How to play
Each route has a start and a destination. Your job is to name the countries (or US states) you would pass through to travel between them over land, using as few as possible.
Making guesses
Type a name and pick it from the list. Common spellings work: "USA", "UK", "Ivory Coast" and "Czech Republic" are all understood. You can guess in any order. You don't have to start next to the start country.
You win as soon as your guesses join the start to the destination without a gap. Extra guesses that sit off the route don't block a win, they only cost you guesses.
What the colours mean
- Green: the guess lies on at least one shortest route.
- Yellow: it borders a shortest route. One step off.
- Orange: two borders away from a shortest route.
- Red: far from the route, or an island with no land borders.
Guesses and scoring
The puzzle tells you how many countries the shortest route crosses. You get that many guesses plus a few spare ones: four spare for short routes, five for routes of three to five stops, and six for longer ones.
- Perfect: you named exactly the shortest route, without a hint.
- Excellent: one guess over the minimum.
- Great: up to three over.
- Solved: you got there.
Hints and giving up
Stuck? "Reveal a stop" adds the next missing country on a shortest route as one of your guesses. It uses up a guess and shows as a light bulb in your shared result. "Give up" ends the puzzle and draws a shortest route on the map.
Sharing
When you finish, "Share result" copies a spoiler-free grid of coloured squares, one per guess, so friends can compare without seeing the answer.