ZoomOut

About ZoomOut

ZoomOut is a daily puzzle from Videoludid, a one-person independent game studio in France. Each day's level is a single image from a video game, cropped to a small detail at first: a patch of texture, part of a character, a corner of an interface.

You type the game you think it is. A wrong guess or a skip zooms the image out to the next level, showing more of the scene, and you have five attempts in all. Level makers are asked to make each step add a new hint and to make sure a series entry can be told apart from its siblings, so a sequel is not a free pass. When the day is done the game shows how you scored against other players and a short fact about the game.

The daily levels are built by the authors and by players, who can submit their own through the site's editor; submissions join a backlog that feeds the daily queue. Themed weeks appear now and then, such as a run of horse-themed levels for the Lunar New Year. ZoomOut is free in the browser. It suits players of GuessThe.Game who like spotting a game from the smallest clue.

How to play ZoomOut

1. Look at the zoomed-in detail of the day's image.
2. Type the name of the video game you think it comes from.
3. If you are wrong or skip, the image zooms out to show more.
4. Keep guessing until you name the game or use all five attempts.
5. Read the Did You Know and compare your score with other players.

Tips

• Look at colour palettes and pixel style first; they often give away the era.
• Interface fragments such as health bars or fonts are strong clues.
• Skipping costs an attempt, so take a guess when you have even a rough idea.

Questions