JamCatWow
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How to play Ballpark

Five things, one scale. Put each one where you think it belongs, then say how sure you are.

Three of a day's five things, on one scale. Each labeled step is ten times the one before

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  • Every day asks one question, like how heavy? or how long ago?, of five things
  • Tap a lane to place a thing on the scale, then tap again, drag or type the number to adjust. Each labeled step is ten times the one before
  • Then claim a range around it, from ±50% to ±5x, to say how sure you are. The tighter the claim, the more it pays
  • Nothing is revealed until you submit all five, and there is one shot at the day
  • No clock

Scoring

  • Land inside your range to bank 95 for ±50%, 90 for ±2x, 82 for ±3x, 73 for ±5x. Miss it and the points fall away gradually
  • Land spot on, within 10% of the answer, for 5 more, whatever you claimed
  • Order pays too: up to 50 for putting all 10 pairs of things in the right order. Half of them right pays nothing
  • A day is out of 550. Finishing earns Yay; 275 points for Jam, 429 for Cat and 484 for Wow
  • Yay
  • Jam
  • Cat
  • Wow
Play Ballpark

Tips

  • Place the one you are surest of first: it is the yardstick for the rest
  • Claim tight on what you actually know and wide on what you are inventing. Widening is a move, not a failure
  • Read the numbers as you go. A gap that looks small can be a factor of a thousand

Where it comes from

Fermi problems, the physicist's habit of estimating a number from what you already know, and calibration tests, which score how sure you are. Ballpark puts the two on one scale.

Missed a day? The archive keeps the last two weeks free, and replays still count toward your streak

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