What we make
GuessStates is an independent geography game project. We make map practice, state-outline puzzles and factual state comparisons. We are not affiliated with the US Census Bureau, and we do not claim official educational certification.
Maps and regions
State outlines are generated from US Atlas, which redistributes Census cartographic boundary data. The Albers USA layout moves and resizes Alaska and Hawaii as insets. Isolated outlines are scaled to fit their frames. Maps are for learning, not navigation or legal boundary reference.
Region assignments follow the Census Bureau’s four-region reference. Only the 50 states are included in the games.
Population and news challenges
The launch editions use the January 27, 2026 Census release and its Vintage 2025 tables. Population refers to July 1, 2025; growth covers July 2024 to July 2025; net domestic migration covers July 2024 through June 2025. Each question labels its measure. Estimates are not live counts and can be revised.
News editions are selected and explained by the GuessStates project. A larger number does not mean a state is better. We do not use quiz outcomes as financial, relocation or policy advice.
How scores work
Map and outline quizzes award one point for an unassisted correct first answer. Hints and skips enter your review list. Showdown awards one point per correct comparison. There is no time bonus. Results describe only the current round.
Privacy
No account is needed. Game answers live in browser memory and reset on reload. This version does not include external advertising or analytics scripts. Interaction events are placed in an in-memory queue for optional future analytics integration; they are not transmitted by the application. Hosting providers may keep access logs.
Copying a score uses your clipboard only when you press the button. Downloading a scorecard creates a file locally. Neither action automatically publishes anything. Shared links contain campaign labels, not player identifiers.
Corrections
Report a suspected error with the game name, question, data period and source to the project maintainer. Include a link to the original data so the discrepancy can be checked.