How to play Daily Geo

The daily flow

Rounds are completed in order. Failing one round does not end the day; it scores 0 and the challenge moves on.

Border Fragment

You see a small section of one country's exterior outline, always north-up. Guess the country immediately or reveal more of the same border. The outline grows through five stages, so each reveal gives more geographic information but costs points.

Example: one extra reveal and two wrong guesses leaves 1,450 points: 2,000 - 250 - 300. A successful round never falls below 250 points. Five incorrect guesses end the round with 0.

Strategy: look for coastline rhythm, peninsulas, concave bays, sharp directional changes, and distinctive corners before paying for more outline.

Geo Triangulation

A mystery country is hidden on a world map. You may probe up to three reference countries. Each probe reports the approximate center-to-center distance and compass direction from your chosen country toward the target. You can guess before using any probes or between probes.

• Each probe costs 300 points.
• Each incorrect guess costs 150 points.
• Distances are rounded to the nearest 50 km.
• Directions use eight sectors: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, and NW.
• Probing the mystery country itself is a direct hit.

Example: two probes and one wrong guess leaves 1,250 points if the next guess is correct.

Strategy: choose probes that are geographically separated. Two reference countries close together often repeat the same information. The Geo Triangulation guide explains the distance and bearing calculations.

What's Around Me?

Immediate land neighbors are drawn in their geographic positions while the target country is left empty. The missing shape is the clue. You can reveal one neighbor name, then all remaining names.

• Reveal one neighbor name: -300 points.
• Reveal all remaining names: an additional -400 points.
• Each incorrect guess: -150 points.
• Five incorrect guesses: round ends at 0.

Example: revealing one neighbor and then solving after one wrong guess scores 1,550 points.

Strategy: start with the shape and placement of the gap, then count the visible neighbors. Use labels only when they meaningfully narrow the region. Read country neighbors explained for the adjacency rules behind the puzzle.

Geo Sort

Five countries must be placed in order using one geographic property: west to east, north to south, smallest to largest by area, or fewest to most land neighbors.

You get three submissions. After an incorrect submission, the game tells you only how many positions are correct, not which ones. A first-attempt solve scores 2,000, a second-attempt solve scores 1,500, a third-attempt solve scores 1,000, and three misses score 0.

Strategy: establish the obvious extremes first, then compare the middle countries. On north/south or west/east questions, think about country centers rather than the furthest edge of each border.

Total score and failure

Each round is worth up to 2,000 points, so the daily maximum is 8,000. A failed round still counts as completed and the challenge continues. The final score is the exact sum of the four locked round scores.

Streaks, progress, and the UTC reset

A streak increases only after all four rounds for a UTC date are completed. Progress is stored locally on your device after meaningful interactions, including guesses, reveals, probes, and Geo Sort attempts. Refreshing the page does not give a fresh attempt.

Completed rounds are locked. If midnight UTC passes while a finished result is open, the old result remains visible until you choose to start the new challenge.