How to Play Krillion
Krillion looks like a quiz and plays like a poker bluff. Here are the complete rules, the scoring tiers and the habits that separate surface-dwellers from trench divers.
The one-minute version
- Open today’s dive at krillion.io — free, no signup needed.
- Read the prompt. All 7 prompts are identical for every player today.
- Type one answer before the ~20-second timer runs out.
- Rarity is everything. The obvious answer scores 10 points; a rare-but-valid answer scores up to 100.
- Sink 10 metres per point. A perfect run reaches the trench floor at 7,000 m.
- Come back after midnight ET for a brand-new dive — and keep your streak alive.
The rules, in detail
Prompts are open-ended
There are no multiple-choice options. A prompt like “Name a country whose name starts with A” accepts every country that fits — the game checks your typed answer against an accepted-answer list and awards the tier your answer earned. Watch the qualifiers: prompts can add constraints mid-sentence, like “accessories don’t count” or “pump bottles don’t count,” and ignoring them costs you the whole prompt.
Scoring: inverted trivia
| Tier | Points | Depth | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plankton | 10 | +100 m | The masses typed this — it barely moves you |
| Too Clever | 15 | +150 m | You thought it was obscure — it wasn’t |
| Schooler | 30 | +300 m | Slightly off the beaten path |
| Rare | 60 | +600 m | Uncommon and safely valid |
| Deep cut | 85 | +850 m | A small minority of players land these |
| One in a Krillion | 100 | +1,000 m | The rarest confirmed answers on the sheet |
The official validation data — every accepted answer with its tier — is published after the dive ends, which is what our daily answers page and the full archive summarize.
How the answer sheets are made
Per the official FAQ: for each prompt, the creator aggregates every relevant dataset he can find — dictionaries, wikis, encyclopedias — then merges and cleans them into one answer set. Rarity is judged per question: sometimes purely mechanically, against a database tracking how often a word or name appears in real text; sometimes with LLM assistance plus a manual pass. And the top “One in a Krillion” gem isn’t always the statistically rarest answer — past a certain depth rarity stops being distinguishable, so the pick factors in fun, and stays reachable by at least a few players. Missed answers happen when a source gets overlooked; it’s a known gap being improved.
Streaks, accounts and timing
The daily dive resets at midnight US Eastern. Playing without an account works fine, but streak tracking, review cards for past dives and the friends/leaderboard features need “My Krillion.” Miss a day and the log resets to zero. The game also installs to your home screen as an app if you want a one-tap morning ritual.
Five habits of deep divers
- Never commit the first answer. The first thing that surfaces is, by definition, what everyone types. Hold it in your head, then think of two more candidates and pick the least famous one.
- Be specific, not obscure. A real, checkable entity (“Antigua and Barbuda”) beats a vague region — and beats an untypeable mouthful you can’t spell before the timer.
- Stay inside the qualifiers. Half the lost points come from prompts where a “don’t count” clause quietly disqualifies your answer. Re-read the prompt before you type.
- Prefer names over categories. “Mycelium” beats “a natural material.” The validator wants an entity, and entities rank all over the sheet.
- Commit early. An 85-point answer you typed beats a 100-point answer the timer ate. If you’re at 10 seconds with a Rare in hand, lock it in.
Frequently asked questions
What is Krillion?
Krillion is a free daily trivia game played in the browser. Each day you get the same 7 open prompts as every other player, and instead of one “correct” answer, every valid answer is scored by how rarely players type it. The name is a play on “one in a trillion” — the rarest answers are “one in a Krillion.”
How many questions are in a Krillion dive?
Seven prompts per daily dive, always in the same order for all players, each with its own countdown of roughly 20 seconds. There is no way to replay the daily dive — when it’s done, it’s done until tomorrow.
How does Krillion scoring work?
Accepted answers are grouped into rarity tiers: Plankton (10 points), Schooler (30), Rare (60), Deep cut (85) and One in a Krillion (100). Every point sinks your dive 10 metres, so a perfect 700-point run reaches 7,000 m. An answer nobody in the player base has typed yet can score at the very top.
What time does Krillion reset?
A new dive goes live at midnight US Eastern time (Washington, D.C.), which is 04:00 UTC during daylight saving time. Until then, the day’s dive is the same for everyone.
What happens if I miss a day?
Your streak resets. Streaks are tracked when you play with an account, so if keeping a run alive matters to you, log in — a missed day sends the log back to zero.
When are the Krillion answers public?
After a dive ends, the full accepted-answer sheet is published with every answer and its tier. That’s what our daily answers page is built from — we summarize the confirmed tiers shortly after each reset.
Is there a Krillion practice mode?
Yes — Krillion Unlimited (also called Endless Dive) serves 7 mixed-topic prompts with a more relaxed 25-second timer and no daily cap. It’s the best way to train rarity hunting. See our Krillion Unlimited guide.
What does “Krillion” mean?
It’s a pun blending the krill of the ocean theme with “one in a trillion”: the whole game is framed as a dive, where every point takes you 10 metres deeper, and ultra-rare answers are called “One in a Krillion.”
Is Krillion free? Do I need an account?
The daily dive is free with no signup. An optional account (“My Krillion”) keeps your streaks, history and friends features, and the game can be installed as an app from the browser.
Who makes Krillion?
A solo developer (“No, just me,” per the official FAQ). The roadmap includes a native app, merch, multiplayer and a Krillion-based party game.
Why isn’t my answer on the answer sheet?
Accepted-answer sets are built by merging dictionaries, wikis and encyclopedias, so a valid answer can be missed when its source gets overlooked. The official FAQ acknowledges this and lists curation improvements as the current priority.
Does Krillion have ads?
Yes, but the official FAQ notes that any content unlock in any pack disables ads across the whole site, and linking a Google account syncs that across devices.
Ready for your first dive?
Play today’s set, then check the answer sheet here to see how deep your guesses sank.