The 60-second version
- Read the prompt. It is always an open question with many correct answers.
- Type one answer. Only one per prompt, and it has to be correct.
- Get graded by rarity. The bank already knows which accepted answers players type most.
- Convert to depth. Points × 10 = metres. Seven prompts, maximum 7,000 m.
- Dive again. No daily limit, no cooldown, no fee.
A dive, step by step
Tap Begin descent on the home page. Seven prompts are dealt from a bank of 60, spread across eight categories. The first prompt appears with a 25-second countdown. Type an answer and press Sink — or press Enter. The game normalises what you typed, checks it against the accepted list, and shows the tier and points immediately. Then the next prompt arrives.
After the seventh answer the results screen shows your total depth, the ocean zone it falls in, and a list of every prompt with your answer and its points. Anything the bank did not accept is marked. From there you can dive again immediately or share the result. The whole loop is designed to take three minutes.
Scoring: six rarity tiers
Every accepted answer belongs to one tier. The tier is set by how crowded the answer is in the bank, never by your typing speed. The six tiers and their values:
| Tier | Points | Depth | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plankton | 10 | 100 m | The answer everyone gave |
| Too Clever | 15 | 150 m | A sideways step, still crowded |
| Schooler | 30 | 300 m | A real move away from the crowd |
| Rare | 60 | 600 m | Genuinely uncommon |
| Deep Cut | 85 | 850 m | Very few divers found this one |
| Deepest | 100 | 1,000 m | The one in a krillion answer |
The top tier is Deepest. Every prompt in the bank has at least one Deepest answer, so a perfect dive is possible on any set. In practice, most dives land between 1,000 and 4,000 metres.
How depth works
Depth is just points made visible: one point equals ten metres. Seven Plankton answers make 700 metres; seven Deepest answers make 7,000. The results screen maps your total onto nine ocean zones so the number has a shape:
| Zone | Depth band | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Sunlit Shallows | 0–150 m | A steady, surface-level dive |
| Coral Garden | 150–350 m | A steady, surface-level dive |
| Kelp Cathedral | 350–600 m | A few strong answers |
| Reef Wall | 600–900 m | A few strong answers |
| Twilight Edge | 900–1,400 m | Most of the dive lands rare |
| Deep Blue | 1,400–2,200 m | Most of the dive lands rare |
| Midnight Zone | 2,200–4,000 m | Deep cuts on several prompts |
| Abyssal Plain | 4,000–6,000 m | Near-perfect rarity across all seven |
| Hadal Trench | 6,000–7,000 m | Near-perfect rarity across all seven |
Around 4,000 metres is a strong dive. Reaching 6,000 metres means most of your answers were Deep Cuts or better. The trench floor at 7,000 requires seven Deepest answers in one dive.
Words the game uses
The game keeps a small vocabulary. Six of the words below are the rarity tiers; the rest describe how a dive works.
| Prompt | The open question a turn asks. You get one typed answer per prompt |
|---|---|
| Dive | One full game: seven prompts, 25 seconds each. Total depth is the score |
| Sink | What a good answer does. Points become depth at ten metres per point |
| Plankton | 10 points, 100 m. The answer everyone gave |
| Too Clever | 15 points, 150 m. The sideways answer many players reach for |
| Schooler | 30 points, 300 m. A real move away from the crowd |
| Rare | 60 points, 600 m. Genuinely uncommon |
| Deep Cut | 85 points, 850 m. Very few divers found this one |
| Deepest | 100 points, 1,000 m. The rarest accepted answer on the prompt |
| Bank | The game's prompts and hand graded answers, grown by hand |
Classic and Zen
Classic mode gives each prompt 25 seconds; when the clock hits zero, whatever is in the box is submitted. Zen mode removes the countdown entirely. The scoring is identical in both, and so is the results screen. Choose Zen if you want to think, or if you are playing somewhere a ticking clock is unwelcome.
Answer matching and aliases
Matching ignores capitalisation, accents, punctuation and leading articles. Each answer also carries aliases for the names people actually type: “UK” for United Kingdom, “USA” for United States, “Man Utd” for Manchester United, “8 1/2” for 8½. A clear, conventional short form will usually be accepted; a genuinely different name will not.
If an answer is correct but missing, the results screen marks it and the contact page takes the suggestion. Suggestions are checked by hand: a wrong answer never enters the bank, and a right one is graded before it is added.
Playing a friend
A duel fixes the seven prompts with a code so two players face the same set. Generate a code on the 1v1 page, send the link, and both players play on their own device. The higher total depth wins; a tie is broken by the deeper single answer. Duels are asynchronous, so nobody has to wait in a lobby.
Four mistakes that cost depth
- Typing the first answer. It is the crowded one by definition. Bin it once and look again.
- Trying to be clever. The “smart” alternative is usually still in the Too Clever tier. Go sideways, not louder.
- Leaving the prompt. A rare answer still has to be correct. A wild guess is zero points, not a lottery ticket.
- Skipping the results. The list of accepted answers on the results screen is the cheapest study material in the game.
Rules: frequently asked questions
How long is a dive?
Seven prompts. In Classic mode each prompt gets 25 seconds, so the clock time is under three minutes; in Zen mode there is no clock and a dive takes as long as you want. A dive ends after the seventh answer and shows your total depth.
What is the maximum depth?
7,000 metres. Seven Deepest answers at 100 points each make 700 points, and one point equals ten metres. That is the floor of the Hadal Trench and the top of the depth scale.
Does typing faster score more?
No. The tier is a property of the answer you gave, not of how quickly you gave it. A Plankton answer typed in one second and a Plankton answer typed in twenty are worth the same ten points. The clock only decides whether you get an answer in at all.
What is Zen mode?
The same dive with no countdown. Every prompt is still worth the same points, and the results screen is identical. Zen exists for players who want to think, or who are playing on a device where a timer is more stressful than fun.
Why was my correct answer not accepted?
The bank accepts a fixed list of answers and aliases per prompt. A valid answer can miss if it uses a different name, a different spelling that is not in the alias list, or a correct example that has not been graded yet. The results screen marks the miss; the contact page takes suggestions.
Do I need an account to keep my score?
No. Your best depth, average and dive count live in your browser storage. They survive a refresh and a browser restart, but they do not follow you between devices, and clearing site data resets them.
How do I play a friend?
Use the 1v1 page to generate a duel code. The code fixes seven prompts; send the link and both players play the same set on their own device, then compare total depth. No account and no live room are needed.
Rules read. Clock starts.
Seven prompts, 25 seconds each, six tiers. There is nothing else to set up.
Start a dive →