What is Poeltl?
Poeltl is an NBA player guessing game hosted on the players' union domain. The interface resembles a spreadsheet with a search box, a Show Silhouette button, an upward-counting clock, and a table with eight columns: Name, Team, Conference, Division, Position, Height, Age, Number. You have eight guesses to identify the hidden player, with each guess filling one row of feedback.
How to play Poeltl
- Type a valid NBA player name into the search box. Invalid entries produce no row.
- Read the resulting row across all eight columns. Team, Conference, Division, and Position are categorical. Height, Age, and Number are numeric.
- Press Show Silhouette when you need a hint. It sits beside the input box and is available from the start.
- Use Flashback in the header to replay a previous day instead of today's puzzle.
Reading the feedback
Green indicates an exact match. Yellow indicates a close match, defined precisely for each column. Yellow on Team means the player used to play for that team. Yellow on Position means he plays at least one of the positions shown. Yellow on Height, Age, or Number means you are within two units of the correct value. That numeric rule creates a narrow band around your guess and often eliminates more candidates than a categorical match.
Modes
Flashback: The header button opens a panel where you select a previous date. The panel warns in capital letters that results will not count toward your stats or be saved.
Tips and strategy
- Treat a yellow number as more informative than a green category. Team or Conference eliminates by group, but a yellow Age or Number sets a hard bracket capped at two on either side.
- Team reflects career history, not the current roster. A yellow team cell means the player once wore that uniform, making well-traveled veterans strong opening guesses.
- Decide about the silhouette early. It is a button, not a reward for surviving multiple rows, so leaving it unused until guess eight gains you nothing.
Popular questions
When does the player change?
The How to Play panel states that new players are released daily at midnight EST.
Does a Flashback game count toward my streak?
No. The Play a Previous Day panel warns that it will not count toward your stats and will not be saved.
I had stats on the old Dunktown version. Are they gone?
The stats panel includes a button labeled Click to reload your Dunktown stats, with a note asking you to allow the redirect it triggers.
Do I need an account?
No. The game plays without signing in. A form requesting first name, last name, email, and zip code appears, but the text above it states it registers interest in upcoming features such as a global leaderboard.