In Genie's Riddle the genie is thinking of a country and gives you five clues, one at a time, from hardest to easiest: where it is, what its money is called, which countries it borders, one of its official languages and, last of all, its flag. Guess as soon as you're sure. The earlier you guess, the more points you score, but a wrong guess costs you a clue. Play World or one region, on Explorer or Expert.
Every game has 10 rounds, and no country comes up twice. Each round starts with one clue on screen and four countries to choose from. The other four clues are locked. A new one unlocks every 10 seconds, or straight away if you press Next clue.
The clues always come in the same order. Clue 1 tells you the part of the world the country is in and whether it has a coastline or is landlocked. Clue 2 names its currency, or says it shares its currency with other countries when more than three use it. Clue 3 names one or two of its neighbours, or tells you it has no land borders. Clue 4 gives an official language, picking the one used officially in the fewest countries, because that is the most telling. Clue 5 shows the flag.
The first three clues never contain the country's name, its capital or the word for its people, so they can't give the answer away by accident.
Each round has 60 seconds. When you answer correctly, a fact card shows the country with its flag, capital and region, and the clue you solved it on.
Scoring in Genie's Riddle is different from every other mode. There's no speed bonus. What matters is how many clues you needed. A right guess while clue 1 is the latest on screen scores 1,000 points. On clue 2 it's 800, on clue 3 600, on clue 4 400 and on clue 5 200. A gold pill above the clues always shows what a guess is worth right now.
A wrong guess doesn't end the round. The tile you picked turns red so you won't pick it twice, and the next clue unlocks, which lowers the points still available. A wrong guess on clue 5, or running out of time, scores nothing for that round.
Ten rounds make a perfect game of 10,000, so medals, personal bests and XP work just as they do everywhere else. Your answer streak counts rounds solved in a row and resets on a round you miss.
Because it has its own timer and scoring, Genie's Riddle isn't part of Mixed or the daily challenge.
On Explorer, the four options come from the same region, picked from different parts of it wherever possible. That means clue 1 often does a lot of the work: if the genie says South America, the Central American and Caribbean options drop away straight away.
On Expert, every option comes from the same corner of the world, so the first clue doesn't help you choose between them. You'll need the currency, the neighbours or the language to tell them apart. A few corners of the world have fewer than four countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, and there the remaining options come from the wider region.
Use the coastline. "Landlocked" is one of the strongest early hints: South America has only two landlocked countries, Bolivia and Paraguay, and Europe's are mostly small or in the centre of the continent.
Learn the currencies that belong to just one country. If clue 2 says the sol, the baht or the kwanza, you can often answer for 800 points. When the clue says a currency is shared with other countries, it's usually the euro, a CFA franc or the Eastern Caribbean dollar, which narrows the area without settling it.
Neighbours are the turning point. Two named neighbours usually leave only one possible answer, so clue 3 is a good moment to guess if you've kept the map in your head. "No land borders" points to an island nation.
Don't guess at random on clue 1. A wrong guess reveals the next clue anyway, so a lucky guess is worth 1,000 points but a miss costs you 200. If you aren't sure, press Next clue and spend the points on certainty.
- Why doesn't Genie's Riddle have a speed bonus?
- The clues set the pace instead. You score by how few clues you needed: 1,000 on the first, down to 200 on the last.
- What happens if I guess wrong?
- The tile turns red, the next clue unlocks and you can guess again. Only a wrong guess on the fifth clue ends the round with no points.
- Is Genie's Riddle part of Mixed?
- No. It has its own 60-second timer and clue-based scoring, so it stays a mode of its own.
- Why is Palestine left out?
- It has no currency of its own, so the money clue would be misleading. It still appears in other modes.
- Can I play one region at a time?
- Yes. Choose Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe or Oceania, or World for every country.