What this game trains
Who Was That? is a face–name memory game about the moment everyone knows: you clearly recognize the face, but the name is stuck on the tip of your tongue. Linking a face to a name uses associative memory — binding two different pieces of information into one.
You meet new people at a gathering, then greet them by picking the right name when you run into them again. As gatherings go on, people you met earlier come back (“Oh! You’ve met before”) — remembering someone from a while back earns a bigger bonus.
How to play
- 1When a new face appears with a name tag, link the face and the name together.
- 2At recall time, pick that person’s name out of four choices.
- 3Later gatherings mix in people you met before. A reunion answered right is worth +150!
Tips for a higher score
- Tie the name to a visible feature in one phrase — “Margaret with the glasses” — and repeat it silently to strengthen the link.
- Decoys include names of other people from the same gathering and similar-sounding names (Margaret, Marlene, Marion). Recall the whole name before you tap, not just the first letters.
- Reunion questions are marked with a badge. After each recall round, quickly review the names of earlier guests in your head to bank those bonuses.
The science behind it
Binding two different pieces of information — a face and a name — is a classic associative memory task linked to the hippocampus. Face–name association is an area where age-related change tends to be noticed early, which is why face–name tests such as FNAME are widely used in memory research. Practicing this kind of task in a playful way may help you build your own tricks for remembering names.
FAQ
Why are names so much harder than faces?
Unlike faces, names are mostly arbitrary sounds with no built-in meaning, so recognizing a face while blanking on the name is very common. This game gives you repeated practice at forging that face–name link. If memory concerns are serious, see a medical professional first — game scores are a for-fun indicator.
What is the reunion bonus?
Correctly naming someone you met in an earlier gathering earns +150 (new acquaintances are +100), because memory that survives a delay is worth more. Your grade (💎 Never forgets a face ~ 🫠 Who was that again…) is based on your overall accuracy.
How do the difficulty levels differ?
Easy has 6 people, generous timers, and mild decoys. Normal has 8 people with similar-sounding decoy names mixed in. Hard has 9 people, shorter timers, and mostly near-identical names for maximum tip-of-the-tongue pressure.