Pairs Memory Game Tips: Fewer Flips

Rule 1: never flip a known card as your first card

If you remember where a card is, do not turn it over first hoping to find its partner; turn over an unknown card first. Then, if the unknown card matches something you remember, flip the remembered card second for a guaranteed pair. If it does not, you have still learned a new card, and you flip another unknown card second (ideally one that has not been seen either). This simple order means every pair of flips either scores or teaches you two new cards.

Rule 2: when you know a pair, take it immediately

As soon as you have seen both cards of a pair, match them on your next turn before doing anything else. Delaying invites forgetting, and there is no benefit to waiting.

Rule 3: work in a fixed order

Choose a route through the grid, row by row from the top left, and flip unknown cards in that order. A fixed order does two things: you never accidentally re-flip a card you have already seen, and the positions become easier to remember because they have a sequence ("the third card in the second row was the star").

Remembering positions

Memory for positions is better than memory for symbols. Techniques that help:

• Say the position and the picture together, silently: "row two, third card, apple". Naming it fixes it.
• Use the edges and corners as anchors. Corner cards are the easiest to recall; cards in the middle of a big grid are the hardest, so flip them when you are fresh.
• Pair the picture with a story when a grid is large: the fish is swimming toward the corner, the moon is above the bell.
• Chunk the grid into blocks of four or six cards and remember each block as a unit.

On the 6 × 6 hard board there are 18 pairs, which is more than most people hold in working memory at once. Chunking and the fixed order are what make it possible. It also helps to pause for a second after each miss and repeat the two positions to yourself before the cards turn back; the moment they flip over is when most pairs are forgotten.

Counting flips

The minimum number of flips is twice the number of pairs (every card turned once), which only perfect memory and luck can achieve. A realistic target on the 4 × 4 easy board is under 24 flips; on 4 × 5 under 32; on 6 × 6 under 60. The leaderboard ranks by fewest flips, then time, so a careful slow game beats a fast careless one.

Playing against the robot

The Pairs page has a free Memory duel against a robot beside the daily puzzle. The robot never forgets a card it has seen, so against it the rules above matter even more: every card you reveal and fail to pair is a card the robot may use. Flipping unknown cards first still holds; the extra consideration is that when you have a choice of unknown cards, prefer the ones the robot has not seen either.

Common mistakes

1. Flipping the remembered card first. If the second flip misses, you have revealed nothing new.
2. Guessing when unsure. A wrong guess costs two flips; two unknown flips teach you two cards.
3. Random order. You re-flip cards you have seen and lose track of positions.
4. Trying to memorise symbols rather than positions. Think "where", then "what".
5. Rushing the first few turns. Early turns build the map; take them slowly.

Glossary

• Flip: turning over one card; the leaderboard counts flips, not turns.
• Turn: two flips.
• Known card: a card whose picture you have seen and remember.
• Chunking: grouping cards into blocks to remember them as units.