Guess a Country
Guess the mystery country. Use the clues from each guess to find the answer.
How to Play Guess a Country
You get 6 guesses to identify one hidden country. Type any country name into the search box, and after each guess you learn whether you were close, which direction the answer lies in, and how far away it is. Everyone worldwide shares the same country each day, and a new puzzle appears at midnight UTC.
Read the full rulesHow the Country Clues Work
Every guess produces three pieces of information, and together they narrow the field far faster than guessing randomly. If you are curious what sits behind the numbers, the methodology page sets out exactly how each clue is calculated.
Proximity
A bar shows how near your guess was. Longer means geographically closer, so your candidate list should tighten on every attempt.
Direction
An arrow points from your guess toward the answer. Two guesses with similar direction but different distance tell you which way to travel.
Distance
Exact kilometres between the two capitals. Combined with the arrow this is usually enough to solve the puzzle well within the guess limit.
A Worked Example
Here is what a typical solve looks like from the inside. The exact figures the game shows vary slightly with each country's reference point, but the shape of the game is always the same.
- Guess 1 — Egypt. The arrow points south-west and the distance reads roughly 3,400 km. One guess has already done its job: the answer is almost certainly in Africa, south-west of Egypt.
- Guess 2 — South Africa. Now the arrow flips to north-west at about 4,500 km. Two opposite bearings cross somewhere in the middle of the continent, which puts West Africa firmly on the table.
- Guess 3 — Chad. Under 1,000 km, arrow pointing west, proximity bar suddenly half full. You are in the right neighbourhood — only the country itself is still wrong.
- Guesses 4 and 5 — Cameroon, then Nigeria. Cameroon comes back close with a strong bar, and the next guess along that line lands the answer. Solved with a guess to spare.
Notice what made it work: no lucky guesses, just a sequence chosen so that each answer removed half the map. The narrowing strategy guide turns this into a repeatable method.
Why Everyone Gets the Same Country
A score only means something if everyone faced the same question. Because the daily country is fixed, your “solved in 3” is directly comparable with a friend's “solved in 3”, and sharing a result never spoils the puzzle for anyone who has not played yet.
The one-puzzle-a-day limit is a design choice, not a restriction. It keeps the game a two-minute habit rather than a grind, and it means the answer archive grows into a genuine record of countries you have met — including the ones that got away.
Keep Playing
Guess a Country Tips
Most players waste their first guess. A smarter opening gives you a reference point that makes every later clue interpretable.
Frequently Asked Questions
The full rules and clue explanations cover everything else, the narrowing strategy shows how to solve the puzzle by reasoning rather than luck, and the methodology explains how the daily country is chosen and scored. There are no accounts and nothing to sign up for — see the privacy page for the detail, the terms for the rules of use, and the about page for who is behind the game.