What is Dobdodle?
Dobdodle is a biographical riddle game that reveals almost nothing: two dates, two places, and a map. Each puzzle shows a BORN card and a DIED card with dates, municipalities, provinces, and flags, connected by a dashed line on a movable map below. No portrait, no initials, no explicit profession—only category banners above the cards indicate the worlds the person belonged to. The data come from Wikipedia and Wikidata, sorted by page views to favor well-known figures.
How to play Dobdodle
- Select Daily, Unlimited, or Rapid at the top, or choose one of the ten categories on the home screen.
- Read the two cards: the left shows the person’s date and place of birth, and the right shows the date and place of death. Each place includes its country flag.
- Check the category banners above the cards. A person may have more than one.
- Use the map by moving it, zooming in or out, and clicking the markers. The legend below the map shows the controls.
- Enter a name in the “Who is it?” field. The dots on the right show how many guesses remain.
- Select “Need a hint?” if the two places are not enough.
Dobdodle asks where a person began and where they ended. The dashed line between two markers carries the clue: an exile, a return home, or a life spent in the same valley. You reason like a genealogist, comparing distances between municipalities and the dates involved instead of sorting through memories of birthdays. The Daily gives you one shared puzzle, Unlimited strings five together, and Rapid fire gives you a minute to trust your first instinct.
Modes
Daily challenge
One mystery person per day, with five guesses. The board header shows the date and the rule, so everyone gets the same puzzle.
Unlimited
Five people in a row, with five guesses for each. Start a new series whenever you like.
Rapid fire
You have sixty seconds and one guess per person. Name as many as you can before time runs out.
Tips for better guesses
Category banners are genuine clues. A person may fit several categories, and that combination can eliminate large parts of the pool before you study the map.
The birth-and-death pair often says more about a person’s path than either place says about their origin. Two distant points in the same country suggest a different life from two points separated by an ocean.
Page-view sorting on Wikipedia helps narrow the field. The answer is rarely an obscure figure, so start with the most viewed names in a category before considering its specialists.
Rapid fire gives you one guess per person. Go with your first instinct instead of trying to work through a careful deduction.
Popular questions
How many guesses per person?
Daily and Unlimited allow five guesses. Rapid fire allows one guess per person.
Where do the people and places come from?
Wikipedia and Wikidata, sorted by page-view count. The home screen states this at the bottom.
Can you play on a specific theme?
Yes. The home screen offers ten categories: Actors & Cinema, Artists, Athletes, Business & Tech, Faith & Religion, Historical Figures, Leaders & Politicians, Musicians, Science & Invention, and Writers.
Does everyone get the same puzzle?
In Daily yes. Unlimited and Rapid fire restart on demand.