How to play

One quest a day

A new quest opens every day. You get a short story about someone who has lost something. It never names the place — it is a puzzle, not a caption.

Drop a pin

When you think you know where it happened, click the map and press Guess. If you are wrong the game tells you two things: roughly how far off you are (very close, close, warm, cold) and which direction to go. It never tells you the exact distance — with two exact distances you could work the answer out with a compass and no history at all.

Hints cost points

The first hint is free. The second and third are there whenever you want them, but each one costs you points. Using all three and still solving it is a perfectly respectable way to play — it just will not win the day.

Scoring

• Every quest starts at 1000 points.
• Revealing the second hint, and again the third, costs 150 each.
• Every wrong guess costs 50. Scores never go below zero.
• Solving quickly earns up to 200 more, decaying over your first half hour — measured from when you first opened the quest, not from the clock. Playing in the evening, or from another timezone, costs you nothing.

Streaks

Solving the day's quest extends your streak. That is the number worth caring about; the daily leaderboard is a bit of fun beside it.

The archive

Every past quest stays playable forever. Archive quests count towards your own totals but never towards the daily leaderboard or your streak — so there is no rush, and nothing is spoiled by playing them late.

Do I need an account?

No. You can play straight away. An account is only needed to keep a streak and to appear on the leaderboard — and if you make one after solving something, that solve comes with you.