Free Games How to play Memory Match
Memory Match, sometimes called Concentration, Pairs or Pelmanism, is a game of remembering. The board begins with all the cards face down. Behind those cards are matching pairs of pictures: two sunflowers, two stars, two apples and so on. You have to find every pair.
- Turn over one card to see the picture on it.
- Turn over a second card and see if it matches the first.
- If the two pictures match, the pair stays face up with a green frame and a checkmark. That pair is done.
- If they don’t match, both cards turn back over after a moment. Try to remember where they were for next time.
Keep going until every pair is matched. There is nothing to add up. To play here, tap or click a card to turn it over, or move with the arrow keys and press Enter or the space bar. Choose Easy (12 cards), Medium (20 cards) or Hard (24 cards) using the three big buttons at the top. Press New game for a fresh shuffle, or Restart this board to turn the same cards back down and try again.
Why this Memory Match is easy to play
Large, high-contrast cards
The cards and their pictures are big and bold by default, and you can make them even bigger with the A− and A+ buttons at the top of the page. Prefer crisp black on white? Turn on High contrast. Whatever you choose is saved automatically, so the site looks the way you like it every time you visit.
Pictures you can always tell apart
Every card uses a clearly different picture, and each one also has a spoken name (“Sunflower”, “Bird”, “Star”, “Moon”), so you are never asked to tell two cards apart by colour. A matched pair is marked three ways at once: it stays face up, it gains a green border, and it shows a checkmark. That way the signal is clear whether or not you see colour well.
Moves are counted, not timed
The game counts your moves, but only so you can try to beat your own best. You can ignore the count and think for as long as you want.
Forgetting where a card is
Can’t remember where a card’s twin is? Press the large Hint button. It briefly reveals one matching pair, tells you exactly where both cards sit (“the two Sunflower cards are at row 2, column 1 and row 3, column 4”), and then hides them again so you can turn them over yourself.
Start fresh whenever you like
The Restart this board button turns the same cards face down again so you can replay the layout you just saw, and New game deals a brand-new shuffle.
Play with a keyboard or screen reader
You don’t need a mouse. Use the arrow keys to move from card to card, press Enter or the space bar to turn a card over, and press H for a hint. Each card announces its position and what is on it, and every change (a match, a near miss, a win) is read aloud in plain language.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this Memory Match really free?
- Yes. Every game is completely free to play, with no sign-up and no email required. There are no pop-ups and nothing that sits over the cards. To keep the site free I may show a few small, clearly-marked ads off to the side.
- Is there a timer or a way to lose?
- No. Nothing counts time and there is no way to lose. The game counts your moves so you can try to beat your own best, but you can ignore the count.
- What if I cannot find a match?
- Press the big orange Hint button. It briefly reveals one matching pair, tells you exactly where the two cards are, then hides them again so you can turn them over yourself. You can use it as many times as you like.
- How do I tell the cards apart?
- Every card shows a large, distinct picture (a sunflower, a star, an apple, a moon and so on) and each one is also spoken aloud by name, so you never have to rely on colour. Matched pairs get a green frame and a checkmark as well.
- Can I make the cards bigger?
- Yes. Use the A− and A+ buttons at the very top of the page to make everything larger or smaller, and the High contrast button to sharpen everything to black on white. Your choice is remembered for next time.
- Can I play without a mouse?
- Yes. You can play entirely with the keyboard: use the arrow keys to move between cards, press Enter or the space bar to turn a card over, and press H for a hint. Every card announces its position and what is on it for screen-reader users.
The other matching games, Mahjong Solitaire, Bingo and the Jigsaw, are on the matching games page.
