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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/igorek05m/daily-geogame/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Progressive reveal mechanism

Daily GeoGame features an intelligent hints system that rewards strategic guessing. You start with only one hint visible, and each incorrect guess unlocks an additional hint—up to a maximum of six hints total.

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How hints unlock

1

Game start

When you begin a daily challenge, only Hint #1 is visible. The remaining five hints appear blurred and locked.
2

First guess

After your first guess (whether correct or incorrect), Hint #2 unlocks automatically.
3

Subsequent guesses

Each additional guess unlocks one more hint, up to all six hints being revealed by your sixth guess.
4

Game over

When you win or exhaust all six guesses, all remaining hints unlock immediately so you can see the complete picture.
The number of unlocked hints is always equal to the number of guesses you’ve made plus one. This ensures you always have information to work with.

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The six hint categories

Every daily challenge includes exactly six carefully crafted hints, each revealing different aspects of the target country. These hints are generated from authentic CIA World Factbook data.

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1. Climate

Category: Geography
Label: Weather
Information provided: General climate patterns, temperature ranges, seasonal variations, and weather phenomena

Example Climate Hint

“Temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers; varies with altitude; interior areas much cooler”
Climate hints help you narrow down regions by understanding whether the country experiences tropical heat, arctic cold, Mediterranean conditions, or other distinctive weather patterns.

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2. Terrain

Category: Geography
Label: Landscape
Information provided: Physical geography, topography, elevation features, and landforms

Example Terrain Hint

“Mostly mountains with ranges running north to south; central plateau; coastal plains are narrow and discontinuous”
Terrain hints reveal whether a country is mountainous, flat, coastal, landlocked, or characterized by specific geographic features like deserts, forests, or river valleys.

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3. Resources

Category: Geography & Economy
Label: Natural / Agri
Information provided: Natural resources, mineral deposits, and agricultural products

Example Resources Hint

“Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds”
This hint combines natural resources with agricultural products if available. It helps identify countries known for specific exports or resource wealth.

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4. Trade

Category: Economy
Label: Main Exports
Information provided: Primary export commodities and key industries

Example Trade Hint

“Cars and vehicle parts, machinery, refined petroleum, packaged medicines, broadcasting equipment”
Trade hints reveal the country’s economic strengths and what it produces for the global market. This can indicate industrialization level and economic specialization.

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5. Society

Category: People and Society
Label: Demographics
Information provided: Population size and religious composition

Example Society Hint

“Pop: 67.39M | Roman Catholic 81.0%, Eastern Orthodox 1.1%, Protestant 0.7%, other 3.7%”
Society hints provide crucial demographic context. Population size helps eliminate countries that are too small or too large, while religious composition often correlates with geographic regions.

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6. Symbols

Category: Government & Culture
Label: Iconography
Information provided: Flag description, national symbols, or currency information

Example Symbols Hint

“Three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red; the flag design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags”
Symbols hints often describe the flag in detail without showing it, mention national animals or emblems, or reference the currency. These cultural markers are powerful identifiers.

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Data source: CIA World Factbook

All hints are generated from the CIA World Factbook, a comprehensive reference resource produced by the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

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Why the World Factbook?

The Factbook contains detailed information on 266 world entities, covering nearly every recognized country and territory.
Data is presented in a consistent structure across all countries, making it ideal for automated hint generation.
As a U.S. government publication, the Factbook is regularly updated and fact-checked by intelligence professionals.
The entire Factbook is in the public domain, allowing free use of its data for educational purposes.

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Data processing

Daily GeoGame fetches Factbook data from the factbook.json GitHub repository, which provides machine-readable JSON versions of the official CIA data. The hint generation process (/app/lib/factbook.ts:44-118) extracts specific fields:
  • Climate: Geography.Climate.text
  • Terrain: Geography.Terrain.text
  • Resources: Geography["Natural resources"].text or Economy["Agricultural products"].text
  • Trade: Economy["Exports - commodities"].text or Economy.Industries.text
  • Society: ["People and Society"].Religions.text plus population from RestCountries API
  • Symbols: Government["Flag description"].text, Government["National symbol(s)"].text, or currency data
If specific data fields are missing, the system attempts fallback fields to ensure every hint category has content. Text is truncated to 130-160 characters for readability.

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Using hints strategically

Maximize the value of each hint by following these strategies:

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Start broad, then narrow

  1. First hint (Climate): Eliminates entire climate zones. If it mentions “tropical,” you can rule out northern countries.
  2. Second hint (Terrain): Combined with climate, this dramatically narrows possibilities. “Mountainous + tropical” points to specific regions.
  3. Third hint (Resources): Identify economic characteristics. Oil-producing nations are concentrated in certain areas.

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Cross-reference hints

Combine information across categories:
  • Climate + Terrain = Geographic region
  • Resources + Trade = Economic profile
  • Society + Symbols = Cultural identity
The more hints you unlock, the more these patterns intersect, creating a clear picture of the target country.

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Learn from locked hints

Even locked hints provide value—they tell you how many guesses you have remaining to unlock all information. Plan your guessing strategy around maximizing hint unlocks while conserving guesses.
Locked hints display as ”???” and show “Unlocks at guess #X” beneath them. Don’t waste guesses on random countries just to unlock hints—use each guess strategically based on the hints you already have.

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Visual design

The hint grid (/app/components/HintGrid.tsx) uses visual cues to indicate hint status:
  • Unlocked hints: Blue accent, unlock icon, full text visible
  • Locked hints: Grayscale, lock icon, blurred placeholder text
  • Category badges: Each hint shows its category (Climate, Terrain, Resources, etc.)
  • Progressive reveal: Hints unlock with a smooth transition animation
The hint counter at the top displays “UNLOCKED HINTS (X/6)” to show your progress, changing to “ALL HINTS REVEALED” when the game ends.

Accessibility tip

Hints are displayed in a two-column grid on larger screens and a single column on mobile devices, ensuring readability across all device sizes.

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