How to play Farflung Game
Farflung Game is a daily geography puzzle. Each day brings five prompts, like “Pin a country the Equator crosses”. Every prompt has several right answers, and you drop one pin on the world map for each. Obvious answers move you a little. Rare answers carry you far.
The daily expedition, step by step
- Read the promptThe prompt types out first. Your 45-second clock only starts once you can read the whole thing.
- Tap a countryTap or click anywhere inside a country to place your pin. Scroll, pinch or use the + and − buttons to zoom in on small countries and islands. You can move your pin as often as you like before you drop it.
- Drop the pinPress Drop pin (or Enter on a keyboard). That’s your answer, with no take-backs. If the clock runs out while a pin is placed, it drops by itself; with no pin placed, the round scores 0 km.
- See how far you travelledA stamp shows how rare your answer was, then every right answer appears on the map from most common to rarest, ending with the day’s gem.
- Make camp and shareAfter five pins you see your total distance, the zone you reached on the trail, and a result you can share without spoiling the answers.
Scoring: the rarer, the farther
Each right answer has a rarity tier, set by how many people would think of it. The less obvious your pick, the more kilometres it’s worth. Five perfect “Farflung” answers make the maximum of 500 km.
| Tier | Distance | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Common | +20 km | The answer most players reach for first. |
| Uncommon | +40 km | Correct and a little off the beaten track. |
| Rare | +60 km | You took the back roads. |
| Elusive | +80 km | Hardly anyone thinks of it. |
| Farflung | +100 km | The day’s gem: one hand-picked, surprising answer per prompt. |
| Miss | 0 km | A pin in the sea, in a country that doesn’t fit, or no pin at all. |
Tiers also have their own shapes (circle, triangle, diamond, square and star) and map textures, so you can tell them apart without relying on colour.
The trail: five zones to 500 km
Your distance carries you along an expedition trail. Cross a boundary and you enter a new zone:
- The Harbour — 0 to 99 km
- The Lowlands — 100 to 199 km
- The Highlands — 200 to 319 km
- The Peaks — 320 to 439 km
- The Far Reach — 440 to 500 km
What counts as a country
- Sovereign countries are the answers. Each prompt’s note spells out any edge cases, such as whether a gulf counts as part of a sea.
- Territories count for the country that governs them. A pin on Greenland counts as Denmark, French Guiana as France, Puerto Rico as the United States. The pin label shows it: “Greenland (Denmark)”.
- Borders follow Natural Earth, a public-domain map used widely in atlases and apps. They aren’t a statement on any dispute.
- Small island nations have a generous tap area: a tap in the sea right next to one snaps to it.
The fair-play rules
- One expedition per day. Everyone gets the same five prompts, and a new expedition starts at midnight in your local time.
- The clock never pauses. If you leave the page mid-round, the clock keeps running, so looking things up costs you time. Come back and you resume with whatever is left.
- No hints before you drop. Nothing on the map gives away an answer’s rarity until your pin is down.
Controls
Phone & tablet
Tap to place your pin. Pinch to zoom, drag to pan. Tap the big button to drop. During the reveal, tap anywhere to skip ahead.
Computer
Click to place your pin, scroll to zoom, drag to pan. Press Enter to drop, and again to continue. Hover over the map to see country names.
New to Farflung?
Your first visit starts with a practice prompt: no clock, three quick tips, nothing saved. You can replay it from the home screen before you start the day’s expedition. Then read our tips for finding rare answers, or jump straight in.