How to play Mapdle

One hidden place every day. Find it on the globe in five pins or fewer.

The basics

Check today’s subject. Every day has one subject: States & Countries, Landmarks, or Waterways. It is shown at the top of the screen.
Read clue 1. It tells you the broad area and what kind of place it is.
Place a pin. Drag the globe to turn it, tap to drop a pin, then press Confirm pin. Not sure? Press Clear and tap again. To see more detail, zoom in with the + and − buttons or by pinching.
Unlock more clues. Clue 2 appears after your first pin, clue 3 after your second. You can win on any pin.
Follow the hints. After each miss, you see how far away you were and which direction to go. The globe also turns closer to the answer.
Win or run out. You get up to five pins. Then the answer is revealed and you can share your result.

What the colors mean

🟩 Green	Within 217 miles (350 km). Close enough, you win!
🟨 Yellow	218 to 621 miles (351 to 1,000 km) away. Getting warm.
🟥 Red	More than 621 miles (1,000 km) away.

When the answer is a whole U.S. state or country (for example, Ohio or Portugal), the rules change a little: 🟩 means your pin is inside it, with a little leeway at the border so a pin on the line still counts. 🟨 is a pin outside it but within 621 miles (1,000 km), and 🟥 is farther. Cities, landmarks, and waterways use the distances above. The legend under the globe always tells you which rule applies today.

The arrow next to each pin (for example ↗ NE) points from your pin toward the answer. You can switch between miles and kilometers on the game screen. The colors always use the same distances.

An example round

Subject: Landmarks.

Clue 1: “A landmark in Western Europe.” You pin Germany. 🟨 about 385 miles, ← W.
Clue 2 unlocks: “It is in France.” You pin central France. 🟩 Close enough, you win!

Your share message would look like this. The colored squares show how each pin went:

Mapdle #42
Landmarks
🟨🟩
https://geographygym.com/mapdle/

Good to know

When does the next puzzle appear?: At midnight in your time zone. After you finish, the screen counts down to it.
Can I play today’s puzzle twice?: No. There is one puzzle per day, and your result is saved on your device.
What are the answers like?: Each answer is a place you can point to: a state, a compact country, a city, a landmark, a lake, a strait, a river at a notable spot, and so on. Huge areas such as Russia or the Sahara are never the answer, but a city or landmark inside them can be.
Can I zoom in?: Yes. Use the + and − buttons on the globe, or pinch on a touch screen. Country borders fade in as you zoom, and U.S. state lines appear a little closer. When the puzzle is over, borders are always shown. Press Reset to return the globe to its starting view.
Is my streak safe if I switch phones?: Your streak and stats are saved on the device and browser you play on. They do not move to another device.
Does it work offline?: Once you have opened Mapdle, it can load without a connection. Add it to your Home Screen for the best experience. The Wikipedia and map links in the Learn more pop-up need an internet connection.

Play today’s puzzle

Privacy · Part of Geography Gym