknown, a new flip is more likely to hand your opponent a pair than to help you.
A safe flip is a card you've seen that doesn't match your first one. It reveals nothing new, your turn passes, and your opponent has to flip into the unknown. The rule of thumb: when at least as many unmatched cards have been seen as are still unseen, make a safe flip. The Hard computer plays this way.
How to remember where cards are
Say the position out loud or in your head as each card turns over: top row, second card, a puppy. Using rows and columns is much easier than trying to hold a picture of the whole grid.
Remember pairs of cards by place, not by picture. When you flip a card and its match is already known, you only need to remember one thing: where the other one is. And forget about cards you've matched. The number you have to hold in mind shrinks every time a pair is cleared.
Watch your opponent's flips as closely as your own. A card they turned over and missed is a card you now know. Many pairs are won by remembering what the other player revealed.
How the computer plays
There are three levels and they differ in how much they remember. Easy picks cards at random, and only about half of the time does it complete a pair it has seen. Medium takes a pair it knows about half of the time on its first flip, and when it turns a card whose partner it has seen it finds the partner a little over half the time. It forgets, so it loses pairs a careful player would take.
Hard never forgets a card it has seen, always completes a pair it knows, and makes a safe flip when a fresh card would probably hand you a pair. Against Hard, every card you reveal is a card it keeps for the rest of the game, so your best chance is to find pairs by luck early and to avoid giving it new cards late.
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It’s free in your browser, with no sign-up. Play Memory Match against the computer, with a friend on the same screen, or send a friend a link and play online. Or tap Quick match to play someone new.