Memory

A children's game of pairs by the pond. The cards are the same thirteen clay animals as Go Fish, dealt face down on a sandy mat in a grid; a pair is the same animal in the same frame (the warm frame or the blue one). Turn two cards; if they match they stay, if they do not they go back down. Clear the grid and the next level deals a bigger one, from twelve cards up to forty-eight.

How it plays

Tap a card to turn it. Tap a second; a miss shows for a moment before both go back, so look hard. One player plays against the move count and the clock: a level scores every pair in full when it takes no more moves than it has pairs, misses take a share, finishing quickly adds a little, and the points add up across the levels for the leaderboard. Two players take turns on one device, and a match keeps the turn, as it should; the one with more pairs takes the level.

Tips

A miss is not wasted if you remember both cards. Turn unseen cards first when you have no known pair, and when you find a card whose mate you have already seen, go straight to it. On the big grids, work in rows: the positions are easier to hold in your head than scattered cards.

For grown-ups

Memory and Go Fish are the two games on the site made for children. The grids grow gently, the two-player mode is for a child and a grown-up on one screen, and there is nothing to buy or sign up for.

Play Memory (free, in the browser; back to all games)