About Borderline

A daily border wiped from the map. Trace it back: the closer your line, the better.

A daily drawing puzzle. Two neighbouring countries are shown as one shape with the border between them wiped away, and you trace where it runs. Some borders follow rivers and mountain ridges; others are straight lines drawn on a map. Country borders link to a Learn article on how the line came about.

How it works

1. 1The two places are drawn as one shape with the border between them wiped off.
2. 2Drag across the map to trace where the border runs, then submit. Pan and zoom first to get it right.
3. 3Your line snaps to the nearest outer border at each end, so trace as much of the length as you can.
4. 4You're scored on how close your line sits to the real one and how much of it you covered.

Tips

• Read the shape's edges. Where the outline pinches in, the border often runs between those two points.
• Think about the land. Many borders follow rivers or ridgelines; in deserts and former colonies, many are straight lines.
• Zoom in before you draw. A close view makes a winding river border much easier to follow.
• Trace the whole length. Leaving part of the border undrawn costs as much as drawing it in the wrong place.

Questions

How is it scored?

Out of 100. Your line is compared to the real border over the stretch you covered: on the world map, a line about 20 km off on average scores about 90, and the score falls as the gap grows. Country maps are stricter, in step with their size. That's then scaled by how much of the border you traced, so drawing half of it caps you near 50.

Which borders come up?

Land borders between neighbouring countries, weighted toward familiar ones, and a pair doesn't repeat within six weeks.

When is there a new daily?

Every day at midnight where you are. Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same date, and practice rounds are random.

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