How to play
- Press Start. You have 3 minutes and 20 country shapes, a new set every game.
- Type the name of the selected shape. It counts as soon as it’s right, and the next one is selected. Tap a shape, or press Tab, to switch.
- Only the selected shape counts: name another and you’re told it isn’t that one.
- When time is up, the shapes you missed show their name in red. Tap any shape to see it larger, and practise the ones you missed.
About the shapes
The shapes come from 185 of the 197 countries in Countries of the World. Islands far from the rest of a country are left out: France is drawn without its overseas regions, Spain without the Canary Islands and the United States without Alaska and Hawaii. A few countries whose outline is only scattered specks of coral, or a dot too small to have a shape, never come up.
Each shape is drawn on its own scale, as big as its tile allows, so a small country looks as big as a large one. The size won’t help you: the outline will.
Questions
Which names count?
The same names as Countries of the World, with their alternatives, such as Ivory Coast for Côte d’Ivoire. Capitals, accents and punctuation don’t matter.
Can I stop and come back later?
Yes. Pause, or close the page: the game is saved in this browser with the same shapes, and comes back paused.
Do I see the same shapes every game?
Each game is dealt at random, and the shapes from your last three games are held back while there are enough others.
More to play
- Countries of the World: Type every country you can before the clock runs out.
- Capitals of the World: Name the capital of every country before the clock runs out.
- Periodic Table: Name every chemical element before the clock runs out.
- Element Symbols: Name the chemical element behind every symbol.
- Flags of the World: Name the country from its flag.
- Scrambled Countries: Unscramble the letters to find the country.
- Scrambled Capitals: Unscramble the letters to find the capital city.
- Greek Alphabet: Name all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, from their shapes.
- NATO Phonetic Alphabet: Name the code word for every letter, A to Z.
- 100 Most Common English Words: Name the 100 words that turn up most often in classic novels.
- Planets: Name the eight planets of the solar system in one minute.
- Olympian Gods: Name the twelve gods of Mount Olympus from what they ruled.
- English Monarchs: Name every king and queen of England since 1066.
- Zodiac Signs: Name the twelve signs of the zodiac from their dates.
- Best Picture Winners: Name every film that has won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- All quizzes
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