Fresh Pick: a working memory game at the market stall

How to play

1. Tap any item on the stall to drop it in your basket.
2. Watch the stall shuffle into new spots as another item joins.
3. Tap one item you have not chosen yet this level.
4. Keep going until the basket is full to clear the level.
5. Pick a repeat and the game shows when you chose it; you lose a heart and replay that level.

What it exercises

The rule is easy to say and surprisingly hard to keep, which is exactly what makes it good memory practice.

• Working memory

  You keep a growing list of picks up to date while the items move around, adding one entry every round.

• Attention to detail

  From level 3, look-alike pairs share the stall: a red apple and a green one, a lemon and a lime, pink and chocolate donuts.

• Updating

  Since items swap places every round, you cannot rely on position. You check each item against the list, not against a spot on the shelf.

Tips

• Say your picks quietly to yourself as a running list: apple, corn, pear.
• Pick the newcomer when you can spot it. It cannot be in your basket yet.
• Link each pick to a small story, like a pear in a cart pulled by a carrot, so the list is easier to replay.
• With look-alikes, name the color as well as the fruit: green grapes, not just grapes.
• The last round of a level leaves only one unpicked item on the stall. Scan slowly before you tap.

More games you might like

• Echo MatchA 60-second n-back sprint: is this card the same as before?
• HoneycombWatch golden cells glow in a hive, then tap every one from memory
• Town FolkMeet the neighbors on a little street, then recall each name, face and job
• CubesMemorize a pattern of colored squares, then pick it out from the look-alikes
• Word ListStudy a list of words, then pick out every one you saw
• Word OrderMemorize a numbered list of words, then rebuild it in the same order