Fower-Pack Caird Gemme

Fower packs, hid rules. Some packs win muckle an lose mair; ithers win less an lose less. Can ye tell them apairt? Aboot 5 meenits, free, nae sign-up.

Bi the Helibrain teamChecked bi Robert(Inglis), PhD candidate in biophysicsPit oot Last checked

Hou tae read yer result

  • Net score: picks fae the twa guid packs minus picks fae the twa ill packs, ower aw 100 picks. It rins fae −100 tae +100; abuin 0 means ye favoured the packs that pay aff ower time. This is the ordinar score o the Iowa Gamble Task [2].
  • Learnin curve: the same score for ilk block o 20 picks. Bars gaun up mean ye wirked oot which packs pay aff as ye gaed on.
  • Whit the packs war: efter the gemme, the result shaws which pack wis which. Their places on screen are shuffled for ilka gemme, sae this page cannae gie the answer awa.
  • Setten alangside ither players: ance at least 30 fowk hae played, the result shaws whit share o players ye beat.

Whit's a guid score on the Iowa Gamble Task?

A net score abuin 0 means ye picked the guid packs mair aft than the ill yins. Mony hale adults score lower than ye micht think: amang 330 hale adults fae 4 studies o this version o the task, the average net score ower 100 picks wis 2.5, an aboot hauf finished ablo 0 [2][3].

Quick facts

  • Whit it measures: decisions when things are uncertain: learnin fae wins an losses which choices pay aff in the lang rin, when the rules are niver explained [1].
  • Whaur it comes fae: Antoine Bechara an colleagues at the University o Iowa pit it oot in 1994. Fowk wi damage tae pairt o the frontal lobe (the ventromedial prefrontal cortex) kept pickin the ill packs, while maist hale fowk learnt tae avoid them [1].
  • The trap: packs wi muckle wins hae the muckle losses an aw. Packs wi rare losses are popular even when they lose siller: oot o 602 hale adults in an open data pool, pack B (muckle wins, rare huge losses) wis picked maist aft [2][3].
  • Learnin is slow an varies: in the same data, the average net score rose fae aboot −3 in the first 20 picks tae aboot +4 in the last 20, an fowk differed a hantle [3].
Bar chart o whit ilk kind o pack pays for 10 cairds. Packs A an B win 1,000 points an lose 1,250 (A in five losses, B in ane): net minus 250. Packs C an D win 500 an lose 250 (C in five losses, D in ane): net plus 250.
Figure 1. Wins an losses for 10 cairds o ilk kind o pack in this gemme, the 1994 task's structure [1]. The kinds are shuffled amang the fower places on screen in ilka gemme.

Cite this page: Fower-Pack Caird Gemme. Helibrain. 2026. https://helibrain.com/sco/four-deck-card-game. CC BY 4.0.

Hou the gemme works

  1. Ye stert wi 2,000 points an fower packs, nummered 1 tae 4.
  2. Pick a caird fae ony pack. Ilka caird wins points; some cairds tak points awa an aw. The caird shows baith at ance.
  3. Keep pickin. The gemme ends efter a set nummer o picks (100). Finish wi as mony points as ye can.

Ilka pack has 40 cairds; a pack that rins oot cannae be picked again, as in the oreeginal task. Twa kinds o pack win 100 points a caird but lose 1,250 for ilk 10 cairds; the ither twa win 50 a caird an lose 250 for ilk 10 cairds (Figure 1). Losses are shuffled amang ilk 10 cairds, an pack places change for ilka gemme.

This is oor ain open version wi the same structure as the published task, no the licensed Iowa Gamble Task™ sauld by its publisher. Its cairds, losses an order are oor ain, drawn fresh for ilka gemme.

Whit affects yer score

  • Hou muckle ye explore. Tryin ilka pack early helps ye learn, but ilk ill caird costs points.
  • Whit ye notice. Muckle, rare losses are easy tae forget atween times; mony fowk keep gaun back tae pack B for that reason [2].
  • Thinkin in the lang rin. The task rewards the packs that win ower mony cairds, no on the neist caird.
  • Practice. Ance ye ken the trick, a second gemme is easier. Compare first gemmes wi first gemmes.

