Countries & capitals Alias words — 300 geography words

Paris, pyramids, kangaroos and Canberra. A trip around the world in one minute.

A set for people who love to travel, or at least love a map on the wall: countries and capitals, famous cities, mountains and rivers, the landmarks everyone has seen on a postcard, and the symbols that give a country away in a single word. From London and Paris to Thimphu and Vaduz — a whole world to explain without naming it.

Why geography makes a great Alias round

Everybody knows the world in their own way: one friend has backpacked half of Europe, another remembers capitals from school, a third knows countries by their food, football and TV shows. So this set rewards the best clue, not the best grades. The first level is big countries and capitals any ten-year-old knows, the second is European capitals, famous cities and landmarks, and the third is capitals that only come up in pub quizzes and countries not everyone can point to on a map.

How to play with a group

Make a room on one phone and drop the link in the group chat — everyone joins from their own phone, no app and no sign-up. Split into teams of two or three: travellers against homebodies, or the ones who paid attention in geography against the ones who didn't. Three rounds take about half an hour. Pick the easy level when children play, medium for a grown-up crowd, and hard when someone at the table keeps mentioning how many countries they have been to.

Tokyo

Works: "the capital of the country of sushi and cherry blossoms". Two famous details lead straight to the city. Fails: "a big city in Asia" — the team will go through Beijing, Seoul and Bangkok before they get there.

Stonehenge

Works: "a ring of giant standing stones in an English field, older than the pyramids". The picture gives it away. Fails: "an ancient monument in Britain" — the team will try castles, Hadrian's Wall and the Tower first. Describe what it looks like, not how old it is.

Canberra

Works: "the capital of the kangaroo country — and no, it's not Sydney". The clue rules out the most common wrong answer at once. Fails: "the capital of Australia" — half the team shouts "Sydney" and the clock keeps running.

Where groups trip up

The first trap is neighbours on the map: Sweden and Norway, Latvia and Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. "A Nordic country" or "a Baltic country" is a coin toss, so give the one detail the neighbour lacks: a capital, a flag colour, a dish. The second is the biggest city that isn't the capital: Sydney, Istanbul, New York, Rio. When you explain a capital, say early that "it's not the city everyone thinks of". The third is naming the country to explain its capital: "the main city of France" is nearly saying Paris, and many groups won't allow it. Explain through landmarks, food and people instead.

Explain a country by what people bring home from it: cheese, watches, tulips, chocolate.
Explain a capital by its landmark or river: a tower, a cathedral, a bridge, a canal.
On the hard level, neighbours help: "between India and China, high in the mountains" — Bhutan or Nepal, then narrow it down.

Easy

Familiar words that land on the first clue. For warming up, for kids and for mixed groups.

Ukraine, Kyiv, Poland, Warsaw, France, Paris, Italy, Rome, Spain, Madrid, Germany, Berlin, England, London, America, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, Beijing, Japan, Tokyo, India, Egypt, Australia, Greece, Athens, Turkey, Istanbul, Africa, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, Israel, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Vienna, Prague, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Wales, Korea, Thailand, Cuba, Venice, Barcelona, Hawaii, Texas, Florida, pyramids, kangaroo, panda, koala, giraffe, camel, desert, jungle, ocean, island, Alps, Sahara, Nile, Amazon, Thames, flag, anthem, border, passport, money, dollar, euro, map, globe, capital, country, continent, equator, pole, pizza, sushi, cowboy, tourist, language, sombrero, kimono, tulip, castle, pasta, taco, croissant, Hollywood, California

Medium

Takes a few sentences and some imagination. The default setting for an ordinary evening.

Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Dublin, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Reykjavik, Geneva, Budapest, Hungary, Romania, Bucharest, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Belgrade, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Riga, Tbilisi, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Malta, Cyprus, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Vatican, Cairo, Morocco, Kenya, Madagascar, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Dubai, Iran, Indonesia, Bali, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Colosseum, Acropolis, Stonehenge, Parthenon, Sphinx, Louvre, Versailles, Florence, Munich, Krakow, Shanghai, Chicago, Washington, Alaska, Sicily, Crete, Everest, Kilimanjaro, Fuji, Niagara, Gibraltar, Balkans, Scandinavia, embassy, visa, customs, sakura, flamenco, siesta, Normandy, Tuscany, Mumbai, Delhi, Lviv, Odesa, Vietnam, Philippines, Jamaica, Toronto, Vancouver, Rio, Bavaria, Manhattan, Patagonia, Siberia, Caribbean, Mediterranean, fjord, Himalayas

Hard

Rare or abstract words. More failed rounds, and more laughing at them.

Canberra, Ottawa, Brasilia, Ankara, Astana, Tashkent, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Ashgabat, Ulaanbaatar, Kathmandu, Thimphu, Islamabad, Kabul, Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus, Amman, Riyadh, Doha, Muscat, Nairobi, Accra, Dakar, Luanda, Abuja, Pretoria, Rabat, Tripoli, Khartoum, Montevideo, Asunción, Quito, Bogotá, Caracas, Lima, Havana, Managua, Wellington, Jakarta, Manila, Pyongyang, Hanoi, Vientiane, Colombo, Valletta, Nicosia, Podgorica, Skopje, Tirana, Sarajevo, Ljubljana, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Bhutan, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Cameroon, Uganda, Rwanda, Eritrea, Djibouti, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives, Seychelles, Petra, Angkor, Alhambra, Neuschwanstein, Atomium, Timbuktu, Mauritius, Suriname, Brunei, Dhaka, Yerevan, Baku