About the Funfair What's Missing? 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 in the Funfair deck
The full deck, so you know what to watch for — 12 pictures: 🎡 Ferris Wheel🎠 Carousel🎢 Roller Coaster🎪 Big Tent🎈 Balloon🍭 Lollipop🧸 Prize Teddy🎯 Hook-a-Duck🎟️ Ticket🍿 Popcorn🤹 Juggler🎆 Fireworks
Study tip: link the first three — ferris wheel, carousel and roller coaster — into one ridiculous mental picture. Absurd images stick; lists don't. When a picture vanishes, replay the scene and ask what doesn't fit any more.
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 and memorise every picture on the board.
- After a few seconds the board hides and one picture is removed.
- Pick the missing picture from the answer choices.
- Each correct answer adds a bigger board. Three misses ends the game.
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.