WikiFork

About WikiFork

WikiFork lays the day's two endpoints across the top of the screen, such as Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, on the left and N'Golo Kanté, the French footballer, on the right. Between them sits a chain still to be built. Each turn you are dealt two cards, each a person with a portrait and a one-line description, for example Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist, and Muhammad, Arabian political leader and the founder of Islam.

One of the two lies on a shortest path to the target through Wikipedia's links, and the other is a distractor. You lay down the one you think stands fewer links from the target, and the chain grows. You have ten moves, and a perfect run finds the shortest chain there is. Reasoning about who would mention whom on Wikipedia, across eras, countries and fields, is the whole game.

There is a daily puzzle and an Unlimited mode for more, and a sources page explains where the link data comes from. It suits players who enjoy Wikipedia rabbit holes and the six degrees idea.

How to play WikiFork

1. Open wikifork.com and press Today's Puzzle.
2. Read the starting figure and the target figure at the top.
3. Each turn, look at the two cards and pick the person you think is fewer Wikipedia links from the target.
4. Keep building the chain within ten moves.
5. See how close your chain came to the shortest one, then try Unlimited mode.

Screenshots

Tips

• Think about hub figures: very famous people link to many others and are often on the shortest path.
• Look for a shared field, country or era between a card and the target.
• Modern figures are often reached through institutions, events or countries rather than other people.
• Use Unlimited mode to get a feel for how Wikipedia links people.

Questions