7 daily games like Krillion, tried and compared
Rare-answer games are the quiet corner of the daily-game world: no streaks to protect, no grid to fill, just a prompt and how deep your memory goes. Here are seven worth your five minutes, plus how they differ.
What counts as a game like Krillion?
Krillion popularised a simple format: a daily category, a time limit, and points that scale with how rare your answer is. We used four criteria for this list: a new round every day, a round that fits in a short break, no paywall for the core game, and some form of answer scoring or answer reveal that makes comparison possible.
The short version
| Game | What you do | Round length | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZomZam (this site) | Name as many things as you can for one prompt in two minutes; rarer answers score more. | 2 min/day | Free | If you want a short round with rarity scoring and a 90-day answer archive. |
| Krillion | The daily rare-answer game that popularised the format: name things in a category, earn more for the answers other people miss. | A few minutes/day | Free | If you want the original and the biggest answer pool. |
| Daily Tens | A daily top-ten trivia game: name the ten items in a category and see how close you get to the ranked list. | 3–5 min/day | Free | If you prefer ranked lists to rarity scoring. |
| Doctordle | A medical Wordle: guess the diagnosis from a series of clues, with a new case each day. | 2–3 min/day | Free | If you like deduction more than free recall. |
| Songless | A Heardle-style daily music game: guess the song from short snippets, with fewer clues as you go. | 2–3 min/day | Free | If music is your memory shortcut. |
| MapTap | A daily geography game: find the country, city or landmark on the map before the clock runs out. | 2–3 min/day | Free | If you would rather click a map than type words. |
| Connections: Sports Edition | The Athletic's sports spin on Connections: group sixteen sports terms into four hidden categories. | 3–5 min/day | Free (with NYT account sign-in) | If you follow sports and like category puzzles. |
How to choose
If you want the shortest possible daily habit, start with ZomZam or Krillion: both are two-minute rounds built around recall. If you prefer deduction, Doctordle rewards careful reading more than vocabulary. If you like the social side of daily games, Connections: Sports Edition and Daily Tens give you more to argue about with friends afterwards.
One warning: the games above are all independent products with different rules. Links go to the official pages, and prices or sign-in requirements can change — check before you commit to a streak.
Why rarity scoring changes the game
In a normal quiz, the fastest answer wins. In a rare-answer game, the obvious answers are worth almost nothing, and the interesting move is to keep going after the first three things that come to mind. That is why ZomZam weights answers from 1 (Common) to 5 (Legendary) and sets your tier by the rarest answer you find, not by the total. It rewards a different kind of knowledge — the odd, specific, half-forgotten stuff.