Memory Palace Cards

Memory Palace Cards is a way to practice keeping a table of playing cards in your head.

The cards start face up. When the time runs out, they all turn down. A gold ring marks the card to name. Say it. If you are right, that card turns face up and lights. If you are wrong, it stays down, a red cross appears on the back, and the game moves to the next card. You cannot go back and fix a miss. When every card has been called, the level is cleared.

You can speak the names. The listener is set for Mandarin: 黑桃A, 红心三, 梅花十, 方块K, and everyday variants such as 红桃 for hearts or 方片 for diamonds. If there is no microphone, type the name. The rule is the same.

There are three difficulties, with three levels in each. Every track goes from 8 cards to 24, then to a full deck of 52. The time to look only grows by ten seconds each level, so later hands give you less time per card. You can change the timer for that round before you start.

Still is the easy game. The whole table stays face up together. Afterward you name the cards from left to right, top to bottom. The three levels give you 30, 40, and 50 seconds.

Spot is the middle game. The table is open too, for a shorter time. Once the cards are down, the ring jumps to a random card instead of the next one in reading order. The times are 24, 34, and 44 seconds.

Flash is the hard game. You never see the whole table. One card lights, then the next. You then name them in the order they appeared. The three levels last 16, 26, and 36 seconds in all.

A perfect round is three stars. About eighty percent right is two stars. Finishing the table is enough to pass, and the next level in that difficulty opens. All three difficulties are available from the start. At the end you can turn the crossed cards face up and see what you missed.