Field guide
How to play
Each day brings two missions. Both use categories like Name a bird or Name a country, and the same categories go to everyone on the same calendar date. Type your answer and press Enter. Plurals, capitals and small typos are fine.
Mission 1 · Common vs Blue Moon
Two categories and 12 answers in total.
- Round 1 · Common: 3 answers per category, 15 seconds each. Name what most people would say. The top answer is worth 100, and points drop off quickly as answers get less common.
- Round 2 · Blue Moon: 3 answers per category, 30 seconds each. Name the rarest real answers you can. Points depend on the tier.
Mission 2 · The Ladder
One category and four spins. Each spin picks a rarity tier, and you name an answer from exactly that tier. A bullseye scores 100, one tier off scores 40 and two tiers off scores 15. Every player gets their own spins.
Rarity tiers
| Tier | Round 2 points | How rare |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 5 | Among the answers almost everyone gives |
| Uncommon | 20 | At least 8% as popular as the top answer |
| Rare | 40 | At least 3% as popular as the top answer |
| Legendary | 60 | At least 0.8% as popular as the top answer |
| Mythic | 80 | Real, but hardly anyone says it |
| Once in a Blue Moon | 100 | One of 5 hand-picked deep cuts per category |
Rarity starts from our estimate of how often people give each answer. As people play, the real answers they give take over, so rarity reflects what players actually say.
Bonuses
- Speed: answer within the first 5 seconds in Round 1, or the first 8 seconds in Round 2 and The Ladder, to keep full points. After that your points slide to 60% of full value as the timer runs out.
- Combo ×1.5: a great answer powers up the next one. In Round 1, a great answer is a top-3 answer; in Round 2, a Mythic or Blue Moon answer; on The Ladder, a bullseye.
- Wrong answers cost nothing. Keep typing until the timer runs out.
How far you fly
Your score is converted into a distance, scaled to a standard 6-answer flight so both missions compare fairly. Landmarks along the way:
| Distance | Landmark |
|---|---|
| 0 | Earth |
| 25 | The Moon |
| 70 | Mars |
| 125 | The Asteroid Belt |
| 185 | Jupiter |
| 245 | Saturn |
| 305 | Uranus |
| 365 | Neptune |
| 425 | Pluto |
| 480 | The Kuiper Belt |
| 540 | Eris |
| 600 | The Heliopause |
| 670 | The Oort Cloud |
| 760 | Interstellar space |
| 860 | Alpha Centauri |
Streaks
Finish a daily mission to keep your streak alive. One missed day in any 7 is forgiven by your shield. Your ship upgrades every 5 days in a row.
Tips
- In Round 1, go with your first instinct; the obvious answer is usually right.
- In Round 2, think in sub-groups: regional species, older titles, technical names.
- On The Ladder, Common and Mythic are the easiest rungs to hit; the middle tiers take judgment.