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Kopfkarte

Memory training with the method of loci

Kopfkarte

German for “map in your head”. Your memory palace – one location at a time: pick a place you know by heart, place an image at each location and later walk the route again in your mind.

  • Your own palace
  • Four exercises
  • No ads, no subscription
  • No account

Coming soon to Google PlayKopfkarte is currently in closed testing.

For Android phones and tablets, in English and German.

Example palaceHome
1Doormat 2Front door 3Shoe rack 4Coat rack 5Hall mirror

This is what a palace looks like in Kopfkarte: a place you know, with locations in a fixed order. In the app you place an image at each location and then walk the route again in your mind.

The method of loci

How it works

  1. Build a palace

    Pick a place you know by heart – your home, your way to work – and list its locations in a fixed order: doormat, front door, coat rack …

  2. Memorise

    Place an image at each location: the anchor lies on the doormat, the violin hangs from the coat rack. At your own pace with a stopwatch, or timed.

  3. Recall

    Walk the route again in your mind: “What was here?” Tap your answer – for words among just as many distractors, so it stays honest.

What you practise

Four exercises

5 to 50 words

Words

Remember a series of things in a fixed order – all easy to picture, from anchor to zebra. The app comes with 380 words.

10 to 100 digits

Numbers

Long strings of digits turned into images with the Major System. With a reference table and your own 00–99 image list that checks whether your word fits the number.

Your material

Your lists

A shopping list, the outline of a talk, the planets, vocabulary – practise them on your palace just like the other exercises.

5 to 52 cards

Playing cards

The order of a shuffled deck, the classic discipline of memory sports. To recall, you pick the suit first, then the value.

Plus: personal bests per length with memorising time, a history of recent rounds and a suggested next level. Long rounds need many locations – 52 hold a whole deck of cards.

From the app

What it looks like

  • Start screen: the palace “My flat” with 20 locations as a route map – doormat, front door, shoe rack and more – followed by the Words and Numbers exercises.
    Your palace as a route map
  • Memorising, location 3 of 10: the word “hippo” at the shoe rack, with the route bar and stopwatch at the top.
    Memorise, location by location
  • Recall, location 5 of 10: “Hall mirror – What was here?”, with words to choose from such as glove, hot-air balloon, rocket and starfish.
    Recall among distractors
  • Result: 10 of 10 locations correct, new personal best, suggestion “Next level: 15 words”.
    Personal best and next level
  • Major System: the table of digits and their sounds, and the personal image list, such as 00 seas, 01 suit, 02 sun, each marked “matches”.
    Numbers become images
  • Playing card recall at the doormat: the four suits at the top with hearts selected, the values from ace to king below.
    A whole deck of cards
  • Progress: personal bests for words, numbers and playing cards with times, and the most recent rounds below.
    Track your progress
Background

Where the method comes from

The method of loci is more than two thousand years old. Cicero tells of the poet Simonides: after a banquet hall collapsed, he could name the dead because he remembered where each of them had sat. From this, Cicero draws the rule: places in a fixed order, on which you lay images.1

Memory athletes still work with places today. A study of competitors at events such as the World Memory Championships found that their performance was not down to exceptional intelligence or differently built brains, but to a spatial learning strategy.2

Kopfkarte does not promise you a better memory. It gives you a place to practise and shows you honestly how many locations you got right.

Who it’s for

Who is Kopfkarte for?

  1. The curious

    You’ve heard of the memory palace and want to know what it feels like. Start with the example palace and five words.

  2. School and university

    The outline of a presentation, a set of technical terms, vocabulary: add them as your own list and walk through them on your palace.

  3. Memory sports

    Numbers with the Major System and your own image list, a whole deck of cards, personal bests with times – for training, round by round.

Pricing

What it costs

For the launch

Free

  • All four exercises: words, numbers, your lists, playing cards
  • Unlimited palaces
  • Major System with your own image list
  • Personal bests, history and suggested levels
Always

No ads, no subscription, no account

Your palaces, lists and results stay on your device.

Kopfkarte is still in closed testing and coming soon to Google Play. As of October 2026. The price Google Play shows at checkout is what counts.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When will Kopfkarte be available?

The app is currently in closed testing on Google Play. As soon as it is available to everyone, the link to the store listing will appear here.

Do I need an internet connection?

No. Palaces, words and exercises are all in the app and on your device.

Is there an iPhone version?

No, Kopfkarte is only available for Android phones and tablets.

Does the app collect data?

No sign-up, no account, no ads, no trackers. Your palaces, lists and results stay on your device. The details are in the privacy policy (in German).

I have a new phone. Is my palace gone?

Not if Android backup or the data transfer when switching phones is turned on: your palaces, lists, image list and history come along.

Do I need a good memory?

No. You start with five words; after each round the app suggests a length – one level up if you got everything right, one level down if fewer than 60 percent of the locations were right.

Which languages does the app support?

English and German. You can switch the language in the settings; the words and the Major System are available in both languages.

I have a question or found a bug.

A place you know – one location at a time.

Kopfkarte is coming soon to Google Play.

Coming soon to Google PlayFree for the launch, no ads, no account.