Pairs

Puzzle · plays in your browser, no download

Every shape is on two cards. Find them in as few turns as you can.

Where it comes from

The matching game played with any pack of cards face down on a table, and the only game in this collection that a four-year-old reliably beats an adult at. That is not politeness: it is a straight memory test, and memory for where things are peaks early.

How to play

Every animal is on two cards. Turn two over and find them.
Same animal: they stay face up. Different: they turn back.
You win when every card is face up.
A bigger board means more pairs to hold in your head: three, four or five columns.

What makes this one different

What counts is not finishing, it is how few turns it took — the red number is this game and the yellow one your best, which is the only score worth keeping. A bigger board is not more work, it is more cards to hold in your head at once: three columns, four, or five.

Matched cards stay face up and the rest turn back, so every pair you miss is still information you can use. A wrong guess is never wasted unless you forget what it showed you — which is the entire game, and the reason the score is turns rather than time.

▶ Play Pairs