Wikipedia:Wiki Game

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See also: Wikipedia:Wikipedia games
The Wiki Game, also known as the Wikipedia race, is a hypertextual game designed to work
specifically with Wikipedia. It requires only a computer, Internet access, a web browser and
(optionally) a time-keeping device to play.

Contents

 1Objective
 2Setup
 3Procedures
 4Variations
 5Websites for Wikiracing
 6The Don'ts
 7External links

Objective
Players (one or more) start on the same randomly selected article, and must navigate to another
pre-selected target article, solely by clicking links within each article. The goal is to arrive at the
target article in the fewest clicks (articles), or the least time. The single-player Wiki Game, known
as Wikirace, Wikispeedia, WikiLadders, WikiClick, or WikiWhack, involves reducing one's
previous time or number of clicks.

Setup
1. Use the random article link in the navigation box to or have
someone else (see procedure 1 for more information) select
two random articles. One is the start article and the other is the
target article.
2. Navigate all players' browsers to the start article.
3. Purge the history folder of the web browsers.

Procedures
1. The random selection of pages must be performed by someone
other than the player, that is, either an impartial overseer (i.e.
referee) or an opponent. Of note, the latter option tends to
breed a fun competitiveness between players, where one player
tries to pick the most "random" (read: tangential) wiki-links for
his/her opponent.
2. A close tally must be kept of the number of clicks used by a
player; all selections must be accounted for. Whoever has the
fewest clicks wins. The browser history can be used to
determine number of articles / clicks.
3. A round in the Wiki Game can be played at one computer
terminal, where players take turns, or at multiple computers
simultaneously. In the latter option, a "session" begins
immediately after everyone loads their randomized Starting
Page and ends when the last person returns to his/her Homing
Page. NOTE: It is our experience that rounds with a session
consisting of several people require both referees and
cooperation between opponents to make sure all are treated
fairly.
4. After each round, the history folder of the web browser needs to
be purged.

 The game can also be played by seeing who can get to the
designated page first, regardless of the number of clicks.

Variations
If one ever grows tired of the "traditional" version of Wikiracing,
several variations of the game have sprung up, created to spice
things up or otherwise raise the stakes.

1. '2-player Challenge': The form of the Wikipedia game

where two people take it in turns to ask the other to
navigate between two pages of their choosing, e.g.
from Teletubbies to noodles. The number of clicks taken is
counted, and once a player has completed the challenge,
he sets the other a challenge of his own. The winner is the
person who completes the game in the fewest clicks.
2. '5-Clicks-to-Jesus': A form of Wikiracing that mimics golf,
the challenge in this version is to get from a Random
Article to the Jesus entry in as few clicks as possible.
Reaching the article in five clicks is considered 'par', with
clicks over or under five being referred to as 'bogeys' and
'birdies' respectively. Players can either play the course
(aiming for 'par' or better) or as a competition. In the latter
case, players start from the same Random Articles and add
their score between rounds. Lowest score wins.
3. Time Trials: Rather than using the click rules, the winner
can be determined by whoever reaches the "Homing Page"
in the shortest amount of time. This is easier with two
parallel machines, although it should be noted that they
ought to have equivalent Internet connections.
4. 'One-Can't-Go' rule: Essentially, if you find yourself in a
doomed-scenario (i.e. stumbled into a stub with no wiki-
links) you are allowed to use one of the Category links at
the bottom of an entry (e.g. 1904 deaths or Philosophy).
Each player can only use this option once though, so use it
wisely.
 5. 'Clicks to Hitler' Believed to be the original form of 'The
Wikipedia Game,' the objective is to begin by selecting the
'Random Article' link. From there you look at the selected
article and click the links in the main body of the article that
are believed to lead to the Adolf Hitler article. Two players
or more can play and they count the number of articles it
takes to get to Adolf Hitler. The person who gets there with
the fewest articles wins.

Websites for Wikiracing

Wikispeedia is an implementation of the Wiki Game with the
additional research purpose of using the gathered data in
an artificial intelligence program that automatically learns
commonsense knowledge.
The Wikipedia Game is a version of the game where the player has
2 minutes and 30 seconds to get from one website to another. It
then averages the number of clicks and time it takes to get to
finishing page. The player with the best averages wins. The online
player with the most wins is shown as the leader. Although it has a
log-in feature, it is not necessary to log-in. It will gives a player
without a username a random name when coming to the website. It
is an implementation by Alex Clemesha which offers variations
called Speedrace, Least Clicks, 6 degrees, Find Jesus in 5, and No
using 'United States'.
Wikipedia Maze was a version of the game that awarded points and
badges for both creating and solving puzzles. Every time a user
solved a puzzle, they were awarded points based on the average
number of clicks it took to solve the puzzle. The harder the puzzle
was, the greater the points that were awarded. Each puzzle could
be voted up or down by other players, based on whether or not they
liked it, which awarded points to the creator. Players were also
awarded badges for reaching certain milestones. The site is now
defunct and its domain url was taken over and turned into a redirect
to a malware site.

The Don'ts
Except where otherwise noted, any player breaking these rules
automatically forfeits the game.

1. DO NOT use the Wiki search box.

2. DO NOT use any of the links outside of the page's
contents. The contents of a page are demarcated by gray
lines which intersect to make the page box. DO NOT click
(for example) "Help", "Donations", "Related changes",
"Category:..." etc.
3. DO NOT visit external websites. You must stay within the
bounds of Wikipedia.
 4. DO NOT use the backspace or back arrow to return to a
previous page. History is bunk in the Wiki Game (unless a
referee or an opponent demands a recount).
5. DO NOT click on dates e.g. 2001, as these pages are too
broad to pose a challenge.
6. DO NOT employ automated search tools to find a path for
you.
7. DO NOT edit the start page to insert a link to the home
page.
8. DO NOT use your browser's address bar to manually
navigate to the target article.

External links
 Wikispeedia - An implementation for research purposes.
 The Wikipedia Game - A free multi-player version.
 Wikipedia Maze Archive. Wikipedia Maze was once another
version of the game, but the abandoned domain url now
redirects to a malware site.
 The Wiki Game. A version outfitted with ranking and
leaderboards.
 Wikibattle. An open source implementation hosted on Github
Pages. Supports playing against a friend or a random
opponent.
Categories: 
 Wikipedia games
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 This page was last edited on 17 July 2019, at 10:32 (UTC).
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