About the Funfair Spot the Difference Game
The smell of candy floss, the lights of the waltzers, winning a teddy bigger than you are — the funfair has been making memories for generations. Step right up and match the fairground deck.
What's on the Funfair boards
The pictures the two boards are built from — 12 in all: 🎡 Ferris Wheel🎠 Carousel🎢 Roller Coaster🎪 Big Tent🎈 Balloon🍭 Lollipop🧸 Prize Teddy🎯 Hook-a-Duck🎟️ Ticket🍿 Popcorn🤹 Juggler🎆 Fireworks
Study tip: scan the left board in the same order every time — top-left to bottom-right — and check its twin against that order. The difference between ferris wheel and carousel is easy to spot; a missing roller coaster in the wrong corner is not, unless your scan is systematic.
How to memorise a retro board
Retro decks come with nostalgia hooks already installed. For each item, tag it with a memory — the cassette you unwrapped, the console a friend had, the sweet shop on the way home. Tagging takes one glance per card and converts abstract pictures into personal souvenirs, which survive the memory test dramatically better.
If the nostalgia is not yours (you did not live the decade), anchor on design instead: chunky shapes, bright plastics, pixel art. Retro items are deliberately exaggerated, and exaggeration is memorable — notice what makes each item ridiculous and the board remembers itself.
How to Play
- Press Start. Two boards appear, looking identical.
- Compare them tile by tile — one has been swapped for something different.
- Tap the changed tile, on either board, before the timer runs out.
- Each round adds more tiles and less time. Three misses ends the run.
Fun Facts About Funfair
- The first Ferris wheel was built by George Ferris for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
- Carousel horses were traditionally hand-carved from wood and painted by specialist artists.
- Travelling fairs in Britain date back over 800 years, beginning as medieval trading fairs.
- Early roller coasters were inspired by Russian ice slides built in the 1600s.
Retro deck questions
Good theme for a mixed-age family game?
The best one on the site. The adults recognise the 80s and 90s items on sight, the children meet them as new discoveries, and both sides think they have the advantage. Best-of-five settles it.
Do the retro decks differ much between themes?
Yes — the decades decks, the arcade deck and the sweets deck share a mood but almost no items. If one feels too easy, the others will not.