How to play Pindrop

Find five cities on a globe. Get as close as you can. Every day brings a new challenge shared by all players.

  1. Read the city and country. Each run includes one city from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, progressing from easy to expert.
  2. Explore the globe. Drag with a mouse or swipe to rotate. Scroll or pinch to zoom. Zooming closer helps you place a precise pin.
  3. Tap to answer. Tap or click a point on the globe to lock in your guess immediately. Dragging rotates the globe without answering.
  4. See the result. See the correct location, your distance, and the points you earned. Choose Next city when you’re ready.
  5. Share your score. After five cities, copy or share your score, save a scorecard, or start a free extra run.

How does scoring work?

Each city is worth up to 100 points. Scores decrease with distance using the same exponential curve for every player. A perfect daily total is 500 points. At roughly 3,200 km away you earn 50 points; at 16,750 km or farther you earn zero.

The server calculates scores from your submitted coordinates. Your browser cannot choose its own leaderboard score.

When does the daily game reset?

A new daily game begins at 00:00 UTC. The countdown in the game shows how long remains. A run started before reset can still be finished, but only the current day’s daily run can enter today’s board.

Is Pindrop free?

Yes. The daily game and extra five-city runs are free. No account or payment details are required.

How does the leaderboard work?

Finish today’s daily run and add two or three initials to submit your score. The board shows the five highest server-verified player scores, with earlier submissions breaking ties. Extra runs are practice and don’t enter the daily leaderboard. There are no simulated players.

Keyboard and accessible controls

Tab to the globe. Use arrow keys to rotate, Shift + arrows for smaller movements, and +/− to zoom. Enter or Space answers immediately at the visible crosshair. The 2D map supports arrow-key aiming and Enter or Space to answer. Dialogs support Tab navigation and Escape to close.

What if the globe won’t load?

Choose Use 2D map for a lighter map. If WebGL is unavailable, Pindrop switches automatically. A connection is needed to load challenges and save verified guesses. Failed requests can be retried without replacing an already-submitted guess.

Where is my history saved?

Your browser saves score history on this device when storage is available. Clearing site data or switching devices can remove that history. If storage is blocked, you can still play during your current visit.