About the Geography pack
The Geography pack is a rare-answer quiz about the map. Every prompt asks for one place from a long list, such as a country in Africa, a European capital, a river in Asia, a Greek island or a city in Texas, and any correct answer counts. The twist is the scoring: the places everybody names first are worth the least, and the ones hardly anyone remembers send you deepest and score the most.
It is the biggest of our themed packs. It covers whole continents, country subdivisions such as Swiss cantons, Irish counties and Brazilian states, physical geography such as deserts, straits, volcanoes and waterfalls, and city lists for a dozen countries. If you liked school atlases or spend time zooming around online maps, this is the pack to start with.
How a Geography dive works
Each dive is 7 prompts from this pack. A prompt shows for 3 seconds, then you have 25 seconds to type an answer. A wrong answer is simply refused, so you can try again until the time runs out. A right answer scores 10 to 100 points depending on how rare it is, so a full dive is worth up to 700. The pack has 63 prompts, enough for 9 dives before any prompt repeats. Dives are numbered: use the list on the start screen to pick dive #1, jump ahead or replay one you have done.
Example prompts from this pack
- Name a US state. Hawaii is one of the first answers people give (10 points); Ohio is much rarer (60 points).
- Name a country in Africa. Cabo Verde is one of the first answers people give (10 points); Sudan is much rarer (60 points).
- Name a country in Europe. United Kingdom is one of the first answers people give (10 points); Ukraine is much rarer (60 points).
How to find rare answers in a geography quiz
- Go small. Microstates, small island nations and landlocked countries are named far less often than the big, newsworthy ones.
- Use the edges of the map. For a continent, think about the far corners rather than the middle you remember from the news.
- Switch scale. For "a river in Europe", skip the famous capitals' rivers and think of tributaries and border rivers.
- Remember spellings are forgiving: accents and capital letters are ignored, and near misses get a suggestion you can confirm.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Geography pack free?
Yes. Every Geography dive is free, with no sign-up and no limit on how many you play. Signing in is optional and only keeps your scores on every device.
How many dives are in the Geography pack?
The pack has 63 prompts, which make 9 dives of 7 with no prompt repeated. After that the numbers keep going and the prompts come back in a new order. Dive numbers are fixed, so dive #2 is the same for everyone.
How is the Geography pack different from the Daily 7?
The Daily 7 mixes topics; every prompt in this pack is about places. The Daily 7 is one fixed set a day, the same for everyone and counted toward your streak. Pack dives can be played at any time, as many as you like, and do not change your daily streak.
Can I replay a dive?
Yes. Pick any dive number in the list on the start screen to play it again or to skip ahead. Your best score for each dive is kept in your browser.
How do you decide which answers are rare?
Within each prompt, the accepted answers are ranked from most to least common, mostly by how often each answer's English Wikipedia article was read over the past twelve months (word prompts use how often the word appears in written English). The rarer an answer, the deeper you dive: 10, 30, 60 or 85 points, and 100 for one or two hand-picked answers per prompt.
More questions? See the Daily Game Arcade FAQ.
Other themed packs
- Words — Spellings, rhymes, idioms and the odd corners of English.
- Movies & cartoons — Films, studios, directors and famous characters.
- Sports — Teams, events, venues and games.
- Music — Songs, albums, composers, instruments and styles.
Or play today's Daily 7, unlimited mixed dives or multiplayer.