Race through Wikipedia.
Two to five players, one starting article, one target. Whoever clicks their way there first wins. It runs in a browser tab and asks for nothing but a nickname.
Start a new race
You are the host, so you pick: the language, both articles, and how much everyone sees of everyone else mid-race.
Join a friend
Paste the code you were given, or the whole invite link.
What is a Wikipedia race?
The rule fits on one line. Get from one article to another using only the links inside them. No search box, no address bar, and no crawling back to the front page when you run out of ideas.
The short path is almost never the obvious one. Send two people from Albert Einstein to Pizza and they set off in opposite directions, each certain the other is wasting clicks. Physics is a dead end. The violin gets you there in three.
People have been playing this in browsers for twenty years under a dozen names. Wiki race. Wiki golf. Wikipedia speedrun. WikiConn is the one that keeps score: it checks that every hop was a link you could actually have clicked, runs the clock, and lays everybody’s route out side by side the second someone arrives. Reading the routes is usually better than winning.
How it works
- 1. Create and share
Open a room, pick where the race starts and where it ends, then send the six-character code round.
- 2. Click your way there
Only the links inside the article you are on. That is the whole game.
- 3. First one home wins
And then everyone sees everyone else’s route, clicks and time. Detours included.
Common questions
How many players can join one race?
- Two to five. Everyone starts from the same article at the same moment, and all anybody needs is the six-character code.
Do I need an account, or have to install something?
- No. It asks for a nickname, not an email. Nothing outlives the room, and the room is gone after a day of silence.
Which Wikipedia languages can we race in?
- English and Czech. The host picks one while setting the room up and everybody reads that edition.
What stops someone from just searching for the target?
- The page arrives without a search box, so the only way onward is a link on the article in front of you. Middle-clicking out to a new tab does not work either. Past that it runs on trust: this is a game between friends, not a tournament.
Can players see where their rivals are?
- As much as the host allows. Current article, click count and live route are three separate switches. The finish screen ignores all three.
Does it work on a phone?
- Yes. Passing the code around a table is how most races start.