Card Games ::
Concentration or Memory
Players and Cards
Two or more people can play. A standard Anglo-American 52-card pack
can be used, or any other kind of cards, provided that the backs are
indistinguishable and the faces can be matched up in pairs or
quartets.
Preparation
The cards are thoroughly mixed and spread face down on the playing
surface - table or floor. The cards should not overlap, and can be
arranged in a regular pattern or spread irregularly as desired.
Play
Players take turns to play. At your turn you turn face up two cards of
your choice from the layout. If they match, you take these two cards,
store them in front of you, and take another turn. If they do not
match, you turn them face down, without changing their position in the
layout, and it is the next player's turn.
When playing with an
ordinary 52-card pack, cards "match" if they have the same
denomination - a six matches a six, a king matches a king and so on.
Suits are ignored.
Play continues until all
the cards from the layout have been taken as matched pairs.
Scoring
Each player scores one point for each pair taken. The player with most
points is the winner - if two or more tie for most points they all
win.
Variations
Some special packs for this game have only two identical cards of each
type, making it harder to match cards at the beginning. Since the game
in any case becomes easier the fewer cards that remain in the layout,
it seems preferable to reduce this effect by having four of each card,
so that the first card of a new type has three possible pairings
rather than just one. But those who prefer to play with just two cards
of each type using a standard pack can agree that cards only match if
they are of the same denomination and the same color.
