Memory

Memory looks like the card game you already know and then changes the one rule that matters: matching cards are not identical. Two cards pair up when the characters on them share something — the same region, the same trainer class, the same signature type, the same debut series, a family tie, a rivalry, or a trainer and their partner Pokémon.

That turns a memory test into a memory-and-knowledge test. You have to remember where a card was and then work out who it could possibly pair with, and the toast that appears on every match tells you what the connection was, so the board teaches you the cast as you clear it.

The board opens with all sixteen cards face up for five seconds. Use them: that preview is the only time you see everything at once. When it ends the cards flip over and the clock starts on your first click.

Turn two cards per move. If the characters share a connection they stay face up and a banner names it — "Kanto Region", "Elite Four", "Family", "Partner Pokémon", or the storyline that ties them together. If not, both cards flip back after a second and you try again. There is no penalty for a miss beyond the move and the time it cost.

Clear all eight pairs to finish. Your result is your time and your move count, the deck is the same for every player that day, and you get four games a day.

During the preview, group rather than memorise. Trying to hold sixteen positions for five seconds fails; noticing "three Kanto trainers along the top row" and "the two Pokémon are on the right" gives you a map you can still use two minutes later.

When you turn a card you cannot place, name the connection out loud in your head before you move on. A card is not "Brock", it is "Kanto, gym leader, rock type" — three possible partners you will recognise the moment one of them appears.

Bear in mind that a pair can be built on almost anything, including two cards showing the same character, so a card you cannot match by role may still match by region, gender or species. When you are down to the last few pairs, the connections you have already seen tell you which ones are still unused.