Home / Puzzle / Trio Logic Cards
Trio Logic Cards is a free set card game online: a visual logic puzzle played with 81 cards. Every card shows one, two or three symbols in one of three colours, three shapes and three fills, and a trio is any three cards where each of those four features is either the same on all three or different on all three. Twelve cards lie face up and you tap the three you think make a trio. There are three ways to play. Classic deals from a shuffled deck and adds three more cards whenever the table holds no trio, until the deck is gone. Race gives you three minutes to take as many as you can. Puzzle lays down a fixed twelve that holds exactly six trios and asks you to find them all. A wrong pick costs five seconds and names the feature that broke it, and three hints per round each show one card of a trio. Works with a mouse, a touch screen or the keyboard; no download, no account.
How to play Trio Logic Cards
- Every card has four features, each with three values: the number of symbols (one, two or three), the colour (coral, teal or indigo), the shape (circle, triangle or square) and the fill (solid, striped or outlined).
- A trio is three cards where each feature, looked at on its own, is either the same on all three cards or different on all three. Two of one and one of another, in any feature, is not a trio.
- Tap or click three cards to pick them. When the third is picked the game checks them: a trio is taken, anything else costs five seconds and the status line names the feature that broke it. Tap a picked card again to put it back.
- Classic: twelve cards from a shuffled 81-card deck. Taken trios are replaced from the deck, and whenever the table holds no trio three more cards are dealt automatically. The round ends when the deck is out and no trio is left; your score is the time, penalties included.
- Race: the same table against a three-minute clock, with a fresh shuffle whenever the deck runs out. Your score is how many trios you take.
- Puzzle: a fixed table of twelve cards that holds exactly six trios. Nothing is removed or dealt. Find all six; the ones you have found are listed under the table, and picking one of them again costs nothing.
- Hint shows one card of a trio you have not taken yet; press it again to show the next card of the same trio. Three hints per round, ten seconds each.
- Stars: Classic gives three for clearing the deck in 3:10 and two within 7:10; Puzzle gives three for all six in 0:40 and two within 1:28; Race gives one star at 5 trios, two at 12 and three at 24.
- On a keyboard, the cards on a wide screen sit in three rows that match the letter rows Q to U, A to J and Z to M, and each card shows its letter. Press the letters to pick; Escape or Backspace drops the pick.
Tips
- Do not look for trios; look for pairs. Any two cards have exactly one card that completes them, so pick two, work out the third feature by feature, and check whether it is on the table.
- Working out the third card is quick: for each feature, if the two cards agree the third must agree too, and if they differ the third must be the value neither of them has.
- Hunt in the biggest group first. If five cards on the table are teal, there are ten teal pairs to check for an all-teal trio before you start mixing colours.
- Changing where you look beats staring. In testing, sweeping one card against every other before moving on was slower than hopping between pairs all over the table, because a card that is in no trio wastes the whole sweep.
- In Puzzle, once you have four or five trios, check the cards that appear in none of your found trios yet. A card on the table usually belongs to at least one of the six.
- A wrong pick costs five seconds and a hint ten. In Race, three quick guesses cost more than one careful look.
FAQ
Is Trio Logic Cards free to play?
Yes. Trio Logic Cards is free to play online with no download, no account and no in-game purchases. All three modes are open from the start.
Is Trio Logic Cards the same as the SET card game?
It uses the same trio rule as the SET card game — three cards whose every feature is all the same or all different — but it is an independent game with its own card art (circles, triangles and squares rather than diamonds, squiggles and ovals) and its own modes. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the makers of SET, which is a registered trademark of its owner.
How many cards and trios are there?
The deck has 81 cards, one for every combination of the four features, and 1,080 possible trios. Any two cards are completed by exactly one third card, which is why checking pairs is the fastest way to find a trio.
What happens when there is no trio on the table?
Twelve random cards hold no trio about one time in 31. When that happens in Classic or Race, three more cards are dealt automatically, and again if needed. Twenty cards can be chosen with no trio among them, but any 21 always contain one, so the table never grows past 21.
How long does a Classic round take?
A full deck gives between 21 and 27 trios, depending on the cards left over at the end. In testing with a model of a steady player, a round took four to six minutes; three stars need 3:10 or less.
Does every Puzzle really have six trios?
Yes. Each Puzzle table is dealt from its own shuffle and kept only if its twelve cards hold exactly six trios, no more and no fewer. Play Again gives you the same table; New Deal gives you a different one.
Can I play with a keyboard?
Yes. On a wide screen the cards sit in three rows matched to the keyboard: Q, W, E and on across the top row of cards, A, S, D across the middle and Z, X, C across the bottom. Each card shows its letter. Escape or Backspace clears a pick.
Does Trio Logic Cards work on mobile?
Yes. On an upright phone the cards are laid out three to a row and sized to the screen, and every card is a large tap target.