Frequently asked questions
A few useful answers.
What the game is, how it scores, what happens to your progress, and why some dates are ranges.
What is QuoAnno?
QuoAnno is a timeline guessing game. Each round shows an event from natural history, ancient and modern history, science, technology, space, art, film, music, the internet, exploration, archaeology or sport, and asks you to place it on one continuous timeline. The accepted date and your score are revealed straight away.
Is QuoAnno free to play?
Yes. Every mode is free, there is nothing to buy, and there is no energy meter or daily question cap in Endless mode.
Where is my progress stored?
No account is required. Your player name, preferences, scores, streaks, played questions and resumable solo games are stored locally in this browser. Progress is specific to this browser and device and does not currently sync automatically between devices. Clearing site data can remove it, and private or incognito sessions may not keep it after the session ends. Use Export and Import in player settings to keep a copy or move progress to another browser.
How does scoring work?
Answers inside the accepted range earn the full 1000 points, and before 150 BC any estimate window that overlaps it does too. Any other guess is measured in years between the nearest edges, then scored as a smooth decay against the event's age: half marks at about 8 percent of that age, and never tighter than five years for recent events. There are no bands and no cut-off, so a closer guess always scores more than a further one.
Why are some answers ranges rather than exact years?
Because the evidence only supports a range. A software release has an exact day; a fossil lineage may only be dated to a geological interval. Rather than invent a year to keep scoring tidy, QuoAnno stores the uncertainty and accepts any guess that overlaps it.
Why do I choose a time window instead of a year before 150 BC?
The farther back in time you go, the less meaningful year-by-year precision becomes, so before 150 BC QuoAnno asks you to estimate a period. The window grows with distance, from 25 years to 100 million, and zooming in never narrows it. This gameplay resolution is separate from historical uncertainty: a precisely dated battle in 490 BC stays 490 BC, even though you answer it with a 25-year window.
Why does the timeline use BC and AD?
QuoAnno uses BC and AD consistently in the player-facing interface because they are the labels most players read fastest. AD means Anno Domini. There is no year zero between 1 BC and AD 1. BCE and CE number the years identically if that is the convention you know.
Why does the timeline not use an even scale?
Because it runs from the formation of the Earth to the present. On an evenly spaced axis, all of recorded history would occupy less than a pixel, so QuoAnno uses a logarithmic canvas that gives every era usable room on one continuous line.
What is the Daily Mix?
Daily Mix gives every player the same ten events in the same order for the UTC day. You get one official attempt in this browser, can close the page and resume later, and can replay afterwards for practice without changing your official score or your Daily streak.
How is Four Points different from Endless?
Four Points shows four unlabelled positions on the timeline and hides all four dates until you commit. It is quicker than placing a marker freely, and a correct choice earns 1000 points plus a modest streak bonus.
Can I play with friends?
Yes, in two ways. Live Party puts everyone in a private room on the same question at the same time, with the host controlling the reveal and the leaderboard. Challenge freezes one question order behind a private link so friends can play the same set hours or days apart.
Does QuoAnno work on a phone?
Yes. It runs in a mobile browser with no install, and the timeline supports touch. Progress is kept per browser, so a phone and a laptop keep separate local scores.
Where do the dates come from, and can I suggest an event?
Every question is written against published sources, and event pages list them. You can propose a new event, with a source for its date, through the submission form.
Still curious?
The guides go further: what a timeline game is, how to guess a year you do not know, and why there is no year zero.
Play QuoAnno →