GeoGrab: all the rules

Two players, Red and Blue, share one map and learn it as they play. Red goes first.

Naming countries

On your turn, type the name of a country (or a state on the USA map) and press Enter. If nobody has it yet, it turns your color.
Spelling does not have to be perfect: small typos are fine. Suggestions appear after 3 letters.
Naming a country that is already colored in counts as a miss: you lose your turn.
You can Pass your turn. If both players pass in a row (Pass, or the clock runs out), the game switches to multiple choice: a country glows and you pick its name from three. That lasts until someone gets one right.

Boxing in

A pocket is a group of unclaimed countries you can only reach through your own land. Make one and you have boxed it in: a quiz starts.
Boxing in only starts once both players own land in that part of the map. (Otherwise the very first move would box in everything.)
Some maps have separate land areas, like the UK and Ireland, or Norway, Sweden and Finland in Europe. Each counts on its own.

The quiz

One boxed-in country glows (an arrow points at very small ones). Name it to win it, then the next one glows.
Any other answer is a miss. Then the other player gets a chance: they answer the same country, and keep going while they are right.
If they miss too, the quiz ends and the game shows the answer, with a fact about the country. Countries nobody named stay open for anyone.
Typing something that is not a country never counts: just try again.
After the quiz, play goes on with the player who did not start it.

Hints

Each player has 3 hints per game. Each hint costs one.
On a normal turn, the first hint gives the first letter of a random open country. Ask again and that country glows on the map.
In a quiz, the country already glows, so the hint gives its first letter.

Winning

The game ends when every country is taken.
Bigger countries are worth more, but not in proportion: points are the square root of the area, so one giant country cannot win the game alone.
Most points wins.

Timer

Each turn has a clock: 40 seconds for a move, 25 for a quiz answer or a steal, 20 for multiple choice, plus 3 seconds after any card closes. The clock waits while a card is open.
When time runs out, the turn is passed. In a quiz that counts as a miss; in multiple choice, as a wrong pick.
Turn the timer off with the Timer switch on the start screen. Practice mode has no clock.

Practice mode

Choose Practice on the start screen to explore a map: tap or click any country to see its name.

Credits

Maps: Natural Earth (public domain). Borders and names follow the Natural Earth dataset and are not a political statement.

Drawing: D3 v7 by Mike Bostock (ISC license).

D3 license

Copyright 2010-2026 Mike Bostock

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Font: Fredoka by The Fredoka Project Authors (SIL Open Font License 1.1).