Pattern Lock

Remember the pattern!

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Level 1

How to Play Pattern Lock

Pattern Lock is a visual memory game that tests your ability to remember and reproduce swipe patterns. Watch carefully as the pattern is drawn, then recreate it exactly!

Watch as a pattern is drawn connecting dots on the grid
Memorize the path - which dots are connected and in what order
When prompted, swipe to recreate the exact same pattern
Connect the dots in the correct sequence to advance
Each level adds more dots to the pattern, increasing difficulty

Memory Techniques

Try chunking the pattern into smaller shapes - see a "Z" or "L" within the path. Visualize the pattern as a gesture rather than individual points. Some players trace the pattern with their eyes or finger in the air while memorizing. Expert players can remember patterns with 15+ dots!

Did you know? This game mimics the pattern lock security feature on smartphones. Research shows that visual-spatial memory is a distinct cognitive ability that can be trained and improved with regular practice!

How to play

A pattern draws itself across the 3x3 grid of dots, just like a phone lock screen. Watch the order, then press on the first dot and swipe through the rest in one continuous motion. Lifting your finger submits the attempt, so don't let go until you reach the last dot. Each level adds a dot to the pattern, up to all nine.

Tips

The pattern only ever steps to a neighboring dot, diagonals included. It never jumps across the grid.

Remember shapes, not dots. An L, a Z, or a zigzag is one memory instead of six.

Swipe deliberately. Brushing past an extra dot adds it to your pattern and ends the run.

From level 7 on, every pattern uses all nine dots, so the whole test becomes the order you visit them in.

Why a lock pattern is a memory test

The 3 by 3 dot grid is the same one Android used for its unlock pattern, and it turns out to be a neat test of motor sequence memory: remembering a movement rather than a list. A pattern of six dots is not six items, it is one gesture, and people who remember it as a gesture hold far longer patterns than people who try to remember dot positions.

The rules of the grid also constrain what a pattern can be. It only ever steps to a neighbouring dot, it never revisits a dot, and it uses at most all nine. Those constraints mean that once you know where a pattern starts and its first two moves, the number of ways it can continue is small, which is exactly why the tip about watching the turns works.

Remembering longer patterns

Watch the shape, not the dots. An L, a Z, a hook. Shapes are remembered as one thing.

Count the turns. A pattern is a series of straight runs joined by turns, and the turns are the only information in it.

Do not lift your finger until the last dot. Lifting submits, and a pattern submitted early is simply wrong.

Start on the first dot and pause there for a beat. The rest of the gesture flows better from a settled start.

The pattern never revisits a dot, so a dot you have already crossed cannot be next. That rules out most wrong turns.

Common questions

How do I enter a pattern?

Press on the first dot and swipe through the rest in one motion. Lifting your finger submits the attempt.

Can a pattern cross the same dot twice?

No. Each dot is used at most once, and the pattern only moves to neighbouring dots.

How long can a pattern get?

Each level adds one dot, up to all nine on the grid.