Draw the border

Border Clash: how to play

Two neighbouring countries are merged into one shape. Draw the missing border between them and score up to 1000 for accuracy.

Play Border Clash

What is Border Clash?

Border Clash shows two neighbouring countries filled in the same grey, so they look like one piece of land. You are told which two countries they are, for example France and Spain, but not where one ends and the other begins. You draw that line yourself, straight onto the map.

When you submit, the countries switch to blue and orange, the real border appears in green and your own line stays visible in grey for comparison. You also get a short fact about that border. There are 22 pairs, most of them in Europe, with others from the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Players: 1
Border pairs: 22
Maximum score: 1000 per border
Time limit: None
Controls: Mouse, finger or stylus

How to play

1Read the card naming the two countries, then press Start Drawing.
2Press and drag across the map to draw where you think the border runs.
3Lift and draw again to add to the line (separate strokes all count), or press Clear to wipe it.
4Press Submit to reveal the real border and your score out of 1000, then Next pair to move on.

Scoring

The score measures how much of the real border your drawing covers. Each stretch of the true border counts if your line passes close to it (within about 4% of the map's width). The covered share is scaled to a score from 0 to 1000.

Each result comes with a rating: 900 or more is "Incredible!", 750 or more is "Great job!", 550 or more is "Not bad", 350 or more is "Getting there", and anything lower is "Keep practising".

There are no lives and no running total. Every border is scored on its own.

Tips

Draw the whole length, from one outer edge of the grey shape to another. Any part of the real border your line does not reach lowers the score.
Get your bearings first. Find a coastline or peninsula you recognise, then decide which side each country is on.
Think about what the border follows. The Pyrenees separate France and Spain, the Andes run between Argentina and Chile, and the Rio Grande marks the eastern half of the United States and Mexico border.
River and mountain borders wiggle, but you need not copy every bend. A smooth line along the right course stays within the tolerance.

What you learn

Most map quizzes ask where a country is. Border Clash asks where it stops. You need a mental picture of both countries, their relative size, and which lies to the north, south, east or west. The reveal also links borders to physical geography, such as the Rhine, Danube and Oder rivers or the Alps.

Questions and answers

Can I redraw after I submit?: No. Submitting fixes the score. The same border comes round again after the others.
Which borders are included?: There are 22 pairs, including Norway and Sweden, Portugal and Spain, India and Pakistan, Kenya and Tanzania, and the United States with both Canada and Mexico.
Are the borders in a random order?: The first pair is picked at random. After that, Next pair steps through the list in a fixed order and loops back to the start.
Are my scores saved?: No. Scores are shown after each border but are not stored.