How to play a wiki race

• You begin on the start article, and you win when you reach the target article.
• You move by clicking links in the article you're reading. No search box, no typing addresses, no editing.
• Only links to other articles count. WikiRacer shows each article's main text and leaves out infoboxes, navigation boxes, tables, and the See also and reference sections, so every link you use is one a writer put in the prose.
• A link that points straight at the target wins the moment you click it.

There are two classic ways to keep score, and WikiRacer has both. In a timed race, you have two or five minutes to reach the target, and the faster you get there the better. In a pages race, the clock doesn't matter: the fewer pages you visit on the way, the better. The daily race is a five-minute race, the same pair for everyone.

Finish any race and you can send a friend a challenge link: the same two articles, the same rules, and your result to beat.

Players have long added rules to make the game harder. Some favorites:

• No Back button. Every click is final, so a wrong turn costs you.
• No Find. No Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to search the page for the word you need.
• No United States. The article links to nearly everything, so it's often banned as too easy a shortcut.
• No dates. Year and date articles are hubs too, and some groups rule them out.

WikiRacer's races allow Back and Find. In the iPhone app, WikiRacer Pro lets you turn them off.

Go broad, then narrow. Jump from your specific start to a general article, like a country, a century or a field of science, then work your way down toward the target.

Think backwards. Before your first click, ask which articles would mention the target. Electricity turns up in physics, inventors and technology; a painter turns up in art movements and cities.

Use places as bridges. Almost every person, food, event and animal links to a country or city, and those articles link to history, culture and science.

Skim, don't read. You're racing. Scan the opening paragraphs for links that point the right way, and use Find when it's allowed.

Back out early. If a page has nothing useful in its first few paragraphs, go back and try another link instead of digging deeper.

Some pairs have become traditions. Getting to Philosophy comes from a quirk of Wikipedia's first links, and six degrees of Kevin Bacon from a 1990s party game.

• Getting to Philosophy
• Six degrees of Kevin Bacon
• Pizza to the Moon
• Taylor Swift to Ancient Rome
• Minecraft to William Shakespeare

See all classic races

Everyone who plays the daily race gets the same pair, so you can compare results in a group chat. For a race of your own, pick any two articles, finish it, and send the challenge link. Teachers use wiki races as a five-minute brain break; see WikiRacer in the classroom.