How to Play Size Comparison Game
Size Comparison Game is a game about one question: how big is it, really? Every round shows a familiar object in blue, drawn to scale and labelled with its true size, next to an orange silhouette of something else drawn at the wrong scale. You resize the orange shape until the comparison looks right, lock in, and find out how close you were. If you are new here, this page explains how to play it step by step, how the scoring works and how to get better at it.
How the game works
Match the orange silhouette to its real size relative to the blue reference. The question above the picture tells you which dimension each round counts – how long, how tall, how wide, or how big across for round things like balls and planets. You never need to type a number: you play entirely by adjusting the picture.
How to play, step by step
- Read the question. For example, “How long is a blue whale?”
- Look at the reference. The blue object is always correct, and its label in the top-left corner gives its real measurement – say, a family car at 4.8 m long.
- Resize the orange silhouette. Make it bigger or smaller until the pair looks right. The label in the top-right corner shows a live estimate of the size you are suggesting.
- Lock in. Press the Lock in button or hit Enter.
- See the reveal. The orange silhouette grows or shrinks to its true size, a grey shadow shows where you left it, and you get your score, the real measurement, a fact and the source.
- Next round. The Next button appears where Lock in was. Enter works too.
Controls
Mouse and trackpad
- Drag across the picture: right or up makes the silhouette bigger, left or down makes it smaller.
- Scroll over the picture to zoom the silhouette in or out smoothly.
- Use the slider for big moves and the − / + buttons for 10% steps.
Touch screens
- The game works on phones and tablets: pinch with two fingers on the picture, or drag with one finger.
- The slider and the − / + buttons are sized for thumbs.
Keyboard
- Keyboard players can nudge the size by 2% with the arrow keys; hold Shift for 10% steps.
- Enter locks in your guess, and Enter again moves to the next round.
The view zooms automatically so both objects always fit. When the orange shape gets bigger, the whole scene zooms out and the blue reference appears smaller. That is expected: to play well, watch how the two shapes compare with each other, not how large either one looks on screen.
How scoring works
Every round is worth up to 100 points, and every daily puzzle you play has five rounds, so the best possible day is 500. Scores depend on how many times you were off, not on the raw difference. That keeps rounds fair across very different scales: being 2 meters out on a blue whale is a small error, while being 2 meters out on a house cat is a huge one.
| Your guess | Points |
|---|---|
| Within 5% of the real size | 100 |
| 10% too big | 96 |
| 10% too small | 95 |
| 20% too big | 87 |
| 1.5× too big or too small | 66 |
| 2× too big or too small | 39 |
| 3× or more | 0 |
Guessing double the real size costs exactly as much as guessing half of it. Anything within 5% is treated as a perfect answer, because typical sizes vary that much in real life anyway.
What the colors mean
- 🟩 90–100 points – excellent
- 🟨 70–89 points – good
- 🟧 40–69 points – in the right ballpark
- 🟥 under 40 points – a long way off
At the end of the daily puzzle these squares become your shareable result: one square per round plus your total, so friends can see how you played without seeing the answers.
The daily puzzle
The daily puzzle has five rounds and resets at midnight in your own time zone. Everyone gets the same comparisons on the same day, which is what makes results worth sharing. One of the few rules is that you can play each daily puzzle once; if you close the page halfway through, the game remembers where you were and lets you continue, but it will not let you redo a round you have already locked in.
Rounds get harder as you play through the day's puzzle. The first comparison usually involves something everyone knows well, and the last one is often a surprise.
Streaks and statistics
Play the daily puzzle on consecutive days to build a streak. Your results screen shows games played, average score, current streak, best streak and how your totals are distributed. Everything is stored on your device – there is no account – so clearing your browser data resets it.
Unlimited mode
Unlimited mode lets you play as much as you want. Rounds are random, you can filter them to animals, space or everyday things, and nothing you do there affects your daily streak. It is the best place to practise before you play tomorrow's puzzle.
Units
Measurements can be shown in meters or in feet and inches. Use the m / ft switch at the top of every page. By default the game follows your browser's language settings, so players in the United States start in feet, and everyone else starts in meters. Very large sizes switch to kilometers or miles automatically.
Where the sizes come from
Every answer is a typical size for an adult animal or a standard object, not a record holder. Animal sizes come from zoos, museums and wildlife agencies; planet sizes from NASA; sports equipment from official rules. Each reveal links to its source, and where sizes vary naturally the reveal shows a typical range as well. A few conventions apply throughout:
- Length for whales, sharks and reptiles is measured from snout to tail tip.
- Height for tall animals is measured to the top of the head; for elephants it is shoulder height.
- Planets, moons and balls are measured across their diameter.
Tips for better guesses
- Think in multiples. “About two buses long” is easier to picture than “24 meters”.
- Check the dimension. A long, low animal and a tall, thin one can have similar sizes in very different directions.
- Use the live readout. If the estimate in the corner looks absurd, adjust until both the picture and the number feel believable.
- Aim for typical, not extreme. The answer is a normal adult or a standard object, never the biggest one ever found.
- Learn from the shadow. After each reveal, compare the grey shadow with the true size. If you keep landing short on big animals, start guessing a little bigger.
Common questions
Do I need an account to play?
No. Open the page and play straight away in any modern browser, on desktop or mobile.
Why did I get 0 points?
Your guess was at least three times too big or three times too small. Big misses happen – the next round is a fresh start.
Can I replay today's puzzle?
No, each daily puzzle can be played once so that shared results stay comparable. Head to Unlimited mode to keep playing.
I think a size is wrong. What should I do?
Check the linked source first; many animals vary a lot between individuals. If the number still looks wrong, let us know and we will review it.