Locabulary
Rate itChain countries letter by letter until you land on the day's mystery country.
Every day: One mystery country a day, the same for every player, reached by a chain of countries each starting with a letter of the one before. New puzzle: Midnight UTC.
Locabulary is a daily geography puzzle on a world map. Each day hides one mystery country, and you reach it by building a chain: every country you name must start with a letter taken from the previous one. Closeness bands and later clues steer you, and the shorter your chain, the better your score.
About Locabulary
Locabulary hides one mystery country each day and asks you to find it by chaining countries together. You can start with any country. After that, you tap a letter in the current country's name and then name a country that begins with that letter, so every step in the chain is tied to the one before it by spelling.
Each country you add is shown on an interactive world map, and the game tells you how close its first letter is to the first letter of the mystery country: within 2 letters, within 6 letters, or over 6 away. As the chain grows, further clues can show the mystery country's first letter and its continent. The fewer countries you need, the better your score, so the puzzle is as much about choosing the right letter to jump from as about knowing the map.
The day's country changes at midnight UTC, and past challenges can be replayed from the archive. The site has a page for teachers with a five-minute, projector-friendly routine and printable handouts. It is free and needs no account.
How to play Locabulary
- Start by typing any country name into the box under the map.
- Tap a letter in the current country's name to choose where the chain goes next.
- Name a country that starts with that letter and see it on the map.
- Read the closeness band, within 2, within 6 or over 6 letters, and the extra clues as they appear.
- Keep chaining until you name the mystery country, using as few countries as you can.
Screenshots
Tips
- Pick a first country with many different letters, so you have more starting letters to jump to.
- Use the closeness bands to home in on the first letter before worrying about the continent.
- Once the continent clue appears, list the countries on it that start near the letter you have narrowed to.
- Countries with long names, such as those with two words, give the most letters to chain from.
Questions
When does Locabulary change?
A new mystery country comes at midnight UTC, the same for everyone.
Can I play past days?
Yes. The Past Challenges archive lets you replay earlier puzzles.
How is Locabulary scored?
By the length of your chain: the fewer countries you need to reach the mystery country, the better.
Can it be used in class?
Yes. The For Educators page describes a short classroom routine on one shared screen, with handouts.
Ratings and reviews
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