Itugma

Itugma™ started with two pieces of my childhood: a matching flag game I loved, and mahjong games with my aunt, my mom, my sister, and my cousin.

As a child, one of my favorite games was a flag-matching game. I loved turning the pieces over, finding the matches, and remembering every flag. Each flag felt like a tiny doorway to somewhere else in the world.

I did not just play the game. I learned from it.

I remembered the flags.

I still know many of them to this day.

And somewhere in that childhood memory was a dream: maybe one day, I could visit all those countries too.

Mahjong was another part of that story. I played with family, surrounded by green-backed tiles, clicking sounds, laughter, focus, and the feeling of trying to remember what was where. The tiles were beautiful, solid, and familiar. They made memory feel like something you could hold in your hand.

But Itugma™ also came from something deeper.

I built Itugma™ because I needed a way to help me remember better while I was recovering from a major stroke.

After everything my brain had been through, memory was no longer something I could take for granted. I wanted a tool that could help me practice remembering in a way that felt visual, playful, familiar, and encouraging instead of frustrating or clinical.

That is where Itugma™ came from.

I wanted to bring those worlds together:

• the flag-matching game I loved as a child,
• the mahjong tiles I played with family,
• the dream of seeing the world,
• and the need to keep rebuilding memory with hope, color, and play.

The word Itugma means match or make it match in Tagalog. That made it the right name. It connects the game to culture, memory, family, and the simple action at the center of the app: finding what belongs together.

Itugma™ begins with country flags, then expands into state flags, Pride flags, faith symbols, major faiths, and bonus categories. Each tile is designed like a mahjong tile: green on the back, white on the face, and made to be turned over, studied, matched, and remembered.

Itugma™ is a memory game, but it is also a tribute to the games that shaped me and a tool for the brain I am still rebuilding.