How to Play Originle: Rules, Scoring & Clue Strategy
Originle explained: one guest a day, eight video clues, three guesses to name their country, and how the 10,000-point scoring rewards early guesses.
What is Originle?
Originle is a free daily geography game at originle.io. Each day a new guest introduces themselves in a short video, and you have to work out which country they represent.
It launched on October 5, 2026, and a new guest arrives every day at midnight Eastern time.
“One person. Three guesses. A new person, every day.”
Clues, guesses and scoring
There are eight video clues per guest, each about one part of their story — language, food, holidays, daily life — and they get easier as you go. The last one shows the country's outline on the globe.
You have three guesses. Scores are out of 10,000: every clue you reveal costs more than the one before, from 250 points for the first to 1,750 for the last, and every wrong guess costs 30% of what you have left. Miss all three and you still score for how close you came.
“Guess the country they're representing through their roots and culture, not necessarily where they live.”
Roots, not accents
Many Originle guests are part of a diaspora. An American or Australian accent does not mean the answer is the US or Australia — the game asks for the country the guest represents through their roots and culture.
Clue titles are a strong hint on their own. On #3, a guest whose clues included Sauna, Digital Life and Island Life represented Estonia.
Strategy
Guess early when you are fairly sure: each extra clue is more expensive than the last, while a wrong guess only costs 30%.
After a miss, use the distance feedback. A few hundred kilometres means a neighbour; thousands means a different region.
Keep one guess for the outline clue on hard days.
Originle scoring
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Reveal a clue | Costs 250 points for the first, rising to 1,750 for the eighth |
| Wrong guess | Lose 30% of your current points |
| Correct guess | Keep what is left of 10,000 |
| Three misses or give up | Score for how close you came |
Sources and references
- Originle (official game) — Rules, scoring, the daily guest and the clue list for each day.
- DleHints Originle archive — Every guest since #1 (October 5, 2026) with the country they represent.