How to play
Every day there’s one highlighted country. Name every country that shares a land border with it.
The basics
- Find the target. The highlighted outline on the map is today’s country. Its name stays hidden until you use the name clue or the round ends.
- Name its neighbors. Type a country that shares a land border with the target and press Enter. Correct answers fill in on the map.
- Find them all. Name every neighbor to win.
- Watch your strikes. A real country that isn’t a neighbor costs a strike. The fourth strike ends the round.
Unknown names, repeat guesses, and the target itself never cost a strike. Common names, abbreviations, accents, and small spelling mistakes are accepted. There’s no autocomplete.
Clues
Each of your first three strikes unlocks one optional clue, in this order:
- Continent: the continent the target is on.
- Borders: makes country borders visible on the map.
- Country name: reveals the target’s name.
Correct guesses don’t unlock clues. Tap an unlocked clue to use it. Used clues stay revealed and appear in your shared result, but they never affect your statistics.
Difficulty
- Easy (Monday–Tuesday): 3–4 neighbors.
- Medium (Wednesday–Friday): 5–6 neighbors.
- Hard (Saturday–Sunday): 7 or more neighbors.
Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same day. A new one arrives at midnight UTC.
What counts as a border
Only mainland physical land borders count. Overseas regions, territories, bridges, tunnels, and sea crossings don’t. For example, France does not border Brazil through French Guiana, and Spain does not border Morocco through Ceuta and Melilla. See the full border rules.
After the round
When you finish, or choose to reveal the answers, the map labels every neighbor and shows the ones you missed. You can also switch to the Border web, which shows the target’s neighbors as a network along with the countries one border further out.
Share your result with a spoiler-free grid of found and missed neighbors. It never includes country names.
Questions
- Do I need an account?
- No. Your progress, streak, and statistics are saved in your browser on this device.
- Can I play offline?
- Yes. After your first visit, Borders works without a connection, including future puzzles. You can also install it from your browser’s “Install app” or “Add to Home Screen” option.
- I think an answer is wrong.
- Check the border rules first. If it still looks wrong, let us know.