Plain / Airmail Club

Guess the scale. Climb the sky.

Preparing your flight…

Daily number-sense game

Plain Game: Guess the scale. Climb the sky.

Play Plain Game free in your browser: seven daily estimation rounds, no sign-up. The closer you guess, the higher your plane climbs. Practice anytime.

JavaScript enables the interactive flight. No download or account is required.

Flight briefing
Flight briefing

  1. 1. A name or a number

    Five rounds ask for a named thing close to a target value. Two rounds ask for a numeric estimate. Type a full name or select a suggestion; values stay hidden until you answer.

  2. 2. Get close and gain altitude

    Each timed round lasts 30 seconds. A closer answer earns more points; each point lifts your aircraft ten metres. A Bullseye earns a bonus. After three seconds your plane gently descends.

  3. 3. Enjoy the reveal and share the flight

    One hidden round doubles your points. Review the actual numbers and references, save an original boarding-pass image, and invite a friend with a spoiler-free link or challenge code.

One shared daily flight. Unlimited ways to practise.

Daily questions reset at midnight in New York. Play unlimited random flights, choose one of twenty collections, or switch to untimed Discovery mode. Your completed flights, badges, experience and daily streak stay on this device. No account or paid service is required.

An independent implementation, not the official PlayPlain service. Original vector artwork, synthesized music and independently compiled factual seed data. Reference links and data scopes appear in the field guide; this is not a live statistics service.

The interactive game is the English edition. This page description is localized separately.

Open the standalone game

What is Plain Game?

Plain Game is a free daily estimation game for your browser. Name something close to a target value or estimate a number, and the closer you get, the higher your plane climbs.

Plain Game is free in your browser

Open Plain Game and press Play. There is nothing to download and no account to create.

Seven rounds, one daily flight

Each daily Plain Game flight has seven rounds: five ask you to name something near a target value and two ask for a numerical estimate. Timed rounds last 30 seconds.

Closer guesses fly higher

Accuracy earns points and every point lifts your plane ten metres. You do not need the exact answer; a close estimate still earns points.

The same questions for everyone

The daily flight resets at midnight in New York, and players on the same data version receive the same questions.

Practice, collections and Discovery

After the daily flight, keep playing Plain Game with unlimited practice, one of twenty collections for the name rounds, or untimed Discovery.

Challenge a friend

Share a flight link or code. Your friend plays the same route separately and compares scores; shared scores are self-reported.

How to play Plain Game

Three things to know before your first Plain Game flight.

  1. Read the category and unit

    Every Plain Game round starts with a category and a unit. Five rounds ask you to name something near a target, such as a mountain near a given height; type a full name or pick a suggestion. Two rounds ask a factual question and you enter a number; 2.5k and 1.2 million both work.

  2. Lock in your answer

    The first accepted answer in a Plain Game round is final. A timed round gives you 30 seconds, an unknown name lets you try again while the clock runs, you can skip a round when you are stuck, and a skipped or timed-out round scores 0.

  3. Read the reveal

    After answering you see the real value, how close you were and a reference link. Finish all seven reveals to get your results, a boarding-pass image and a link to share.

How Plain Game scoring works

Plain Game compares your answer with the target as a ratio, so an answer twice the target and an answer half the target earn the same points.

Up to 100 base points per round

A positive answer earns round(100 × exp(−2 × |ln(answer ÷ target)|)) points. You never need to calculate this while playing; aim close and read the reveal.

A Bullseye adds 25 points

Land within a factor of 1.01 of the target, from target ÷ 1.01 to target × 1.01, and Plain Game adds a 25-point Bullseye bonus.

One hidden Golden Round

Every flight hides one round that doubles its points. You find out which after answering. Seven perfect answers earn the maximum 1,000 points.

Years are scored differently

For a calendar-year question, Plain Game counts the years you are off: one year away earns 94 base points and ten years away earns 54. Only the exact year gets the bonus.

Altitude is not points times ten

Each point adds ten metres, but a timed round loses four metres per second after the first three seconds, up to 108 metres. Discovery mode has no descent.

Think longer or answer faster?

One extra point is worth ten metres and one extra second costs four, so a short pause that finds a closer answer pays off. Waiting until timeout earns no lift.

Plain Game questions answered

Quick answers for new players. The linked guides explain each topic in full.

Ready for today's Plain Game flight?

A timed flight allows at most three and a half minutes of answering, plus the reveals. Press Play at the top of the page, or read a guide first.

Play today's flight