Matching pairs
Flip two face-down cards: if the pictures match they stay up, otherwise they turn back over. Flipping two counts as one turn. The average for perfect play sits on screen, so you can tell straight away whether your score was any good.
Flip two cards: matching pictures stay up, the rest turn back over. Flipping two counts as one turn.
First card always unseen, second card a known match
Flip an unseen card first. If you have already seen its twin, take that twin as the second card — that turn is a pair straight away. If you do not know the twin, the second card is another unseen one. When the second card matches something seen earlier, pair those two on the next turn. As long as you never re-flip two cards you already know, a 4×4 board ends around 12.4 turns.
The count rises the moment the second card opens
A turn is counted when the second card opens. Tapping a card that is already open does nothing, and matched cards no longer respond. Two unmatched cards turn back after 0.8 seconds; tap a third card before then and the two flip back at once, with the third becoming the first card of a new turn. No time is measured — waiting or hurrying gives the same count.
Records per board size, today's board kept apart
The best is separate for 4×3, 4×4 and 4×6, and changes only when a finished board took fewer turns than the stored value. Today's board is dealt from the date, so everyone gets the same layout on the same day; it is always 4×4 and changes at midnight Korean time. Only your first attempt of the day is written down, and it never mixes into the best — replaying a layout you have memorised would measure repetition, not memory.
What this screen does not do
The board is not stored. A refresh deals a new one and the count starts at zero. There are no hints, and twelve pictures are all there is. The record stays in this browser only.
Common questions
QHow few turns is a good score?
Simulating 20,000 games per board with a player who never forgets a card gave 9.2 turns on 4×3, 12.4 on 4×4 and 18.8 on 4×6. It is always more than the number of pairs (6, 8 and 12) — a picture seen for the first time gives no clue where its match is.
QCould a card end up without a match?
No. Cards are built two of each and then shuffled, so a lone card is impossible; 3,000 boards per size were generated and every picture appeared exactly twice. Such a board could never be finished however well you played, and nothing would reveal it until the last two cards.
QHow were the pictures chosen?
For being hard to mistake for each other. Several similar faces or similar fruit would test your eyes rather than your memory. They are Unicode emoji, so nothing is downloaded and no one else's artwork is used.
QThe unmatched cards turn back too quickly.
They turn back after 0.8 seconds. Shorter leaves no time to look; longer means waiting every time you already know the pair. You can tap the next card while they are still turning, so there is no need to wait.
QCan the board be bigger?
4×6 is the largest. Twelve pictures were chosen for being hard to confuse; going further would mean adding similar ones, which tests your eyes rather than your memory.
QCan I leave and pick the board up later?
No. The board is not stored, so reopening the page deals a new one. What remains is the best per board size and today's result.
QWhy is today's board only 4×4?
Results can only be compared if everyone plays the same board. With a choice of size, a result like board #12 in 9 turns could be 4×3 or 4×6. 4×4 is small enough for a first-timer to finish and not dull for a regular.