Maps of History · Which Year? · How to play
Daily history map puzzle
How to play Which Year?
Every day there is one historical map, the same for everyone. Your job is to work out the year it shows. You have six tries.
Reading the clues
Each map shows who held which land on one date: empires, alliances, fronts and occupied zones, with the names that the places had at the time. A divided Germany, a Roman province or a Mongol khanate can narrow the year down a long way.
After each guess
An arrow tells you whether the map is ↑ later or ↓ earlier than your guess, and a bar tells you how close you are:
| Exactly right | 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 | |
| Within 1 year | 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ | |
| Within 5 years | 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ | |
| Within 25 years | 🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜ | |
| Within 100 years | 🟥⬜⬜⬜⬜ | |
| Over 100 years off | ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ |
The emoji in the right-hand column are what your result looks like when you share it. The shared result shows your path, never the year.
Two hints
- After your third guess: which atlas the map comes from.
- After your fifth: a place in the map’s story, pinned on the map.
Streaks, past days and practice
Solve the day’s map on its day to build a streak. Your results and statistics stay in your own browser; there is nothing to sign up for. Past days holds every earlier map, and Practice gives you one more whenever you like. Neither changes your streak.
Where the maps come from
Every puzzle is a moment from one of the 21 interactive atlases on Maps of History, from the Roman Republic to the Arab Spring. When you finish, you can open the same map in its atlas, at the same date, and read the chapter that explains it. Maps of massacres, famines and other atrocities are never used as a puzzle: those events are remembered in the atlases, not played.
Questions
How do I play Which Year?
Look at the day’s historical map and type the year you think it shows. You have six tries. Each guess tells you whether the map is earlier or later, and how close you are: within 100, 25, 5 or 1 years.
What are the hints?
After your third guess you learn which atlas the map comes from. After your fifth, a place from the map’s story is pinned on it.
How do I guess a year before Christ?
Press BC (or the B key) before you guess. Press AD, or the A key, to go back.
When does the map change?
At midnight in your own time zone. Everyone gets the same map on the same date.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
It is free, and there is nothing to sign up for. Your results, streak and statistics are kept in your own browser.
Where do the maps come from?
Every map is a moment from one of the 21 interactive atlases on Maps of History, showing who held which land on that date. Maps of massacres, famines and other atrocities are never used as a puzzle.
Can I play earlier days?
Yes. Past days has every earlier map, and Practice gives you one more whenever you want. Neither changes your streak.