Tradle

About Tradle

Tradle comes from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, the OEC, a site that turns international trade data into charts. It was made by Alexander Simoes, who signs the game as @ximoes, and came out in March 2022. Its credits say plainly that it borrows the format of Worldle, which in turn borrowed from Wordle.

Each day you see a treemap: a rectangle split into coloured blocks, one per product, sized by that product's share of the country's exports. A map dominated by crude oil, coffee, copper or cars points you toward a few likely countries, while a mix of many small blocks is harder to read. You type a country or territory, and the game tells you how far its centre is from the answer, which compass direction to look, and a proximity percentage. You have six guesses.

The interesting part is how often the chart surprises you. Countries you think of for one product may export something else entirely, and small economies can hinge on a single item. Each round links to the answer's full profile on the OEC, so you can see the numbers behind the chart.

Tradle suits Worldle players who want a different kind of clue, and anyone curious about economics or trade. It runs in the browser for free, with ads on the page.

How to play Tradle

1. Look at today's treemap; each block is one export product, sized by its share of the country's exports.
2. Type a country or territory you think matches and submit it.
3. Read the distance, the direction arrow and the proximity percentage for your guess.
4. Use those hints, together with the chart, to choose your next guess.
5. Find the country within six guesses, then open its OEC profile to see the full trade data.

Tips

• Read the biggest blocks first; one dominant product such as oil, copper or coffee narrows the field fast.
• Pick a first guess in the middle of the region you suspect so the direction arrow is useful.
• When two countries share the same top export, look at the second and third largest blocks to tell them apart.

Questions