How to play Plain (playplain.app)

Play the 6s explainer

Plain is a free daily estimation game at playplain.app. Each New York day brings seven prompts. You have about three minutes in total, thirty seconds on each prompt. Most prompts ask you to name something whose real value sits closest to a target. Some ask you to type a number or a year. The closer you are, on a ratio scale, the higher a small plane climbs.

We checked the official how-to-play page on 2026-10-25 and recomputed the published mountain example. Target 6,200 m. Denali at 6,190 m is 0.16% under and shows as Dialed, 100 points plus a 25-point bonus. The same page is the source for the clock, the lock rule, and the year exception below. This guide paraphrases the rules.

One round, in order

1. Read the category and the target. A chip beside the prompt can limit the set, such as a year range or a single menu.
2. Type. Suggestions appear. Pick one or press Enter. Spelling ignores case, accents, and punctuation, and small typos are tolerated.
3. If the guess is refused, the game tells you why. You may try again. The clock does not pause.
4. The first accepted answer locks. You cannot edit it.
5. The plane climbs by the score, then sinks a little for the seconds you spent after the first three.

Why a guess is refused

Time and altitude

One point is ten metres of altitude, capped at 10,000 m. The first three seconds of a round do not sink you. After that you lose 4 metres per second, and at most 108 metres on that round (27 seconds × 4). A timeout scores nothing and takes the full 108 metres. Altitude does not go below the runway. In the published example, Denali answered at 12 seconds is 1,250 metres minus 36, which is 1,214 metres.

Name rounds and number rounds

On a name round you pick from that category. On a number round you estimate. Shortcuts such as 2.5k or 1.2 million are accepted. Years are the exception: the official page says a year is scored by how many years you are off. Up to three years is Close. Only the exact year is Dialed. Do not run the ratio formula on a year.

There is one Golden Round each day. It is the same round for everyone, and you only learn which one after you have answered. That round's points, including the Dialed bonus, are doubled. A perfect Golden Dialed is 250 points, which is 2,500 metres; other Dialed results can be 246–250 points.

Where to go next

• How scoring works, including the five bands and the formula.
• Tips for spending the thirty seconds.
• Categories we have actually seen in the finished puzzles.
• Streaks, freezes, and the two named badges.
• Past puzzles and where to play.

• Plain — How to play
• Plain — FAQ
• Plain — About