How to Play
Chi-Spy is a weekly Chicago guessing game. A new spot every Monday — solve it as fast as you can.
- 1
A new Chicago spot every Monday
Each Monday a real Chicago location is posted, hidden behind a 4×3 grid of 12 tiles. The puzzle stays up all week until the next one drops.
- 2
One free tile per day
Every day, one more tile auto-uncovers for everyone — free. Patient players see more of the photo as the week goes on without spending a point.
- 3
Reveal more or use clues — for a cost
Manually uncover any tile for −8 points. Buy any of 3 history/culture clues for −5 each. A wrong guess costs −10 and auto-uncovers another tile.
- 4
Start at 100, earn an early-solve bonus
Everyone begins at 100 points. Solve with 1–2 tiles open: +30. With 3–4: +20. With 5–6: +10. With 7+: no bonus. Score never goes below 0.
- 5
A new spot every Monday
When Monday rolls around, a fresh Chicago spot takes over and last week's puzzle moves to the Archive, where you can replay it anytime in practice mode.
- 6
Forgiving answers, honest play
Capitalization, spaces, punctuation, and small typos don't matter. Different names or nicknames aren't accepted unless they're on that location's list. Rankings stay hidden during the week so nobody can game the board.
Scoring at a glance
- Start: 100 pts
- Daily auto-reveal: FREE
- Manual tile reveal: −8
- Clue: −5
- Wrong guess: −10 (+1 auto-tile)
- Early-solve bonus: +30 / +20 / +10 / 0
Leaderboard name
You can play without an account — your score saves on this device. To post your score to the public leaderboard, create a free account. The only thing you pick at sign-up is your leaderboard name (editable anytime on your Profile page). Top the board and you're crowned Winner of the Week.