Where the points come from
Pairs is worth up to 400. You keep full marks if you need no more moves than a player with perfect recall who turns unseen cards in order; each extra move costs 20 points, and you never drop below 100. Sequence and Grid have 300 each on offer: every step you hold, or level you clear, adds 25. Sequence starts at three steps and tops out at twelve. Grid starts at three squares, adds one per level and tops out at level 12.
Time isn't part of the score, so there's nothing to gain by rushing.
Pairs: a system beats luck
The daily deal is a 4×4 grid of eight pairs. The method is simple:
- If you already know where both cards of a pair are, take them.
- Otherwise turn a card you haven't seen, working through the grid in a fixed order, row by row, so you always know which cards are new.
- If its twin is one you've seen, take the match. If not, make your second flip another unseen card. A card you've already seen tells you nothing new.
Give each card a short label with its place, such as "key, top right" or "moon, row three". Saying it silently is easier to hold than a picture.
One Suvi detail helps: twins are never dealt side by side or one directly above the other. When you're hunting for a card's partner, it isn't in the squares touching its sides. A diagonal neighbour is still possible.
Sequence: learn one new step at a time
The pad is 3×3, and each tile has its own shape and its own note. The sequence starts at three steps. Each time you repeat it correctly, it plays again from the beginning with one more step on the end. It's the same sequence growing, not a new one, so there's only ever one new step to learn. The same tile never lights twice in a row, and the playback gets a little quicker as it grows.
- Chunk it. Hold it in groups of three or four: "star, ring, heart", then "circle, plus, diamond".
- Use the tune. The notes come from a five-note scale, so every sequence sounds like a little melody. Hum it back.
- Trace the path. Watch the route the lights take across the pad as a shape: a zigzag, a loop, a line.
- Use numbers. On a keyboard the number keys map to the pad, 1 at the top left and 9 at the bottom right. Numbering the tiles in your head works on a phone too.
Grid: see shapes, not squares
A 5×5 grid lights a pattern for a moment, then you tap the squares back in any order. Level 1 lights three squares, each level adds one, and level 12 lights fourteen. You have three lives. A wrong tap costs one and deals a fresh pattern at the same level.
- Look for a shape. Join the squares into a line, an L, a diagonal or a cluster, and remember the shape rather than each square.
- Count by row. For bigger patterns, note how many squares light in each row: "two, none, three". It's a quick check before you tap.
- Remember the gaps. From level 11, more squares are lit than dark, so the empty squares are the smaller thing to remember.
- Tap the sure ones first. Get the squares you're certain of down while the picture is fresh, then think about the rest.
Settings, retries and second chances
Settings offers slower flashes and bigger tiles. Use them freely: the score doesn't depend on speed, so a slower flash costs nothing. There's a colour-blind palette too, and each tile carries a symbol as well as a colour.
One retry a day is free. Spend it on a second go at the same Sequence length when you slip, or on replaying one round from the result card. A replayed round gets a fresh deal, and the better of your two scores counts. After the free one, a few more retries are on us while Suvi is new, with no ad to watch.
If you only remember three things
- Pairs: turn new cards in a fixed order, and remember twins never touch side to side or top to bottom.
- Sequence: it's the same sequence plus one, so learn only the new step.
- Grid: remember shapes, and from level 11 the gaps.
Try it on today's memory workout.
Questions
- Can I beat the perfect-recall score in Pairs?
- With lucky flips you can need fewer moves than the perfect-recall player, but full marks are 400 either way. That target is worked out for the day's layout, so it's fair whatever the deal.
- Does the sequence change when it gets longer?
- No. Each turn replays the same sequence from the start with one new step on the end, up to twelve steps.
- Do I have to tap the Grid squares in order?
- No. Tap them in any order. Only a square that didn't light up costs a life.
- Does playing slowly lower my score?
- No. Time isn't part of the score, and the slower flashes setting doesn't cost points either.
Play it now
Memory is free on Suvi, on your phone or computer, no download.