Mystery Car

About Mystery Car

Mystery Car is one of four daily car games on Piston Arcade, beside Garage Grid, Wrenchdle and Spec Shift. Each day has one numbered mystery car, the same for every player, and you have ten guesses to name it.

You start typing a make or model and choose a car from the list. The guess appears as a row of eight cells: brand, origin, year, body, drive, cylinders, power and weight. A cell turns green for an exact match, yellow for a close one and red when it is off. Close has fixed rules: an origin on the same continent, a year within four years, one cylinder either way, power within 40 hp, weight within 265 lb. Brand, body and drive count only when they match exactly. For year, cylinders, power and weight an arrow shows whether the hidden car's figure is higher or lower.

So a first guess of a 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS might come back with only rear-wheel drive in green and arrows pointing down on year, cylinders and power, which already rules out most modern sports cars. From there each guess is a choice about which column to pin down next.

A side panel shows today's stats for everyone who played: the share who solved it, the average number of guesses and how many got it first time. When you finish you can share your result, your streak is kept, and the archive lets you play any past day, though archive games do not count toward your stats.

It suits people who know their cars by the numbers. If you would rather guess from a photo, Cardle and CarGuesser do that; Mystery Car is about specifications.

How to play Mystery Car

1. Open Mystery Car on Piston Arcade; no sign-up is needed.
2. Type a make or model in the Guess a car box and pick a car from the list.
3. Read the row of eight cells: green is an exact match, yellow is close, red is different.
4. Follow the arrows on year, cylinders, power and weight to see if the hidden car's figure is higher or lower.
5. Keep guessing until you name the car or use all ten guesses, then share your result.

Screenshots

Tips

• Open with a common car with middle-of-the-road figures, so the arrows on year, power and weight tell you as much as possible.
• A yellow origin means the same continent, so a yellow Germany points to another European country.
• Pin down brand and body early: they only ever show green or red, and getting them right cuts the list fast.
• Close means within 40 hp and 265 lb, so a yellow on power or weight puts you very near the answer.
• Missed a day? The archive has every past car, and playing it does not touch your stats.

Questions