Help
How the games work
Every game
Playing a game
- 1Pick a gameGames, in the bar at the top of every page, shows every game that is open, one tile each. A tile takes you to that game's home, where it says what it is and how long a run takes.
- 2Its first question starts the runEvery game opens on a question. Answer it and you are playing: no sign-up, no menu and no instructions first. The same question can appear on other pages, and answering it there starts the run from that answer.
- 3A run keeps its lookSome games can be played in more than one look. A run keeps the look it started in from the first screen to the last; it never changes halfway through.
- 4Your run is keptStop partway and the run is kept where you left it. Continue, on the front page and in the Games panel, takes you straight back to the same moment.
- 5The ending, then what really happenedWhen a run ends, well or badly, the ending shows the few decisions that took you there. Then it shows what the real people did: the real calls, with the reasons they gave and where they were reported.
Its own rules
Each game's own help
The TrailData center–style game · a run takes 5–8 minutesHow to play
The ChainComing soonThe chain of calls behind a story · a run takes 6–10 minutesHow to play
Delay DominoesNewA one-minute puzzle from the week's news · a run takes 1 minuteHow to play
Accounts and your record
You don't need an account to play. A cookie in your browser holds a random id, so this device picks up where it left off, with no password and no sign-up.
To keep a record you can take with you, choose a nickname. It comes with a recovery key: keep it somewhere safe, because it is how you get your record back on another device or after clearing your browser. You can also add an email and a password, if you want a way back in that does not depend on the key. All of it is optional.
You have one record across every game, kept game by game, under You in the bar at the top of the page.
Sharing a run
When a run ends, you can share it. The link opens your run for whoever you send it to: how it ended and the decisions that took you there, and then the same first question, so they can try it themselves. They see the nickname you played under, and nothing else about you.
Reporting a problem
If something breaks, a page will not load, or a game gets a fact wrong, tell us on the contact page. Say which game, which part of it, and what you saw; if it is a fact, say where you read otherwise. No account is needed, and every message is read.
Questions
Questions, answered
Is it free?
Completely. There are no payments, no subscriptions and no prizes, in any game. Your record is status, not money, so there is nothing to buy and nothing to cash out.
Is there a right answer?
No, and that's the point. Every situation is built so there is no clean, correct move; each choice gives something up. What matters is how you read an unclear moment and commit to a call. Some runs end well and some end badly, and the ending tells you why.
How long does a run take?
It depends on the game, and each one says so on its card and in the list above. You never have to finish in one sitting: stop, and Continue brings you back.
Is what happens in a game real?
The situation is. The games are drawn from real events, and the real calls each one shows are what named people and bodies actually decided, each linked to where it was reported. The people inside a game are invented, and its outcomes are simulations, not predictions. Nothing here is financial, legal, medical or professional advice.
Can I play something I missed?
Each game lists what is in it on its own pages, so start from the game's home. When a game is paused or retired, its home stays up and the runs played in it can still be read.
What does “status, not money” mean?
Your runs, endings and standing in every game are a mark of judgment, not a currency. They can't be bought, sold or redeemed, there are no prizes, and they hold no monetary value. It's bragging rights, kept honest.
Do you use my data? Is it private?
We keep it light. You can play without an account, the browser cookie only holds a random id, and there are no payments, so there is nothing to sell. The privacy policy says exactly what is kept, and how to have a copy of it or have it erased.