Sixteen squares are drawn from a pool of twenty-three categories, so the board changes every game. Twenty-six countries appear one at a time, eight seconds each. Place each one in a square it belongs to, or skip it. Fill all sixteen squares to win.
The clock
Eight seconds per country. Let it run out and the country is skipped for you — no penalty beyond the country you've lost.
Wrong answers
Cost you a life, move you straight on to the next country, and burn one country off the end of the queue. Three wrong and you're out.
Island country
Entirely surrounded by water, with no land borders at all. Ireland does not count: it shares its island with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, so it has a land border.
Flag is two colours
Exactly two colours across the whole flag. A coat of arms or emblem brings its own colours with it, so Portugal does not count — its flag is green and red, but the shield on top adds several more.
Capital isn't the largest city
Measured by city proper, not metro area.
Main language
The most widely spoken language in the country, not merely an official one.
Only borders one country
Exactly one land neighbour. Island countries border nobody, so they never qualify here.
Crossed by the equator
The line runs through the country's territory. "Entirely south of the equator" means no part of the country sits north of it.
Free Hit
Covers every empty square the country fits, all at once. You get one per game and it's spent whether it covers six squares or none.
You're given a category with ten answers. Name all ten. Three wrong guesses and you're out.
Where an answer lands
Ranked categories slot in by rank — guess the largest country and it takes box 1. Unranked categories use a fixed order, so each answer still has its own box.
Naming
Common short forms are accepted: USA, US and America all work for the United States, UK and Great Britain for the United Kingdom. Small typos are forgiven on longer names.
Repeats
Naming a country you've already found costs nothing. Only a genuinely wrong guess takes a life.
Finishing
All ten with no wrong guesses is a Perfect 10. All ten after a slip still means you know your geography.