Capitals: a quick-fire world capitals quiz

How to play

1. Read the question: either "What is the capital of...?" or "... is the capital of:".
2. Look at the three answer options.
3. Tap the right one before the 10-second timer runs out.
4. Carry on through the round, or tap Skip question if a country has you stumped.

What it exercises

A geography quiz on countries and capitals with a timer, so knowing the answer is only half of it.

• Recall

  Ten seconds leaves little time to reason, so the game rewards capitals you can bring to mind straight away.

• Geography knowledge

  Questions come from 178 countries on every continent, including small island states that rarely appear in school lessons.

• Elimination

  When you are not sure, ruling out the two answers that clearly belong elsewhere often leaves the right one.

Tips

• Learn the questions in both directions. Knowing that Windhoek is the capital of Namibia does not always mean you will name Windhoek when asked about Namibia.
• Watch for capitals that share a name with their country, such as Singapore or Monaco, and for countries whose capital is not the largest city.
• If you do not know, eliminate options from the wrong continent first.
• Answer quickly but read the whole question; the reverse questions are easy to misread.
• Play a few rounds in a row. The same countries come back, and repetition is how the hard ones stick.

More games you might like

• ArtName the painting or its artist, from the Mona Lisa to American Gothic
• ChemistryA timed periodic table quiz, from element symbols to densities
• FlagsName the country behind each flag before the timer runs out
• CubesMemorize a pattern of colored squares, then pick it out from the look-alikes
• Twin CardsRemember the playing cards, then turn them over two at a time to find pairs
• Word ListStudy a list of words, then pick out every one you saw