Krillion Unlimited
How to play Krillion Unlimited
The rules fit in one sentence: name something that fits the question, and the fewer people who would name the same thing, the more it is worth. This guide covers the details that decide close calls.
A set, step by step
A set has seven questions, one from each of seven categories, shown one at a time. Each question gets its own 25-second ring. Type your answer and press GO or Enter.
- Three attempts. If your answer is not on the sheet, you can try again with something else while the ring still has time: three attempts per question in total. Typing a rejected answer a second time does not use up an attempt.
- Nothing is wasted at the buzzer. When the ring runs out with text in the box, that text is checked as your answer.
- Pausing. In endless and themed sets the timer stops while the menu, the tour or another panel is open. In the daily set it keeps running, so everyone has the same 25 seconds.
- After the set. The results show your depth, the layer you reached, your points out of 700 and a row of coloured circles you can share. Tap a question to open its answer sheet.
How your answer is matched
We compare your answer with a long sheet of correct answers for that question. Capital letters and accents do not matter, nor does a leading "the" or "a", or whether you used the singular or plural. Small typos are forgiven, and the screen tells you what we read your answer as. If the question names a category, the category word may be left out or kept: for a question about types of pasta, "penne" and "penne pasta" are the same answer.
If your answer is missing from the sheet, an AI referee decides whether it is correct. A correct answer we did not list counts as a Deep Cut, since even our long sheet missed it. The referee's decision is stored, so the same answer always gets the same verdict.
Some questions carry a rule: a first letter, a last letter, an exact number of letters or words. The rule is checked separately, and an answer that breaks it scores nothing even if it is otherwise correct.
The six tiers
| Tier | Points | How an answer gets there |
|---|---|---|
| One in a Million | 100 | We pick one or two prize answers per question: correct, surprising and with a story worth telling. |
| Deep Cut | 85 | The far end of the sheet, plus every correct answer the sheet does not list. |
| Rare | 60 | The middle of the sheet: answers that need a second of thought. |
| Schooler | 30 | Common answers just behind the top five, and answers so well known that they cannot rank higher. |
| Too Clever | 15 | The "unusual" answer that is actually a favourite. |
| Plankton | 10 | The five answers players give most often. |
Worked example: "Name a fruit"
Here is how the sheet for this question ranks a few answers.
Banana, Apple, Orange, Strawberry, Grape: Plankton, 10 points each. They are the five answers almost everybody types first.
Mango, Kiwi, Peach: Schooler, 30 points. Good answers, but very common ones.
Lychee, Rambutan: Rare, 60 points. Most people know them, few think of them under pressure.
Salak, Jabuticaba: Deep Cut, 85 points. Salak is the snake fruit of Indonesia; jabuticaba grows straight out of the trunk of a Brazilian tree.
Cherimoya: One in a Million, 100 points, with its fact: Mark Twain called it "the most delicious fruit known to men".
Durian: Too Clever, 15 points. It is the fruit everyone reaches for when they want to sound adventurous.
The lesson carries over to most questions: skip the supermarket shelf, skip the famous oddity, and go for something specific that you are sure is correct.
Modes
Endless sets
The home page deals a random set from the full library each time. Sets are numbered, and the link in your share text reopens the same seven questions. Endless results are kept separately from the daily record.
Daily set
The daily set is the same for everyone and changes at midnight New York time. It counts towards your streak and shows how your answers and depth compare with other players.
Themed sets
Open Themes on the home screen or Themed sets in the menu to pick a topic and a chapter of seven questions. Finished chapters get a tick, and you can replay any of them.
Swimmers and options
Your krill can be swapped for another swimmer in Options. The Pink Krill and the Glass Shrimp are available from the start. The Anglerfish unlocks at 2,000 m in any set, the Moon Jelly after three finished daily sets, the Nautilus after a five-day daily streak and the Vampire Squid at 4,000 m in a daily set.
Options also include sounds (off by default), less motion, a colour-blind palette that adds letters to the progress circles, and whether the answer box is cleared after a miss.