Today's game stop
Guess the Chain
Guess the Chain shows every US location of one mystery retail or restaurant chain on a map and asks you to name the chain from those dots in six guesses, with a new map each day at midnight local time.
Play Guess the ChainA fresh puzzle is waiting for you.
Guess the Chain is a free daily map puzzle that reveals every US location of a single mystery chain and challenges you to identify it in up to six guesses. The mystery chain can be a restaurant, grocery, gas station, retailer, bank, or gym, and the maps range from nationwide footprints to tightly regional networks.
After each guess you learn three comparison hints: whether the category matches, whether the mystery chain has more or fewer stores than your guess, and how much the two maps overlap. You can request additional clues one at a time, including category, number of locations, year founded, headquarters state, or the first letter of the chain.
You can play the current puzzle daily, revisit past maps in the archive, or practice indefinitely in practice mode. The game saves stats locally in your browser, lets you share results without revealing the answer, and sources store locations from All the Places and state outlines from the U.S. Census Bureau.
How to play Guess the Chain
- Open Today or Practice to see a map showing dots for every US location of the mystery chain.
- Type a chain name and submit it; close spellings are accepted and the best match is used.
- You have six guesses to identify the chain.
- After a wrong guess read the three comparison hints: Category, Stores (more or fewer), and Overlap, and press Compare to see your guess's dots in blue.
- Use Get a clue as often as you like, one clue at a time, to reveal category, number of locations, year founded, headquarters state, or first letter.
- When you find the chain you can share your result in a way that does not spoil the answer for others.
Tips for Guess the Chain
- Start with a distinctive regional chain if the dots are clustered tightly in one area; regionally concentrated footprints are often easier to spot than national chains.
- Use the Stores hint direction (up or down) early to narrow whether you should guess large national chains or smaller regional brands.
- Pay attention to the Category hint to eliminate whole classes of businesses; it will tell you if the mystery chain is the same kind of business as your guess, similar, or different.
- When comparing overlap, press Compare to view your guess's locations in blue so you can see which areas coincide and which do not.
Guess the Chain FAQ
What is Guess the Chain?
Guess the Chain is a daily map game where you see every US location of one mystery chain and try to name it within six guesses; the map may represent restaurants, stores, gas stations, banks, or gyms. Each guess gives three comparison hints and you can request extra clues like headquarters state or first letter.
Is Guess the Chain free and do I need an account?
Yes, Guess the Chain is free to play and the page states stats are saved in your browser only, which implies you do not need an account. You can play Today, Practice, or browse the Archive without signing in.
How many guesses do I get?
You get six guesses to identify the mystery chain. After each incorrect guess the game shows whether your guess is the same or similar category, whether the mystery chain has more or fewer stores, and the map overlap between your guess and the mystery chain.
When does the new map come out?
A new map is published every day at midnight local time. The game page explicitly notes the daily reset occurs at midnight in your local time zone.
Can I play past maps or practice?
Yes, you can play past maps in the Archive and you can use Practice mode to keep playing beyond the daily puzzle. The site provides Today, Practice, and Archive links for those options.
What do the comparison hints mean?
After each wrong guess you receive three comparison hints: Category indicates whether your guess is the same kind of business, similar, or different; Stores shows whether the mystery chain has more or fewer locations than your guess; Overlap quantifies how much the two chains' maps cover the same areas and lets you compare visually by pressing Compare.
Can I get additional clues?
Yes, you can request clues one at a time using Get a clue and available clue types include category, number of locations, year founded, headquarters state, and the first letter. The shared result indicates how many clues you used when sharing.
Can I share my result?
Yes, the game supports sharing your result in a way that does not spoil the answer for others. The share shows your game outcome and clues used but keeps the mystery chain concealed.