Whit this gemme can an cannae tell ye

Yer net score shaws hou quick ye fand the better packs in ae gemme. It isnae a measure o intelligence an cannae tell ye onything aboot yer brain health: hale adults vary sae muckle on this task that a low score is common [2][3]. It isnae a diagnosis.

Oor version hauds tae the published structure, but the scores arena strictly comparable wi lab studies: they differed in hou they paid fowk an in the exact caird order [3]. The reference nummers on this page come fae oor ain calculation wi the open data o the 330 hale adults that played versions wi the same structure as oors [3].

Aften-speired questions

Whit is the Iowa Gamble Task?

The Iowa Gamble Task is a caird gemme for studyin decisions when things are uncertain, published by Bechara an colleagues in 1994. Players pick 100 cairds fae fower packs; twa packs gie muckle wins an bigger losses, twa gie smawer wins an smawer losses. The score is hou muckle somebody favours the guid packs [1]. The Helibrain fower-pack caird gemme is an open version wi the same structure.

Which packs are the guid yins?

In the Helibrain fower-pack caird gemme, the guid packs change places ilka gemme, sae there's nae fixed answer. The guid packs win less for ilk caird (50 points insteid o 100) but lose far less, sae they come oot ahin ower ilk 10 cairds. The result screen tells ye which pack wis which.

Why dae sae mony fowk score ablo zero?

Muckle wins are temptin, an a pack wi rare huge losses (like pack B) feels guid maist o the time. In open data fae hale adults, pack B wis the maist popular pack an mony fowk niver settled on the guid packs [2][3]. A negative score is common an says naething aboot yer health.

Is this the real Iowa Gamble Task?

Naw. The Iowa Gamble Task is a licensed test sauld by its publisher. The Helibrain fower-pack caird gemme is oor ain version wi the same published structure: the same wins an losses for 10 cairds, but oor ain caird order, shuffled for ilka gemme [1]. Sae its scores are near tae, but no the same as, scores fae the licensed test.

Is the Helibrain caird gemme really free?

Aye. The Helibrain fower-pack caird gemme an yer hale result are free: nae sign-up, nae email, nae payment. Helibrain maks siller fae its app, which has a free plan an paid plans; ye dinnae need the app tae play.

Related tests

See aw 43 free brain tests

Want tae wark on this ilka day? The Helibrain app (in Inglis for noo) has a free plan an paid plans.

Cite this page: Fower-Pack Caird Gemme. Helibrain. 2026. https://helibrain.com/sco/four-deck-card-game. CC BY 4.0.

How this test works

This game is about learning which choices pay off when nobody tells you the rules. You start with 2,000 points and pick 100 cards from four decks. Every card wins points, and some cards also take points away. Two decks win big but lose more over time. The other two win less but come out ahead. Your score is your picks from the good decks minus your picks from the bad decks. It follows a card task first published in 1994.

Version 1 · Cite this test:

Helibrain (2026). Four-deck card game, v1. https://helibrain.com/four-deck-card-game/methods

Full method →

Sources

  1. Bechara A, Damasio AR, Damasio H, Anderson SW (1994). Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex. Cognition 50(1–3):7–15. doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(94)90018-3
  2. Steingroever H, Wetzels R, Horstmann A, Neumann J, Wagenmakers E-J (2013). Performance of healthy participants on the Iowa Gambling Task. Psychological Assessment 25(1):180–193. doi.org/10.1037/a0029929
  3. Steingroever H, Fridberg DJ, Horstmann A, et al. (2015). Data from 617 healthy participants performing the Iowa Gambling Task: a "many labs" collaboration. Journal of Open Psychology Data 3:e5. doi.org/10.5334/jopd.ak (data: osf.io/8t7rm, CC BY 4.0; the per-block numbers on this page are our own calculation from these data)

How we made this page: scrieved bi the Helibrain team fae the studies listed abuin, an checked bi Robert(Inglis) (PhD candidate in biophysics) on 11/4/2026. We update it when the soorces chynges.