How to Play Football Detective

Every day there is one mystery footballer. You start with a single clue, and each extra clue makes the player easier to identify — but costs you points. Name the player in as few clues as you can.

Play today’s mystery

The basics

1. Open the Daily Detective. The first clue is shown for free.
2. Type the player’s name and submit a guess, or tap Reveal next clue if you need more information.
3. Keep going until you name the player — or give up to see the answer.
4. Share your result grid with friends and check where you placed on the daily leaderboard.

The clues

Clues are revealed in a fixed order, from the vaguest to the most specific. A game has up to six clues, drawn from the list below (a clue is skipped when the data for that player isn’t known, rather than shown with a misleading value):

Clue	What it tells you
⏳ Era	The decade the player was in their prime, e.g. “Prime in the 2000s”.
📍 Position	Goalkeeper, centre-back, full-back, midfielder, winger or striker.
📅 Career	The span of their senior career, e.g. “Senior career 2004–present”.
🌍 Caps	How many times they played for their national team.
🎽 League apps	Roughly how many league appearances they made.
🏆 Honours	Major trophies or awards they won.
🚩 Nationality	The country they represented.
⭐ Clubs & shirt	Their most recent clubs and the shirt numbers they wore.

Guessing

Spelling is forgiving: accents, capital letters, well-known nicknames and small typos are all accepted, so “Mbappe”, “Mbappé” and “Mbape” all count. If you type just the surname and it isn’t enough on its own, the game tells you you’re close instead of counting it as a wrong guess. Genuinely wrong guesses cost a few points, so it pays to be confident before you submit.

Scoring

• A solve on the first clue is worth 100 points.
• Each extra clue you reveal costs 15 points.
• Each wrong guess costs 5 points.
• Any solve is worth at least 10 points, however many clues it took.
• Your daily streak adds a multiplier of +0.1× per day, up to 2×.
• Giving up or running out of clues scores 0.

Streaks and freezes

Solve the Daily on consecutive days to build a streak. Every 7th day of a streak earns a streak freeze (you can hold up to three). If you miss a single day, a freeze is used automatically and your streak survives. Missing two or more days, or failing the Daily, resets the streak.

Game modes

🕵️ Daily Detective

One mystery a day, the same for every player in the world. It resets at midnight UTC. You get one attempt, and first-time solves go on the public leaderboard.

♾️ Unlimited

Random players from a much larger database, as many as you like. A good way to practise and earn experience points between Dailies.

🧭 Career Path

Instead of the usual clues you see the player’s transfer history, one move at a time, oldest first. Perfect if you know your journeymen.

Levels and ranks

Every game earns experience points — more for solves in fewer clues, plus a bonus for playing the Daily. As you level up you climb the detective ranks, which are free for everyone:

Rank	Reached at
🔍 Rookie Detective	Level 1
🕵️ Detective	Level 5
🎩 Inspector	Level 10
🛡️ Chief Inspector	Level 20
🏅 Master Detective	Level 35

Achievements unlock along the way for milestones like long streaks and first-clue solves.

Ready?

Read our strategy guide for tips on solving in fewer clues, or jump straight in.

Play now

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