How to play
- Press Start. You have 4 minutes and 20 scrambled capitals, different every game.
- Each word is scrambled on its own and stays in its place, so the number of words and their lengths are a clue.
- Type the name for the selected scramble. It counts as soon as it’s right, and the next unsolved one is selected. Tap a scramble, or press Tab, to switch.
- Stuck? Reveal next letter shows the start of the answer, one letter at a time, and takes 5 seconds off the clock.
- Only the selected scramble counts: type another capital and you’re told it isn’t that one.
- When time is up, the ones you missed show the capital and its country in red.
Modes
Choose before you press Start. Each combination keeps its own scores and best.
- Standard deals names of 4 to 16 letters with at most three words.
- Hard deals every capital, including the three longest.
- Each word scrambles every word on its own and keeps the gaps between them.
- All letters mixes the whole name together, so you can’t see how many words it has.
Tips for unscrambling
- Look at the shape first. A four-letter second word is often CITY: five capitals end in it, such as Mexico City and Panama City.
- Look for common first words. Five capitals start with PORT, such as Port Louis and Port Vila, and five with SAN, SANTO or SAO, such as San José and Santo Domingo.
- Some capitals share their country’s name, such as Singapore, Monaco and Luxembourg. If a scramble looks like a country, it may be one.
- Say the letters as syllables rather than reading them in order. Many capitals are built from a few short sounds: try pairing a consonant with each vowel.
- Skip the hard ones. Press Tab and come back later: the clock doesn’t care which order you solve them in.
Which capital counts
Each country’s main capital is used, the first one listed in Capitals of the World. Where a country has more than one, the others aren’t dealt. When the game ends, every missed capital is shown with its country.
Capitals, accents, spaces and punctuation don’t matter, so “yaounde” counts for Yaoundé. The name must use exactly the letters shown, so an alternative name with other letters doesn’t count.
Questions
Which capitals can come up?
The capitals of all 197 countries in Countries of the World. Standard mode leaves out the 3 longest names, Hard mode includes them. The capitals you saw in your last three games are held back while there are enough others.
Can a scramble spell a rude word?
No. Every scramble is checked against a list of offensive words and shuffled again if it contains one.
Do hints affect my score?
Your score is the number you solve. Each hint takes 5 seconds off the clock, and the result shows how many hints you used and how many capitals you solved with one.
Can I stop and come back later?
Yes. Pause, or close the page: the game is saved in this browser with the same scrambles, and comes back paused.
Where are my scores kept?
Only in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.
More geography
- Scrambled Countries: the same game with country names
- Capitals of the World: name the capital of every country from memory
- Countries of the World: name all 197 countries in 10 minutes
- All quizzes, including each continent’s countries, capitals and flags
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.
- All quizzes
- El Trivia home