Memory – The Original Matching Game from Ravensburger

Genre: Card Game

Players: 1-6 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Bundle: Memory – The Original Matching Game from Ravensburger + Rush Hour Deluxe – The Ultimate Traffic Jam Game!, along with Rush Hour Deluxe – The Ultimate Traffic Jam Game!.)

Memory – The Original Matching Game from Ravensburger, from here on simply referred to as Memory, is a digital version of a classic Card Game, sometimes referred to as Concentration or Pairs, where players flip over two cards at a time, trying to match pairs of cards as quickly and efficiently as possible. This version of the game was released on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

This release includes two game modes: Original Memory and Adventure Memory. Original Memory is the standard game mode, offering different sets to match, ranging from pictures based on various themes, to a variant that has you matching photos of animals with sounds those animals make. Adventure Memory has players going through successive series of levels, with each one adding more cards to flip over, or new challenges like filters that obscure parts of cards.

The presentation here is pretty good. The cards themselves have different styles of images on them, including simple cartoony art and photographs, and the gameplay here is backed by some really relaxing New Agey music, which befits this style of gameplay.

Overall, this game does just about everything you would want a Memory or Concentration game to do, though it is in the end just that – one type of Card Game. And that’s a problem when this game is selling for a whopping $20. To put that into perspective, Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics includes a good version of Memory plus fifty other games, for $40.

It’s disappointing that an otherwise solid take on a classic game has been saddled with such an overly high price, but it’s kinda’ absurd that this game is charging $20 for a game that at its core can be played with a standard deck of playing cards. Yes, there are different sets and options here that you won’t get in a standard card deck, but I’m not convinced that’s worth $20. And if you’re going to spend that much on a videogame version of Memory, you’re much better off spending an extra $20 to get Clubhouse Games and its excellent variety of different games rather than this single game.

tl;dr – Memory is a solid take on the classic Card Game that has players matching cards to clear them. This release has a good presentation and healthy amount of options. The problem is the $20 price seems far too steep for what’s on offer here, when you can play a basic game of Memory using a standard deck of cards, or you can spend $40 to get Clubhouse Games, which comes with 51 different games. With that being the case, it’s hard to recommend this game.

Grade: C-

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