🎮 How Our Games Work

Our photo games ask one simple question: which city is this? A game like that is only fair if the photos are right, the options are sensible and the scoring is clear. This page explains how we handle each of those. If something looks wrong in a game, every photo has a ⚑ Report a problem link, described at the end of this page.

Where the photos come from

• Free photo libraries. Every photo comes from Pixabay or Pexels and is used under their licences. See our photo credits.
• Found by city name, checked by hand. We search the libraries by the city's name, then a person looks at every candidate photo and keeps only the ones that clearly show that city. Software does not choose or match the photos.
• Recognisable, but not always obvious. Some photos show a famous landmark, others a typical street, square or skyline. Our city pages explain how to recognise a city in a photo for the most visited ones.

The four options

Each photo comes with four answers: the right city and three wrong ones that we choose by hand. Often at least one of the wrong options is a nearby or similar city, such as another port on the same coast, because a quiz where every wrong option is obvious teaches nothing. If the same city ever shows up twice among the options, the game hides the copy, and you can report it.

Seven levels

The game has seven levels of 15 photos each. Every photo is placed in a level by hand when it is added, according to how hard we judge it to recognise. Later levels are harder and are worth more points. We also use the answers players give, shown on our most confused cities page, to spot photos whose level looks wrong.

Points and rules in each game

Guess the City

• You start at level 1 and move up a level after every 15 photos.
• A correct answer is worth 30 points on level 1, then 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 points on level 7.
• You have two minutes per photo. When time runs out, the game ends.
• You get three passes per game. You can also reveal the answer, but a revealed photo earns no points.
• After a wrong answer you choose: skip the photo and carry on, or end the game and keep your score.
• Your total decides your rank, from 🌱 Beginner to 🏆 Legend at 2,800 points.

Daily Challenge

• One photo a day, the same for everyone, with one attempt.
• The photos come from all seven levels in a fixed order, so every photo appears once before any repeats, and easy and hard days are mixed.
• Your streak counts the days in a row you have played. Past days, with how many players got them right, are in the Daily Challenge archive. The current day is never shown there, so there are no spoilers.

World Tour

• The tour visits six regions: Europe (10 photos), Asia, the Americas and Africa (5 each), and Oceania and the Middle East (2 each).
• Each region gets a random set of that region's photos. You must answer all of them correctly to unlock the next region; one mistake restarts the region with a new set.
• Each correct photo is worth the points of its level, and the regions add up to a tour total.

Capitals Quiz

• Name the capitals of 42 countries, with four options from the same region and 20 seconds per question.
• A correct answer is worth 10 points, with streak bonuses of 15 points for two in a row and 30 points for three or more.

Leaderboards

Anyone can play without an account. If you sign in, your best score in each game is saved to the leaderboard.

Game statistics

When you answer a photo, we record which option you picked, without any personal data. These answers power the "How well do players know this city?" boxes on city pages and the most confused cities page. Answers given after revealing the solution, and traffic from bots, are left out, and a number is only shown once enough people have answered. Details are in our privacy policy.

Report a wrong photo or answer

Under every photo in our games there is a ⚑ Report a problem with this photo link. Choose what is wrong, for example that the photo shows a different city or that the answer marked correct is wrong, and add a note if you like. The photo's number is attached automatically, so we know exactly which one you mean. We check every report, fix the photo or its options when the report is right, and remove a photo if we cannot be sure where it was taken. You can also write to us via the contact page.

How we research our city guides and articles is explained separately in our editorial policy.