(Above is the initial set up for the card game Concentration)
Card Game Rules
Concentration, or Memory, is a classic card game for 2 or more players. It is played with either a standard 52 playing card deck or a specialty deck. The objective is to be the player with the most matched pairs.
For other classic card games, see our guides for Rolling Stone and Solitaire.
If you are looking for cards to play Concentration with, check out a standard pack here or one of our more recent arrivals here. You can also check out one of our speciality decks for this game here.
Set Up
Before gameplay can begin, the order of play must first be established. Every player draws from a shuffled deck of cards. With 2s low and Aces high, players arrange themselves in a circle with highest to lowest going clockwise. Ties are broken by a redraw of the two players.
After shuffling the deck again, any player can arrange the cards on a flat surface in a faced down grid pattern.
How to Play
Beginning with the player who drew the highest card and going clockwise, players take turns flipping over two cards. If the cards form a pair, then the player takes them from the grid for themselves. If the cards do not form a pair, then the player flips them back over on the same spot as before. Both cards should only remain flipped up for 5 seconds before being flipped back down again. Every player should be able to see the cards' position.
After all of the cards have been paired up, the player with the most pairs wins.
For more information, check out Pagat's article here.
Looking for more card games to play? Check out this article:
40+ Great Card Games For All Occasions
About the author: John Taylor is a content writer and freelancer through the company Upwork.com. You may view his freelancing profile here. He has a B. A. in English, with a specialty in technical writing, from Texas A&M University and a M. A. in English from the University of Glasgow. You may view his previous articles about card games here and his LinkedIn profile here.
2 comments
That takes me back when I was a kid in the 70’s. Reminds me of a popular game show that I liked & Milton Bradley had the home game.
I used to play this card game when I was a kid . A lot of great memories. I would love to play it again with someone even though I’m a lot older now besides, the popular game show with the same name came from this great game.