Matching Memory Games

Flip two cards at a time and find every pair. Each game is shuffled when you start, so no two games are the same. Try to finish with fewer moves and mistakes by using a memory palace to remember where you saw each card.

Match and Learn
Baby Animals

Match each baby animal to its grown-up in this free memory matching game, and learn what a baby swan, hare or hedgehog is called.
Match and Learn
Books and Authors

Match each famous book to its author in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Clouds

Match each cloud to its name in this free memory matching game, from wispy cirrus high up to heaped cumulus down low.
Match and Learn
Countries and Capitals

Match each country to its capital city in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Dinosaurs

Match each dinosaur to its name in this free memory matching game, from Tyrannosaurus to Stegosaurus, shown in paintings from 1897 to 1931.
Match and Learn
Famous Places

Match each famous landmark to the place where it stands in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Flags and Countries

Match each flag to its country in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Flowers

Match each flower to its name in this free memory matching game, from the rose and the tulip to the passionflower and the bird of paradise.
Concentration
Hard Words

Match pairs of difficult English words like sesquipedalian, onomatopoeia, and defenestration in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Historical Events and Years

Match each historical event to the year it happened in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Inventors and Inventions

Match each invention to the person who invented it in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Minerals

Match each crystal to its mineral in this free memory matching game.
Concentration
Musical Instruments

Match pairs of musical instruments, from the violin and oboe to the sitar and theremin, in this free memory matching game.
Concentration
Piano Composers

Find the pairs of famous piano composers, from Bach and Mozart to Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, in this free memory matching game.
Match and Learn
Tree Leaves

Match each leaf to its tree in this free memory matching game, and learn to tell a pine from a spruce from a fir.
Match and Learn
US States and Capitals

Match each US state to its capital city in this free memory matching game.

How to Play the Memory Card Game

The classic matching game is also called Concentration, Memory, Pairs or Pelmanism. You can play it here or with any deck of cards at home.

Shuffle the cards and lay them face down in a grid.
On your turn, turn over any two cards so everyone can see them.
If they match, keep the pair and take another turn. If they do not, turn them face down again in the same spots, and the next player goes.
When every pair is found, the player with the most pairs wins. Playing alone, try to finish in fewer turns.

With a deck of playing cards, a pair is two cards of the same rank and color, such as the two red sevens. For an easier game, any two cards of the same rank make a pair.

Memory Game Strategy

If you already know where both cards of a pair are, take that pair first.
Otherwise, turn over a card you have not seen yet first. If you remember where its partner is, turn that one second. If you have not seen any card yet, as on the first turn, turn over another new one.
If the first card is new and you do not know its partner, some players turn over a card they have already seen as their second, so the other player learns nothing new.
Work through the grid in order, row by row, so you know which cards you have not turned yet.
Say each card to yourself with its place, such as "red seven, top left". A memory palace goes further: picture each card at a spot in a room you know.

Matching is one of several types of memory games. Each trains a different part of memory.

Memory Game Questions

How do you play the memory card game?

Lay the cards face down in a grid. On each turn, turn over two cards. If they match, keep them and go again. If not, turn them back over and the next player goes. The player with the most pairs at the end wins.

What is the memory card game called?

It goes by Concentration, Memory, Pairs, Match Up and, in Britain, Pelmanism. Memory is the name Ravensburger gave its picture card version in 1959.

How many cards do you need?

Any even number of cards, in pairs. Young children can start with six pairs. A full deck of 52 playing cards makes 26 pairs if a pair is two cards of the same rank and color, such as the two red sevens.

Is there a strategy for the memory game?

If you know where both cards of a pair are, take that pair first. Otherwise turn over a card you have not seen, then its partner if you know where it is, or another new card if you do not. Work through the grid in order. Say each card and its place to yourself, or picture each card at a spot in a memory palace, so you can find it again.