Questions and answers
Everything people actually ask, answered straight
Is it free? Is there anything to buy?
It is free, and there is nothing to buy — no purchase, no subscription, no in-game currency, no way to pay for anything at all. Not to play, not to play more, not to improve your odds. The site carries advertising; that is the whole of the business model.
Do I need an account?
No. An anonymous account is created for you the first time you load the page, so your rounds can be counted, and you can start playing immediately. Linking a Google account is optional and only does one thing: lets the same record follow you to another device.
Why does “Winners” say zero?
Because winning means matching all 52 cards, and that is a 1 in 8.07 × 1067 event — about the number of atoms in the Milky Way. It will stay at zero. That is not a bug or a tease; it is the reason the game exists. The maths page works through the number.
Is there any skill to it?
None. Both decks are shuffled by the server before your round begins and nothing you do changes what is in them — not the timing, not the order you pick, not how many rounds you have lost in a row. There is no hot streak and no card that is “due”. The only thing you control is how many rounds you play.
How do I know the game isn’t rigged against me?
You can check. The server publishes a SHA-256 commitment to the shuffled deck before you play and reveals the deck afterwards, so it cannot have been swapped to suit your result. Your browser verifies this every round, and you can repeat the check by hand — here is how.
My score reset / my streak is gone. What happened?
Almost always this is an anonymous account on a new browser. Anonymous identities live in your browser’s local storage: clearing site data, using private browsing, or switching devices gives you a fresh one. Linking a Google account is what makes your record portable.
When does a day roll over for the day streak?
At midnight UTC, using the server’s clock. It has to be the server’s clock and not your device’s: a timezone sent by the browser can be changed by anyone, which would make a “days in a row” streak meaningless. The practical consequence, if you are in western Europe in summer, is that the day turns over at 1 a.m. local time.
What are the free auto plays on the button?
Playing at least one round on a given day extends your day streak and awards free auto plays — one a day at first, more as the streak grows, with larger jumps at a full week and a full month. Each one runs 100 rounds without an advert. When the balance is empty the button shows a video icon and an advert plays instead.
Does auto play count for my statistics?
Yes, exactly like rounds you play by hand. The shuffle and the result come from the server either way, so there is no difference in what is being recorded.
Why do the two modes have such different odds?
Because stopping at the first miss and counting matches anywhere are very different questions. In “Until you miss” each extra card multiplies the difficulty by about 50. In “All 52 pairs” the expected number of matches is exactly 1 and you score at least one about 63% of the time. Both end at the same impossible ceiling. The maths page derives both.
What data do you keep about me?
The minimum to run a leaderboard: your rounds and scores, a public name, a two-letter country code, and — only if you choose to sign in — your Google account identifier and email. Advertising is served by Google and is subject to your consent choices. The privacy policy spells it out in full.
Can I delete my account?
Yes. Write to privacy@factorial52.com from the email address linked to the account, or with your public name if it is anonymous. See the privacy policy for what happens to the data.
Are the prizes real?
When a promotion is running, yes, and its rules are published with it. Entry is always free and there is never a way to pay for an advantage. A promotion prize goes by the best score in the period, and only accounts with a linked Google account can be in the running — because there has to be some way to actually contact and deliver to a winner. The terms cover this.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes — the game is built for it, and it can be installed to your home screen as a web app. It also works offline enough to load, though rounds need a connection because the shuffle comes from the server.
Who made this?
52! is run by factorial52 in Portugal. Contact: privacy@factorial52.com.