Tips for beginners
You do not need to know every country to score well. A handful of clues narrows the world down quickly, and they show up in almost every round. Start with these.
1. Check which side the cars drive on
Most of the world drives on the right. Driving on the left narrows things down straight away: the UK and Ireland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and much of southern and eastern Africa, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, among others.
2. Read the alphabet, even if you cannot read the words
Cyrillic points to Eastern Europe, the Balkans or Central Asia. Rounded, looping letters suggest Thailand; circles and straight strokes suggest Korean; a mix of simple and complex characters suggests Japan. Latin script helps too: ñ hints at Spanish, ã and ç at Portuguese, ø and å at Scandinavia, ł at Polish, ş and ğ at Turkish.
3. Look at the license plates
A thin blue strip on the left of a long white plate means a European Union country. Yellow rear plates are a strong sign of the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. Shorter, squarer plates are common across the Americas.
4. Notice the road markings
Yellow lines down the middle of the road are typical of the Americas, while most of Europe uses white ones (a few countries, such as Norway, are exceptions). Dashed or solid edge lines, and their color, differ from country to country too.
5. Read the speed signs
Speed limits in miles per hour are a big clue: they point first of all to the United States and the United Kingdom. Almost everywhere else uses kilometers per hour.
6. Follow the sun
Well south of the equator the midday sun shines from the north; well north of it, from the south. If shadows point the 'wrong' way for your hunch, try the other hemisphere.
7. Read the landscape
Deep red earth is typical of inland Brazil, the Australian outback and parts of Africa. Birch and pine forests suggest the far north; palm trees and thick green growth, the tropics; dry scrub and bare hills, desert climates.
8. Zoom in on shops and signs
Shop fronts often carry a phone number or a web address. Endings such as .de, .fr or .com.br name the country outright, and phone numbers starting with a country code (like +90 or +48) are just as useful.
9. Turn all the way around before you move
The best clue is often behind you. Spin a full circle at the start of every round before you walk anywhere.
10. Unsure? Guess in the middle
Points fall off with distance, so a guess in the centre of the region you suspect is safer than a bold pin at one edge. Being roughly right beats being far wrong.
11. Learn from every round
After each guess the result screen shows how to recognize the country you were in. Read it, then practise in Country mode, where you only have to name the country, and try the daily challenge to test yourself against everyone else.