Wikimedia Apps/Team/Games
Background
[edit]Games leveraging content from Wikimedia projects have long been created by community members and developers. (example list on English Wikipedia). The Wikipedia Mobile App is a natural place to experiment with mobile-first games, that allow users to learn from Wikimedia content in a fun and engaging way. The Apps team has received multiple requests from readers, and wishes from community members for daily games within the apps. A few examples:
“All Wikipedia needs to do to stay private and save the platform from corporate control is add NYT-style games and maybe sprinkle in some typical app fare for the casuals...” – iOS App Store Review
“I really like to play the "which event was before" game, wish there were more similar games. and I like that the setup supports multiple languages, this is especially good for language learners.” – Android Play store review
“we need more trivia game🥰” – Android Play store review
Related findings from the Research team about the Explore feed showed that high frequency users are more likely to value games, and want more games within the app. Games were the 3rd most requested improvement in the explore feed research.
The Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan includes objectives to increase retention of logged-in and logged-out readers, and the Apps team believes games could be an engaging way to retain readers and knowledge lovers. This page is a hub for any projects, experiments, or features that the Wikimedia Mobile Apps team is undertaking related to Games.
Wikipedia Games
[edit]Which came first?
[edit]Every day brings a brand-new round of "Which came first?" a quick and fun trivia challenge based on real events that happened on this day in history. You’ll be shown two historical events, and your job is to guess which one happened earlier. Get it right and you earn a point. Each game includes 5 questions, and at the end, you’ll see your total score along with handy links to explore each event further on Wikipedia.
Available on Android as of May 2025. Came to iOS in June 2026.
Game availability by language
[edit]Not all games are currently available in every Wikipedia language; availability depends on whether there is enough consistent, high-quality content in that language to support the game experience. You can view the current availability and requirements for each game on the Games availability page on MediaWiki.
If you’re interested in having a game available in your language, the most helpful ways to support this are:
- Contributing to relevant content on Wikipedia (such as “On this day” events or “Did you know” entries)
- Ensuring content is regularly updated and meets quality standards
- Engaging with your local community to help maintain this content over time
As more content becomes available and consistent, additional languages may become eligible for games.
What we look for in a game
[edit]- The game can be played in multiple Wikipedia languages, leveraging the content from each language version of Wikipedia
- The game utilizes content that has already been curated by volunteer editors on the Wikimedia projects (Content from a Wikipedia Main Page such as featured articles, in the news, did you know, on this day, Commons Picture of the day, Wikiquote Quote of the day, etc)
- The game can be played daily, and update daily with new content from Wikimedia projects
- The game can be played on a Mobile Device, with a small screen
- The game is both educational, and enjoyable to play
- The game is not overly difficult and can be played by a variety of users
- The game leverages native app capabilities like haptics, gestures, push notifications, camera, geolocation, gyroscope, or local storage.
Ideas considered
[edit][On hold] Did you know?
[edit]Did you know? game was an idea for a engaging trivia experience based on facts curated by Wikipedia editors. Users would be shown a “Did you know…” fact with a missing article, and their task would be to choose the correct answer. Each game would include a short set of questions, and at the end, the user would see their score along with links to explore the related articles on Wikipedia.
Status: Explored but not being pursued at this time due to technical & linguistic constraints. Feedback is welcome.
Share your ideas
[edit]We’d love to hear your ideas! Tap on the ‘Discussion’ tab at the top of this page to tell us what you like about the current games available, or to let us know what kinds of daily challenges you'd like to see next.