✦ A LITTLE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

Guess the year.
Go further.

Seven historical moments. One guess each.
The closer you get, the further you travel.

7 moments · 25 seconds each · 300 stories to discover

I
Ancient RuinsAD 1
1 AD
◆
2026
About the game

A HISTORY QUIZ WITH SOMEWHERE TO GO

Guess a year. See where it takes you.

Early is a free history guessing game with a small traveller and a long road. Put a date to a real event, then watch your accuracy turn into movement through an original pixel-art world.

There are 300 moments to discover, from first flights and famous books to game launches and classic albums. Pick the daily seven or settle in for unlimited roam.

  • 7 daily moments
  • 25s per guess
  • 5 pixel worlds
  • Free · No sign-up
Early’s traveller flying over ancient ruins after an exact answer, with a gold +100, the correct year and a three-in-a-row reward.
A real perfect-answer moment, with three good guesses in a row.

THE TRAVELLER HAS A LITTLE PERSONALITY

A good guess deserves a little lift.

Getting the year right feels better when someone celebrates with you. Your traveller reacts to the answer, while the road, scenery and score keep moving together.

  • Right on time? Fire up the jetpack.
  • Almost there? Make a dash for it.
  • Somewhere in the right era? Keep walking.
  • A wild miss? Stumble, recover, carry on.
  • Lost track of time? A little daydream.

The year appears straight away. Enjoy the short performance, or skip it with Space or the on-screen button.

THE LONG WAY THROUGH HISTORY

Five worlds. One continuous road.

Scroll through the scenery

Sunlit ruins give way to castles, steam engines, city streets and glowing screens. Layers of sky, buildings and passing traffic make each stretch feel different. Your score decides how far along the road you get.

Early’s pixel traveller among stone columns, palms and pyramids in Ancient Ruins.
I

Ancient Ruins

Warm skies, worn columns and a road out of the distant past.

A castle tower, pine trees and village houses behind Early’s traveller in Castle Kingdom.
II

Castle Kingdom

Cool mist, watchtowers and little villages among the pines.

A passing steam locomotive and sawtooth factory roofs in Early’s City of Steam.
III

City of Steam

Factory roofs, railway tracks and a locomotive passing by.

Early’s traveller on a modern street with cars, trees and apartment buildings.
IV

Modern Days

Busy streets, passing cars and windows lighting up the city.

Glowing signs, screens and a dark city skyline in Early’s Digital Night.
V

Digital Night

Glowing screens and a night skyline at the far end of the trip.

How to play Early

  1. Read the moment

    A discovery, a first flight, a film or a turning point. The event is real; the missing piece is its year.

  2. Trust your instincts

    Enter a year from AD 1 to 2026. You have 25 seconds and one guess. Press Enter or tap Go.

  3. See what happens

    Watch the traveller’s reaction, see the answer and pick up a short fact. Then it’s on to the next moment.

Example Early question asking when the Panama Canal officially opened, with an empty year field and a 25-second clock.
The moment. A short clue and one year to guess.
The same Panama Canal example revealed: a guess of 1914 matches the answer 1914 and earns 100 points, with a fact and source link.
The reveal. Your guess, the real year and one small story.

Screenshots from an example run. Your daily set can be different.

A daily trip, or a little longer?

THE DAILY JOURNEY

Seven moments. Make them count.

The same seven events for everyone playing on the same local date. Up to 700 points, a final destination and a journey you can copy and share.

A new set is available at local midnight. Each event stays out of the next 30 daily journeys. Already finished? Take another seven-question trip.

UNLIMITED ROAM

Stay for one more moment.

No daily limit and no lives to run out of. Close or exact answers build a streak, with extra points from the second good guess. Every 700 points takes you around the timeline again.

Your streak bonus grows from +5 to +25 per answer. Choose “Rest here” whenever you want to finish; each mode keeps its own save in this browser.

A TRIP WORTH KEEPING

Every moment leaves a mark.

Finish with your own traveller title, exact-year count, best streak and a personal best to chase. Tap any point in the time log to open that moment, or expand the review and browse the whole trip.

Example Early result with 525 out of 700 points, four exact years, a best streak of three and a coloured accuracy trail.
Your time log. The highs, close calls and scenic detours of one trip.
The same Early result with a moment expanded to show the guessed year, correct year, early or late difference, fact and source.
One tap back. Revisit the answer and the little story behind it.

Close counts. Exact feels brilliant.

An exact year earns 100 points. Close guesses earn smaller rewards and still move you forward. Older events get wider error windows, so historical instinct counts even when the precise date escapes you.

For recent events, being within 5 years earns 85 points, within 20 earns 60, and within 50 earns 30. A submitted guess earns at least 10 base points. Running out of time earns zero. The daily maximum stays at 700; unlimited adds the streak bonus shown on each reveal.

Points per answer · before streak bonuses
Your guessPoints
The exact year100
Very close85
In the right era60
Roughly there30
Further away10
No answer in time0
EXAMPLE · A RECENT EVENT

First Moon landing

You guess 1972. The year was 1969.

3 years off+85
EXAMPLE · AN ANCIENT EVENT

Vesuvius buries Pompeii

You guess 110. The year was 79.

31 years off+85

Two close calls, with different margins. Both earn 85 points because the older event allows a wider window. The scenery follows your total score, not the date of the question.

A BIT OF “I KNOW THIS!”

Big firsts. Familiar stories. A few surprises.

You don’t need to know every battle or remember a textbook timeline. Early’s 300-event bank mixes famous firsts with the films, games, music and landmarks you may already know.

  • Space & inventionsMoonwalks, first flights, satellites and the things that changed everyday life.
  • Game firstsArcade favourites, console adventures and the indie worlds you lost hours in.
  • Albums & anthemsDebut records, classic albums and songs that escaped into the wider world.
  • Films & storiesAnimated favourites, early cinema and books that outlived their century.
  • Discoveries & turning pointsLost objects found again, borders opening and ideas taking hold.
  • Sport & landmarksOpening ceremonies, famous structures and moments people gathered to see.

Before your next trip

Is Early free, including unlimited mode?

Yes. The daily journey, another seven-question trip and unlimited roam are free. You don’t need an account or an app.

When does the daily game change?

The daily set uses your local date. After midnight, return to the start or refresh to begin the new day’s journey. A trip you have already started keeps its original questions.

Can I skip the animation?

Yes. Press Space during a performance or use the “Skip animation” button. You still get the same answer and points.

Does Early save my progress?

Daily, practice and unlimited journeys have separate saves in this browser. Your personal bests, recent questions and sound setting stay here too. Tap the Early logo to pause and return later.

Will the same questions keep coming back?

The daily schedule keeps each event out of the next 30 daily journeys. Unlimited works through a question queue and puts recently seen events behind fresh ones when it starts another queue.

Where do the historical facts come from?

Each answer has a “From the record” link to the source for that event. The event bank includes NASA mission records, Apple’s press archive and encyclopedia articles. Open the link after a guess if a moment catches your curiosity.

There’s another moment just down the road.

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