Frequently asked questions

A game on Wikipedia: start on one page, reach another by clicking only the encyclopedia's own links. You play right on the real site, through a Chrome extension: solo, against a friend, or on the daily challenge. Up to 20 players soon, with Premium.

The destination opens first: you get 10 seconds to study it. Then the start page opens for every player at the same instant. Click from link to link until you get there. In Classic mode, the first to arrive wins, and the game ends for everyone.

You play alone, on a random pair in the edition of your choice, under Classic rules. Your time and clicks go to your history, with a replay; solo has no ranking. You need an account.

Not for the daily challenge: you can play it as a guest. Solo, games with friends and the ranking need an account: an email and a username, no password. You sign in with a link or a code sent by email.

Yes: the daily challenge, solo and head-to-head games are free. Premium is coming soon (€4/month or €38.40/year) for games of up to 20 players and every mode.

Google Chrome on a computer, only. There's no mobile version. On your phone, the "Send me the link" button at the bottom of the screen lets you pick WikiChallenge up on your computer.

English and French. In solo and head-to-head, the host picks the edition. The daily challenge has one pair and one ranking per edition: play one, the other, or both.

Pairs are drawn at random from the whole encyclopedia: a lost hamlet or an unknown beetle is half the fun. Soon, with Premium, page options will let you rule out lists, years, disambiguation pages and more.

Every day at noon (Paris time), a new pair per edition, the same for everyone. One attempt: giving up, going over the 30 minutes or getting disqualified uses it. The ranking goes to the shortest route in links; on a tie, the first to arrive wins. Guests see the rank they would have.

Two for now, head-to-head. Up to 20 soon, with Premium.

Yes: every game has an animated replay you can share with a public link.

Everything that makes up the encyclopedia: articles, categories, portals and contents pages. Each page counts as a step. Pages about the wiki itself (help, talk, templates, users…), "Special:" tools, other editions and outside sites are out of bounds. Soon, with Premium, you'll be able to rule out categories, portals, lists, years, disambiguation pages or hub pages.

The back button, yes: it counts as a click. Ctrl+F too; only Hardcore mode, coming with Premium, will block Ctrl+F.

Typing an address, using a bookmark or the address bar, using Wikipedia's search, or opening a link in a new tab. Clicking a forbidden link never disqualifies you: it's blocked. That goes for links off Wikipedia and links to another edition (Polyglot mode, coming with Premium, will allow those).

Three ways. The extension blocks out-of-bounds pages at the click, instead of making you lose. Every route is then checked against Wikipedia's links before it's ranked. Searching on another device can't be detected: that's on your honour.

No. They see your number of clicks and your distance from the start page, never the page you're on. At the end, the replay shows everyone's route.

You have 60 seconds to come back, with a "Resume" button. After that, you forfeit.

A Premium mode, coming soon: you'll be able to hop between editions through language links. The start page and destination stay the planned ones, in the chosen edition.

Only the game tab, and only during a game: the title and address of the Wikipedia pages you open, how you got there (link or back) and when. It never reads the content of pages or your other tabs.

To warn you when you're no longer on the game tab: a resume countdown on your other tabs, or the verdict if a typed address or a bookmark took you off Wikipedia. You can refuse it; you'll get a notification instead. Nothing is read or sent from those pages.

Our Chrome Web Store publisher account is new. The extension has passed the Store's review; the warning will fade with time. Click "Continue to install".

The extension installs from our site, with the "Add to Chrome" button. It doesn't show up in Store search.

In one click from your account page. Your games stay in your opponents' history, under the name "Deleted player".

Premium is coming soon. It will unlock games of up to 20 players, Shortest path, Fewest clicks, Hardcore and Polyglot modes, page options, and custom rules and presets.

No. Everything is free today: a free account is all it takes to play with friends. With Premium, the host will pay: friends join the game on a free account, whatever the mode.

Premium isn't on sale yet. Planned price: €4/month with no commitment, or €38.40/year paid upfront (save 20%). The monthly plan will be cancellable anytime.

Once Premium opens, through Link (Stripe), the merchant of record: it will take the payment, send the receipts and handle VAT.

Same idea, different game. With WikiChallenge you play on the real Wikipedia site, not on rebuilt pages. The game ends for everyone when the first player arrives, and you get the daily challenge, solo and head-to-head; games of up to 20 and the other modes are coming with Premium. The catch: WikiChallenge only runs on Chrome for desktop. The details are on the comparison page.

Both play with Wikipedia, just not the same way. WikiMasters turns pages into collectible cards; WikiChallenge has you cross them, link by link, against the clock and against your friends. The two projects aren't related.

No. WikiChallenge is an independent project, neither affiliated with nor endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia is a trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation. If you love the encyclopedia, consider donating to it.