Free memory game — instant play, no signup, no download
Word Recall shows a list of words, hides it, and asks you to write down as many as you remember. Free recall of a word list is one of the oldest formats in memory research, and it shows the serial position curve more clearly than almost anything else — you will remember the start and the end and lose the middle.
Study the list of words.
The list is hidden.
Type as many words as you remember, in any order.
Your score is the number correctly recalled.
Lists grow longer as you succeed.
Choose 5, 10, 15 or 20 words and a study time of 10, 15, 20 or 30 seconds. When the timer runs out the list disappears, and you type words one at a time in any order.
Each list word you type counts once; repeats and words not on the list are shown as misses. The game ends when you recall every word or press Finish. Your score is the number of words recalled, and your best is saved in this browser.
Free recall and encoding strategy. The difference between good and poor scores is almost entirely about whether you did something deliberate while studying. Another memory game to try next: Picture Order.
Studying a list and writing down what you remember in any order is 'free recall', one of the oldest paradigms in memory research. It produces the serial-position curve: words from the start of the list (primacy) and the end (recency) are remembered best, and the middle is lost.
The recency effect disappears if there is a delay before recall, while primacy survives — the evidence that the two come from different kinds of memory. Words you do something with, such as linking into a story or picturing, are recalled far better than words you simply repeat.
Build a single story linking the words in order. It is the strongest strategy available here by a wide margin.
Write down the last few words first — they are still in short-term memory and they decay fastest.
Deliberately rehearse the middle of the list. The ends look after themselves.
Picture each word as a concrete object. Abstract words are much harder to hold.
The serial position effect. The first words got the most rehearsal (primacy) and the last are still active (recency). The middle gets neither.
No — this is free recall, so any order counts.
It is one of the oldest and best-evidenced mnemonic techniques, and it typically doubles what people recall from a list.
Yes. Recency is fragile and fades within seconds; the earlier words are more stable.