Guide
How to play TapTheMap
TapTheMap is a geography game about Europe. Each question names a place or an event: a stadium, a battle, a festival, a volcano, a cathedral. You don't pick from a list. You tap the spot on a blank map where you think it is, and the closer you are, the more points you score.
A round in five steps
- Choose a round. Play the daily challenge or pick one of the five categories on the home page.
- Read the question. For example: “Where was the Battle of Waterloo fought?”
- Tap the map. A pin drops where you tap. You can move it as often as you like, and zoom or pan the map to be more precise.
- Confirm your guess. The real location appears with a line to your pin, the distance in kilometres, your points and a short fact about the place.
- Repeat five times. After the fifth question you see your total out of 5,000, a breakdown per question, and can post your score or challenge a friend.
The map has no place names on purpose: country borders, coastlines, rivers and relief are your only clues.
Scoring
Each question is worth up to 1,000 points. A perfect tap scores the maximum; the score then falls with distance and reaches zero at 2,500 km. The curve is steepest close to the target, so the difference between 50 km and 300 km matters much more than between 1,500 km and 1,800 km.
| Distance from the answer | Points |
|---|---|
| 0 km | 1,000 |
| 25 km | 985 |
| 50 km | 970 |
| 100 km | 941 |
| 250 km | 854 |
| 500 km | 716 |
| 1,000 km | 465 |
| 1,500 km | 253 |
| 2,000 km | 89 |
| 2,500 km | 0 |
A full round has five questions, so the best possible score is 5,000.
The daily challenge
Every day at midnight (Paris time) a new set of five questions appears, one from each category. Everyone in the world plays the same five, which makes the daily leaderboard a fair comparison. You get one attempt per day; if you leave in the middle, you can resume from the home page. Each daily has a number (Daily #1 was played on 28 September 2026), so you can compare results with friends.
Categories
Category rounds draw five questions at random, so you can play them as often as you want. Your best score in each category is kept on your device.
- Sport
- Stadiums, circuits, finals. Example questions:
- Where was the 2018 Champions League final played?
- Where is the Wimbledon tennis tournament held?
- History
- Battles, treaties, turning points. Example questions:
- Where was the Battle of Waterloo fought?
- Where was the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919?
- Culture
- Festivals, food, traditions. Example questions:
- Where is Oktoberfest held?
- Where do the bulls run at San Fermín?
- Nature
- Peaks, volcanoes, wild places. Example questions:
- Where is Mont Blanc, the Alps' highest peak?
- Where is Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano?
- Landmarks
- Buildings and monuments. Example questions:
- Where is the Sagrada Família?
- Where is the Colosseum?
Leaderboard and challenges
At the end of a round you can add a name (2 to 16 characters) to put your score on the leaderboard. There are three boards: Today, This week and All time. Each player appears once, with their best score. No account or e-mail address is needed.
Challenge a friend creates a link to the exact five questions you just played. Your friend plays the same round and sees your score and theirs, question by question. Replaying your own challenge link is allowed but does not count on the leaderboard.
Map styles
The Map style button switches between Paper (the default), Relief, Atlas, Night and Detailed. Relief and Atlas show mountains and valleys, which helps with nature questions. None of the styles shows place names.
Tips for a better score
- Think in countries first, then regions. Getting the right country usually puts you within 300 km; the region inside it brings you under 100 km.
- Use rivers and coastlines. Many capitals and historic cities sit on a river or a bay: the Danube for Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade, the Rhine for Cologne and Basel.
- Zoom in before you confirm. On a phone, a finger covers dozens of kilometres at full-Europe zoom. Pinch in, then place the pin.
- When unsure, aim for the middle. If you know the country but not the city, the centre of the country limits the damage.
- Read the fact after each answer. Questions return in category rounds, and the facts are there to help you remember.
Frequently asked questions
Is TapTheMap free?
Yes. The game is free and funded by advertising. There is no paid version and nothing to unlock.
Do I need an account?
No. Your scores are linked to your browser with an anonymous identifier. If you clear your cookies or change device, your personal bests start again, but scores already on the leaderboard stay there.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. TapTheMap works in any recent browser on phone, tablet or computer. It needs JavaScript and WebGL to draw the map.
I think an answer is wrong.
Please tell us through the contact page, with the question text. Every location is checked against real country borders, but mistakes are possible and we correct them quickly.