Data & Methodology

Data source

WikiShowdown uses daily Wikimedia pageview data for English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org), covering all-access user traffic.

The game prepares and caches data snapshots ahead of play. It does not query Wikimedia every time a player makes a choice.

What “yesterday” means

WikiShowdown advances on a Pacific-time schedule and uses the newest eligible daily snapshot available for the previous calendar day based on Pacific time.

If the expected snapshot is unavailable, the game may temporarily use the most recent valid earlier snapshot. The footer always displays the actual pageview date powering the game.

Puzzle selection

WikiShowdown maintains a curated article pool. Daily Challenge puzzles are generated from that pool to combine recognizable topics with meaningful differences in traffic, while avoiding recently used Daily Challenge articles where practical.

What pageviews represent

Pageviews reflect requests measured by Wikimedia. They are not a perfect measure of public interest, popularity, or unique people.

Pageview data provided by Wikimedia.

WikiShowdown is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia is a trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation.