Cardle

About Cardle

Cardle is a daily guessing game for car enthusiasts. Each day it shows a tight crop of one car's photo (a tail light, a door line, a bit of trim), and everyone playing that date gets the same car. The photos come from auction listings on Bring a Trailer, which the game credits.

You have five tries, and each try asks for three things: the make, the model and the year. Each one you get right is worth a point, and a year counts as right if it is within two years either way. Your points are multiplied by a score multiplier that starts at five and drops by one after every incorrect guess, so naming the car from the first close-up pays far more than getting it from the full view. After each miss, the picture zooms out to show more of the car.

A row of lights for make, model and year tracks your progress through the five tries. Your streak and all-time points are kept in the browser if you play on the same device each day; signing up for a free account adds a global leaderboard. The site shows ads.

It suits people who can tell a model year from the shape of a tail lamp, and anyone who wants a short daily puzzle about cars rather than words.

How to play Cardle

1. Open Cardle and look at the cropped photo of the day's car (tap it to enlarge).
2. Type the make, the model and the year (within two years counts) and submit.
3. Each correct part scores a point; the picture zooms out after a miss and the multiplier drops by one.
4. Keep guessing the parts you missed, up to five tries.
5. See your final score, streak and, if signed in, your place on the leaderboard.

Tips

• Guess a year even when unsure: anything within two years of the right one scores.
• Badges, lamp shapes and door handles in the first crop often narrow the make quickly.
• A wrong guess costs a step of the multiplier, so make each try count.
• Play on the same device and browser to keep your streak without an account.

Questions