Estimation Duel
Guess a number, then see the bot's guess. Whoever lands closer to the true answer takes the round. Seven rounds, three bot levels.
How to play
- Each round asks a how-big, how-far or how-many question with a numerical answer. Type your estimate and lock it in.
- The bot then reveals its own estimate, and the true answer. Whoever is closer wins the round, and an exact tie scores nothing.
- Closeness is measured on a log scale, so being twice as big counts the same as being half as big.
- Play seven rounds and win the duel by taking more of them. Pick an easy, medium or hard bot before you start.
Tips and strategy
- Think in orders of magnitude first: is it thousands, millions or billions? Then refine.
- Anchor on something you know, such as the height of a person or the length of a bus, and scale up.
- The hard bot is rarely more than about a third off, so you need to stay within roughly a factor of 1.5 to win.
- Do not agonise over exact digits. A guess within a factor of two is a good one.
FAQ
- How does the bot guess?
- It takes the true answer and misses by a random amount. The easy bot misses by a lot, the hard bot by a little. It is not looking at your guess.
- Can I type numbers like 6e24?
- Yes. Commas and spaces are ignored, and scientific notation such as 1.5e3 works too.
- Are the questions always the same?
- No. Each duel draws seven questions at random from a bank of over fifty.