Daily puzzle · Australia & New Zealand
Guess the Town
One town a day, six clues, from vague to specific. Name it on the first clue and you’re a legend. Name it on the sixth and you still get the bragging rights.
Today’s puzzle
What is Guess the Town?
Guess the Town is a free daily puzzle about the places of Australia and New Zealand. Every day there is one mystery town, the same for everyone. You get six clues, and they start very vague, something about the landscape or the climate, then narrow down through the town’s history, what it’s known for and a feature you could spot from a hilltop, until the last clue all but says the name.
You don’t need to have visited. The fun is in working it out: a coastal climate and an old gold rush might be a dozen towns, but add a famous festival and there’s only one. When the puzzle ends, a town card shows what the place looks like, what it’s known for and a few things you might not have known. The clues come from the same atlas of 434 real towns that powers our NeverSpend games, and every fact is checked against a published source before it goes live.
How to play
- Read the first clue. It’s deliberately vague. Lots of towns could fit.
- Type a guess. Start typing a town and choose it from the list. Only towns in the list can be guessed, and each can be used once per puzzle.
- A wrong guess or a Skip opens the next clue. There are six clues and six guesses, so you can take a shot at every stage.
- Watch the colours. Each guess leaves a tile that tells you how close you were (see below).
- Solve it on a lower clue number to score higher. Solving on clue 2 beats solving on clue 5. Run out of clues and the town is revealed anyway.
- Share without spoilers. The share button gives you a row of coloured tiles and the puzzle number, never the answer.
- Green: correct.
- Yellow: wrong town, but in the right state, territory or New Zealand island.
- Red: wrong, and in a different state or island.
- Black: you skipped that clue.
Questions about Guess the Town
How do the clues work?
Every puzzle has six clues written from vague to specific. Clue 1 is about the landscape or climate and could describe dozens of places. Clue 2 is about the era or history, clue 3 about what the town does or is known for, clue 4 about a distinctive feature, and clue 5 about something famous that nearly names it. Clue 6 gives the state or country and a well-known landmark or nickname. A wrong guess or a Skip opens the next clue, so you never see more than you’ve earned.
When does a new town arrive?
A new town arrives every day at midnight Sydney time (AEST or AEDT, depending on daylight saving). Everyone gets the same town on the same day, wherever they are, and the page shows a countdown to the next one once you’ve finished. Each puzzle is numbered, starting from #1.
Where are the towns from?
Australia and New Zealand: capital cities, regional cities, suburbs, country towns and a few very remote places, in every state and territory plus the North and South Islands. They come from the same atlas of 434 towns used in our NeverSpend games. Each puzzle town is picked once and never repeated.
Is it free?
Yes. Guess the Town is free to play in your browser, with no account, no sign-up and nothing to download. The site is supported by the occasional ad and by our shop, where you can find mugs, stubby holders, phone cases and colouring books from our games.
Is my progress saved?
Your game in progress, your streak and your stats are saved in your own browser, on your own device, so a reload picks up where you left off. They aren’t tied to an account, so clearing your browser data or switching device starts you fresh.
Can I see yesterday’s answer, or play older puzzles?
Once a day is over, its puzzle moves to the archive. Every archive page shows the six clues in order, the answer, a short write-up of the town and a few facts. Today’s puzzle stays hidden until the day is over, so nobody gets the answer by accident.
Keep exploring
Past puzzles
Every finished puzzle, with all six clues, the answer and a few facts about the town.
The NeverSpend games
Six pretend-spending games set in the same 434 towns. NeverFeeds is free on iPhone and Android.
The shop
Mugs, stubby holders and phone cases from the NeverSpend world, plus colouring books.