Memory Match: Free Online Memory Game

Memory Match: Pairs Game is our own take on the classic matching game, also known as Concentration or Pairs. All the cards start face down. Turn two over: if they show the same picture they stay face up as a pair, and if they differ they turn back down, so try to remember where each one was. Two cards turned is one move. Tap a third card and a mismatched pair turns down straight away, so you never have to wait.

The cards carry 45 bold pictures drawn for the game, in five sets that each have their own face colour: fruit and vegetables, animals, shapes, weather and nature, and tools. The grids come in six sizes, 4×3, 4×4, 6×5, 6×6, 8×6 and 8×8, and the board always fits the screen without scrolling, on a phone held either way or on a computer.

Solo play is a ladder of 24 levels, four on each grid size, from 12 cards up to 64. Each level is a fresh deal every time you play it. Clear a level to open the next and earn stars for your moves: three stars for at most 1.75 moves a pair, two for at most 2.5. Your fewest moves and best time are kept for every level.

You can also play against the computer on any grid. Finding a pair earns another go, and whoever holds the most pairs at the end wins. The computer has three levels. Easy forgets much of what it sees and sometimes turns cards at random, Medium remembers most cards, and Hard never forgets a card, so beating it takes a sharp memory and a little luck. The first turn swaps between you and the computer each game. Two players can also share one phone, tablet or computer and take turns.

The daily grid is a 6×6 deal of 18 pairs, the same for everyone, with a new one at midnight UTC. You play it once. It is worth up to 2,000 points: you lose 20 for every move over 18 and 1 for every second over a minute, and the score never drops below 100. Your score goes on the daily leaderboard, and finishing on consecutive days builds a streak.

The only paid item is Peek, which costs gems: it shows every face-down card for two seconds. You can use it in the daily grid too, and it never lowers your score. Memory Match is free to play in your browser with no download or sign-up, works with touch or mouse, and its card art, sound effects and music are all made for the game.