Lit Circles Memory Game

About Color Memory

Color Memory shows a grid of circles in which a few are lit in blue. After a short time everything goes dark. Your task is to tap the circles that were lit, then press Done. You are told beforehand how many were lit, so you know when you have found them all.

The grid grows with the level, from four by four on the first levels to five by five and six by six later. The number of lit circles rises from 3 to 9, and the display time falls from over three seconds to under two. Because wrong taps cost points, it is better to leave a circle alone than to guess blindly.

How to play

1. Look at the lit circles while the Memorize bar runs. Try to see them as a shape, not as separate dots.
2. When they go dark, tap the circles you remember. Tap a selected circle again to deselect it.
3. Press Done, or wait for the timer. The result marks correct taps in green, wrong taps in red and missed circles with a dashed outline.
4. Keep an eye on the count in the question: it tells you how many to find.

A grid of circles shows a few lit ones for a moment. When they go dark, tap the circles that were lit and press Done.

How scoring works

The score is the number of correct taps minus the number of wrong taps, divided by the number of lit circles, with a floor at zero. Finding 7 of 8 with one wrong tap therefore gives about 75 points. A perfect answer needs every lit circle and no wrong tap.

The grid is 4 by 4 on levels 1 to 3, 5 by 5 on levels 4 to 6 and 6 by 6 above. The number of lit circles is 3 on level 1 and 9 on level 10, but never more than 40 percent of the grid. The display time is 3.2 seconds on level 1 and 1.8 seconds on level 10. After the flash you have 14 seconds plus one second per lit circle.

What it trains

The game trains visual working memory, the temporary store that holds what you have just seen. It is used when you remember the layout of a page, where you saw an item on a shelf, or the pattern of a lock.

It also trains grouping. People who do well often do not remember circles one by one but as shapes: a line, a triangle, a corner. Looking for such shapes is a skill that you can practise.

Tips for a higher score

• Look for shapes. Three lit circles in a row, a corner or a diagonal are easier to hold than three separate dots.
• Use the edges and corners of the grid as anchors: 'one in the top row, second from the left'.
• Do not stare at one circle. Let your eyes take in the whole grid at once.
• Tap the ones you are sure about first, then think about the rest. You may leave a doubtful one out.
• Take advantage of the count. If you were told 7 and have found 6, look for the last one by elimination.

The idea behind it

Studies of visual working memory, notably by Steven Luck and Edward Vogel in 1997, show that people can hold about three to four objects in mind at once, whatever their features. That number is much lower than the 'seven plus or minus two' often quoted from George Miller's 1956 paper, which was about chunks of information rather than raw items.

Grouping items into larger chunks is the main way of working around this limit. Spatial patterns that form a shape count as a single chunk, which is why a lit row of four is easier to remember than four scattered circles and why memory champions use patterns and stories.

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Free, no account. Your best scores are saved on your device.