Cities Game

Ever gotten stuck on a city that ends in “X”?

Cities Game is that classic “name a city” challenge turned into a quick back-and-forth puzzle. The rule is simple, but it has teeth: every city you enter has to start with the last letter of the previous city. If the chain says “Berlin,” you’re on the hook for an “N” city next.

The fun part is how fast your brain switches modes. One second you’re thinking geography (“What even starts with V?”), the next you’re thinking spelling (“Does ‘Hanoi’ end with I or… wait, it’s I, right”). It’s not about knowing one huge fact list. It’s about recall under pressure.

Most rounds end up feeling like short sprints. You’ll have a run where the letters are friendly and everyone keeps the chain alive, then suddenly you get hit with a brutal ending letter and the whole room collapses in two turns.

How you actually play (and what the buttons do)

The game gives you a starting city, and your job is to type a new city that begins with the last letter of that one. Submit it, the chain continues, and you’re immediately looking at the last letter of your own answer because that’s what the next turn will be built on.

If you don’t know a valid city, you can hit Skip. Skipping isn’t free: it costs 5 points. That penalty matters more than people expect, because it’s easy to panic-skip early and then realize later you’re behind even though you “only” skipped twice.

There’s also a hint button shown as a light bulb. It’ll help you out by suggesting a city, but it’s tied to watching an ad. That makes hints feel like a real resource, not a constant safety net. The best use is when you’re staring at a letter that you know has answers, but your brain is blanking.

• Type a city name that starts with the last letter shown.
• Use Skip if you’re stuck (you lose 5 points).
• Use the light bulb hint for help (requires watching an ad).

Difficulty ramps up in a sneaky way

There aren’t “levels” in the traditional sense, but the difficulty still climbs because of letter quality. Some endings are basically a gift: cities ending in N, A, or S keep things moving and give you tons of options. The game feels breezy when the chain is bouncing through those.

Then you hit the letters that feel like traps. A city ending in Y often leads to a scramble for “Y” cities. Endings like X, Q, or sometimes even U can turn a confident streak into an instant stall. What’s funny is that it’s not always the rare letters that cause the wipeout—it’s the common ones when everyone starts repeating the same few ideas and forgets the rest.

One really specific pattern: chains that drift into lots of “-a” endings can get deceptively comfortable for a few turns, and then the first “-h” or “-k” ending hits and suddenly the pace changes. That’s usually where the first Skip happens, and after that you start seeing more mistakes because people rush to avoid another -5.

Also, longer sessions tend to get tougher simply because you burn your easy answers. Early on, “Rome,” “Oslo,” “Paris,” and “London” come out instantly. Later, you’re digging for second-tier answers you know you know, but can’t pull up on command.

What catches people off guard

The biggest “gotcha” is spelling, not geography. If you type a city you know exists but misspell it, it might not count. That hurts most when you’re moving quickly and you drop a letter or swap two around. A lot of players lose points or waste a turn not because they don’t know the city, but because they didn’t type it cleanly.

Another surprise: it’s easy to overuse Skip. Because the penalty is “only” 5 points, people treat it like a reset button. But those -5s stack up fast, and you’ll feel it after just three skips. If you’re playing to win, a rough rule is to try to survive the first half of a session with zero skips, then spend them only when the ending letter is truly awful.

And watch the last letter more carefully than you think you need to. Cities ending in “-e” or “-i” are obvious, but ones ending in “-h” or “-k” can slip by when you’re focused on the name as a whole. If the chain is “Quebec,” the next letter is “C,” not “Q,” and that single detail changes everything.

A simple strategy that actually works

Keep a tiny mental list for the problem letters. Not a whole atlas—just a handful of “emergency cities” that you can deploy when the chain gets ugly. Having even 2–3 answers ready for letters like Y, U, or K can save you from the -5 skip and keep your momentum.

It also helps to stop thinking in single cities and start thinking in patterns. If you just played a city that ends in N, don’t burn your best “N” answer immediately. Use something solid but not precious, and save a couple of obvious ones for later when your brain is tired. The late-game blanks are real.

Finally, use hints with intention. A hint is most valuable when it teaches you something you’ll reuse—like a city you didn’t know that starts with a tough letter. If you grab a hint for an easy letter like S, you’re basically paying an ad to be told something you could’ve found yourself.

This game is at its best for people who like quick thinking, word rules, and that “I knew it!” feeling when a city pops into your head at the last second. Geography fans will obviously have an advantage, but the real edge goes to anyone who stays calm, types accurately, and treats skips like a last resort.