Choose a game
Open any deck and choose Play to reach Choose a game. The deck page also lists them under Study modes.
The games
| Game | What you do | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| Mix | A rotating combination of the other games | Recommended default |
| Flashcards | Flip the card, then mark yourself correct or wrong | Any deck |
| Quiz | Pick the right answer from four options | 4 or more cards |
| Write | Type the translation | Any deck |
| Memory | Flip tiles to match each word to its translation | 4 or more cards |
| Hangman | Guess the letters before the hangman is drawn | Non-Chinese decks in a supported script |
| Hanzi | Practice Chinese characters with stroke order | Chinese decks with character cards |
| Audio | Listen and pick the right translation | Premium, and 4 or more cards with audio |
Mix is marked Recommended for a reason - it tests the same word in different ways, which is more effective than drilling one format. See The Mix game.
Session settings
Above the games you'll find:
- Exercises - how many items to play, from 5 to 50.
- Show first - whether the prompt shows the target or source word, or randomises per card. This applies to Flashcards, Quiz and Mix only.
- Pinyin - a toggle on Chinese decks.
More options live behind the settings gear during a game, and per-language defaults are in your language settings.
If a game is missing or greyed out
Games appear based on what your deck can support:
- A card only counts as playable if both sides have content. A deck of half-filled cards will report there's nothing to play.
- Quiz and Memory need at least 4 cards, because they need alternatives to choose from.
- Hanzi shows up only on Chinese decks, and Hangman takes its place on other languages.
- Hangman isn't offered for writing systems it can't sensibly letter-guess, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and the Indic scripts.
- Audio needs generated audio on at least 4 cards, and a language Google has a voice for. The deck page explains which of those is missing.
Which to pick
- Learning something new - Flashcards, or Memory for a light first pass.
- Checking you know it - Quiz is the easiest test; Write is the strictest.
- Getting ready to speak - Write and Audio, since both make you produce or parse the language rather than recognise it.
- Any other time - Mix.