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Shade

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Three data charts a day, each missing one piece: shade it in.

Every day: Three new charts and maps of real data each day, the same for every player, each with one blank piece to shade in. New puzzle: Midnight in the player's own time zone.

Play Shade on axisless.com
A Shade round: a London Monopoly board coloured by house price growth, asking how high Pall Mall ranks

Shade is a daily data puzzle from Axisless. Each day brings three charts and maps coloured by real numbers, each with one piece left blank, and you drag a slider until its shade looks right. The closer you get to the true value, the more of the 100 points per chart you score.

About Shade

Shade is a free browser game from Axisless, the small data-puzzle site made by Paul Longe, which also makes World Imposter. It launched publicly in late September 2026.

Every chart in Shade is coloured by a real figure, darker meaning more. One piece is blank: a country, a region, or a square on a board. You get a question about it, then drag a slider until the colour of the blank piece matches what you think the true number is, and place it. Your score for the round is out of 100, higher the closer you are.

A day is three rounds, and each comes from a different kind of chart. One day's round asked how much house prices had grown since the 1990s on the real streets of a London Monopoly board, with Pall Mall left blank. You can reason from the shades around the gap, or from what you already know about the subject.

When the three rounds are done you can share your result. Players who want more can try five extra puzzles, an unlimited mode and a practice round, the last two marked as beta. Shade suits people who like maps, charts and a quick guess at a number, and it needs no account.

How to play Shade

  1. Open Shade and press Play to start the day's first chart.
  2. Read the question and the scale: darker colours mean a larger number.
  3. Look at the blank piece and the shades of the pieces around it.
  4. Drag the slider until the blank piece's colour matches your estimate.
  5. Place it to see the real value and your score out of 100.
  6. Play all three rounds, then share your result.

Screenshots

Shade's share card: a honeycomb of shaded hexagons with the centre one blank, and the words Fill in the missing piece

Tips

  • Compare the blank piece with its neighbours first: real data often changes gradually from place to place.
  • Check the scale under the question before moving the slider, since some charts measure a ratio rather than a total.
  • Use the practice round to get a feel for how the slider maps to colour.

Questions

When does Shade get new puzzles?

New puzzles arrive at midnight on your own device's calendar, so the day changes at your local midnight.

How many puzzles are there each day?

Three charts a day, each from a different subject. Five extra puzzles and an unlimited beta mode are there for more play.

Is Shade free?

Yes. It is free to play in the browser with no account.

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