The world rewards
the curious.

Twelve countries to call your own.

Every expedition begins with twelve randomly drawn countries. Together they form your empire, arranged in a stack in the order you’ll play them. Play the first country, then work through the stack as your expedition grows.

Find your country's strength.

A challenger is drawn from the rest of the world. You see its name and shape. Both countries’ figures and flags stay hidden until you play. The globe is pinned to your country during the choice. Choose the category where you think you have the edge. Higher wins in seven categories; for proximity to the equator, closer wins. After playing, compare both flags and all eight categories to see what else could have worked.

An unavailable category stays visible with an explanation. Only categories with reliable figures for both countries can be played. Identical displayed figures tie.

Win a country. Learn something.

Both values appear on a shared scale, with the source and year behind each number. Win, and the challenger becomes yours. Your played country moves to the back of the stack, followed by your new country.

Lose, and your played country returns to the world. You lose one of your four lives. A country you lose can turn up again, ready to be won back.

A tie makes the next round matter.

Your played country moves to the back of your stack and you keep your lives. The challenger becomes contested, outlined in gold on the globe. It does not count as yours yet. Your next win claims the challenger and every contested country. A loss releases them back into the world. Another tie adds to the stakes.

There is no extra penalty for losing contested countries. If no unclaimed challengers remain, all remaining contested countries join your empire.

Take your time. See how far you get.

There is no clock by default. You get four lives for the entire expedition. Each loss costs one life; lives never refill. Four losses end the game. Reach all 174 countries in the expedition to conquer the world.

Your progress and personal best are saved on the server and linked to this browser by a cookie. You can close the page and return to an unfinished expedition. An internet connection is needed to play. Older saved expeditions keep their original rules, including any life restoration.