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What is Chain?

Chain is a daily higher-or-lower game. You get two cards side by side and a single statistic - points per game, box office gross, population, whatever the day's topic happens to be - and you call which one is higher. Get it right and the chain continues, with the card you just picked carrying forward against a fresh challenger.

Every day is a new topic. One morning it's NBA scoring leaders, the next it's the highest-grossing films of the 2000s or the most populous countries in Africa. The format stays the same; the subject keeps you honest. You can't grind out a strategy that works forever, which is exactly what makes it worth coming back to.

A full run takes about a minute. There's no timer breathing down your neck and nothing to install - open the page, make your calls, and see how far the chain goes.

How to play

  1. You're shown two cards, each with the same kind of statistic.
  2. Tap the card you think has the higher value.
  3. Guess right and the chain continues - your pick moves on to face a new card.
  4. Guess wrong and that link breaks, but the run keeps going to the end of the deck.
  5. Your score is how many calls you got right out of the day's rounds.

Scoring

Chain scores on how many calls you got right, on the same 0-1,000 scale as the other three games, so no single game dominates your daily total. Get every call right and you bank a perfect 1,000. Your score joins the day's leaderboard and counts toward your all-time total.

Tips and strategy

Anchor on the extremes

The easiest calls are the ones near the top or bottom of a distribution. If a card is an obvious outlier - the all-time leader, the blockbuster everyone remembers - trust it and move on quickly.

Beware of recency bias

The player or film you've heard about most recently is not necessarily the one with the bigger number. Career totals in particular reward longevity, not fame.

Read the stat, not the name

The same two entities can flip depending on whether the stat is a total, an average, or a rate. Check what's actually being measured before you commit.

Play the odds on unknowns

When you genuinely don't know either card, pick the one from the larger population, longer career, or bigger market. It's not a guarantee, but it's better than a coin flip.

Questions about Chain

Is Chain free to play?
Yes. Chain is completely free, plays in your browser on phone or desktop, and needs no download. You can play without an account, though a free account saves your streak and scores.
How often does a new Chain puzzle come out?
A new Chain drops every day at midnight, with a fresh topic and a new set of cards.
Can I play previous Chain puzzles?
Yes. Every past day lives in the archive with its full set of games and that day's leaderboard, and archive plays still earn points toward your career total and your level.
What topics does Chain cover?
Sports, entertainment, geography, science and current events, rotating daily. Each day's topic is announced on the card before you start.

The rest of the card

Chain is one of four free puzzles that land every midnight, and whatever you score on each adds up to one daily total. You don't have to play all four.