What Disappeared
A free memory game for children. A few things appear, a blanket covers them for a moment, and they come back with one missing. The only question is which one.
- Free
- No ads
- No account
- No download
- Works offline
- Single player
How do you play?
- Pick a level - Three, four or six items. The total time grows with the board.
- Study - Seven to nine seconds of looking. Nothing to rush and nothing to press.
- Wait for the blanket - It covers the board briefly, then lifts.
- Say what went - Touch the missing item among the choices. A mistake costs nothing.
About this game
A few things on screen. The blanket falls. Something is gone.
There is a fairness rule here that can be measured, and it is worth explaining. The study window grows with the board: seven seconds for three items, eight for four, nine for six. The per-item budget falls, though, from 2.33 seconds to 2 to 1.5. That is the opposite of what a lazy memory game would do, which is to give six items the same seven seconds and call it hard. You cannot encode six things in the time it takes to encode three, so the total has to grow. What makes hard hard is the per-item budget, and it has a floor of a second and a half that no level goes below.
The floor exists because this is a memory test and not a speed test. A five-year-old given less than a second and a half per item has not failed at remembering, they have failed to finish looking, and that measures something else entirely.
The levels change how many things there are: three, four or six. A blind guess is worth 33.3%, 25% and 16.7% respectively, so even on hard a child who guesses is right one time in six. Enough to keep them from getting stuck.
The board runs left to right even in Hebrew. Positions are part of the question here, and a mirrored board would change what the child had memorised.
What does it teach?
Short-term visual memory
Holding a whole picture in your head for a few seconds is the skill measured here, and the only one.
Systematic scanning
A child who looks in order remembers more than one who jumps around. The game teaches that by itself.
Vocabulary
Each round shows several objects or animals, and children name them out loud unprompted.
Noticing an absence
Spotting what is not there is harder than spotting what is, and it is a genuinely useful habit of mind.
Tips
Say the list out loud
Apple, dog, ball. Naming them adds a verbal memory on top of the visual one, which roughly doubles the odds.
Remember by position
Not what was there but where. Many children find an empty corner easier to notice than a missing object.
Use all the time
There is no bonus for looking less. Nine seconds is nine seconds, and most children look for three.
Start with three
Three items sounds like very few and at four years old it is exactly right. Six is a big jump.
What age is it for?
3 to 4
Three items, ideally together at first. Two correct is excellent at this age.
5 to 6
Four. This is when they start reciting the list out loud without being asked.
7 and up
Six, at a second and a half each. That challenges adults too.
Adults
Six items in nine seconds is easy until you try it at the end of a long day. Then it suddenly is not.
Accessibility
One tap, no dragging and no holding. Items are large and well spaced, and none hides another. Recognition is by object shape rather than colour, so colour blindness has no effect. There is no clock on the answer itself, only on the studying, and that has a floor of a second and a half per item that no level goes below. The blanket falls in one smooth movement rather than a flash. The whole game plays in silence.
Playing together
Recite the list
Together, before the blanket falls. You both suddenly remember more.
Play it on the table
Put five real objects down, cover with a towel, remove one. Exactly the same game with no screen.
Let them choose
They pick what disappears and you guess. The other side is harder than it looks.
Recall in order
An extra challenge: after the blanket falls, try naming every item in order from left to right.
Common questions
Is the game free?
Completely. Nothing to pay and no purchases inside the game. Every game on the site is open from the first second.
Do I need to download or sign up?
No to both. It runs in the browser with no download and no account, and we do not ask for an email.
How long is there to study?
Seven seconds for three items, eight for four and nine for six. The total grows with the board, because you cannot encode six things in the time it takes to encode three.
Does the hard level get too fast?
There is a floor of a second and a half per item that no level goes below. This is a memory test rather than a speed test, and a child who did not finish looking has not failed at remembering.
Are there ads?
None. No banners and no video between levels.
Does it work offline?
Yes. After one visit the game is stored on the device and runs on a plane.
What happens on a wrong answer?
Nothing. No score drops and there are no lives. The next round starts and play continues.
Why does the board not mirror in Hebrew?
Because the positions are part of the question. A child who remembers the dog was in the left corner needs to find it there when the blanket lifts.
What age is this for?
From about three with three items. There is no reading anywhere and the only requirement is recognising familiar objects.
Does it collect data about my child?
No. There is no signup and no name. No session recording and no behavioural advertising. We count how many times a game was opened, with nothing attached that identifies who opened it.