Courtdle

About Courtdle

Courtdle puts you on the bench for a few minutes a day. Every day a new docket of five real American court cases opens, the same five for every player. Each case is told in a few sentences, with the court, the city and the year above it, and ends with a question such as what the judge decided. You answer by choosing one of three outcomes, or by guessing an amount where the case turned on money.

The clock is short on purpose: thirty seconds a case, so there is no time to look it up. A correct verdict earns between 50 and 100 points depending on how fast you ruled, and an amount scores more the closer you get, so a perfect docket is 500 points. After each answer the game shows the real ruling, marks your call green, amber or red, links to the source, and shows how other players voted. If you think the court got it wrong, you can object.

The cases come from court records and news reporting. Companies and public figures are named; private people are not. The game is made by Rens Timmermans and asks for no email or account: finish the docket, choose a nickname and your score joins the day's leaderboard, where only your first try counts. Playing every day builds a streak, and one missed day a week is forgiven as a recess. The nine players with the most points in a month hold the seats of its Supreme Court.

Courtdle suits players who like quick daily quizzes and stories of odd lawsuits, and anyone curious how often their gut agrees with a judge.

How to play Courtdle

1. Open courtdle.com and press Take the bench to start the day's docket.
2. Read the facts of the first case and the question under it.
3. Choose a verdict with A, B or C, or enter an amount when the case asks for one, before the thirty seconds run out.
4. Read the real ruling and its source, and object if you disagree with the court.
5. Go on through all five cases, then pick a nickname to put your points on the day's leaderboard and share your result.

Screenshots

Tips

• Answer quickly when you are sure: a correct verdict is worth more the sooner you give it.
• For amounts, a guess within a quarter of the real figure still counts as correct, and within a factor of two as close.
• Your streak lives in your browser, so play on the same device and browser each day.

Questions