How to play TapGuessr
Plant your flag anywhere on Earth, grow tile by tile, take cities and rule countries before the season ends.
Season 1 is live: 23 players hold land, 5 days left to take yours.
1. Plant your flag
Tap the map to zoom in, then tap any free tile of land. Tap it again, or press Plant your flag here, and it's yours. Your first tile is free. You can't start right next to another player, so you always get room to grow. If the land near you is taken, you can start by taking over a weak tile of a big empire instead, for about 15 troops.
Play free2. Earn troops
Troops are what you spend on everything. You earn them every minute, even while you're away:
| Source | Troops a minute |
|---|---|
| Everyone | 20 |
| Each tile of open land | +1 |
| A city of a million or more | +3 |
| A capital, or a city of five million or more | +5 |
Troops stop building at your cap: 150, plus 6 for every point of income your tiles add. If you're at the cap, spend before you go.
3. Claim and attack
You can claim free land up to three steps from your land. Next door is cheapest, and longer jumps cost more (×2.5 for two steps, ×5 for three). You can only attack tiles right next to your land.
- Free land costs 8 troops next door.
- Another player's tile must be next to yours, and costs its strength plus 5. A fresh tile has a strength of 10.
- Fortify your own tiles by spending troops on them, up to a strength of 200.
Playing with the keyboard
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys or WASD | Move between tiles |
| Enter or Space | Take the tile |
| F, or Shift+F | Fortify by 10, or by 50 |
| 1 to 5 | Play a card |
| Esc | Cancel a card, or close the tile |
| H | Go to your land |
| R | Open the rankings |
| + and - | Zoom in and out |
4. Hidden finds and cards
Nitro flowers and bombs are hidden on tiles all over the map. Take a tile with one and it pops up:
- Nitro flower: your troop income is five times higher for 40 seconds.
- Bomb: all of your own land within four steps goes back to free land, the bomb's tile included. Players with fewer than 15 tiles are spared.
You get a free card every day, and more as your land grows. The smaller your empire, the stronger your cards. You can play one card an hour:
- Reverse takes back the last tiles someone took from you, up to 10.
- Draw Four grabs up to 20 weak tiles from a bigger empire next to you.
- Skip stops one neighbour attacking you for 30 minutes.
- Wild plants a new base on free land anywhere on Earth.
- Shield blocks the next card played on you, by itself.
5. Take cities and rule countries
Cities are the prizes. A capital pays five times an ordinary tile, so the fighting gathers around them. Hold more than half of a country's tiles and you rule it: the rankings show your name next to it.
Play free6. Hold the most land
A season lasts two weeks. The player holding the most land at the end wins, then the map is cleared and a new season starts. If you haven't played for 12 hours, your tiles defend at half strength, so a quick daily visit keeps your borders safe.