How to play Pindrop
- Type an Indian city and pick it from the list.
- Read the PIN boxes. Green boxes show how many digits of your city's PIN code match the mystery city's PIN, counting from the left. More green means you're in the right part of the country.
- Check the distance. You also see how far your guess is from the mystery city, and an arrow pointing towards it.
- Use the clues. Every wrong guess unlocks a new clue: city size, what it's famous for, the state, and finally the first letter.
You get six guesses, the same as the six digits of a PIN code.
How Indian PIN codes work
India Post introduced the 6-digit Postal Index Number in 1972. Each digit narrows down where a letter is going. The first digit is the postal zone:
| Digit | Postal zone covers |
|---|---|
| 1 | Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh |
| 2 | Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand |
| 3 | Rajasthan, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |
| 4 | Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh |
| 5 | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka |
| 6 | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep |
| 7 | West Bengal, Odisha, the Northeast, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar |
| 8 | Bihar, Jharkhand |
| 9 | Army Postal Service |
The second digit is the sub-zone, and the third is the sorting district. So if your guess matches the first three digits, you're already in the right district. The last three digits identify the delivery post office.
Tips
- Start with a big city in the zone shown in the first PIN box. It gives you a useful distance reading.
- Use the arrow and distance together. Two guesses in different directions pin the city down quickly.
- The "famous for" clue is often the giveaway, so save a guess for it.
- Practice mode gives you unlimited cities to learn the map.
Questions
Which cities can come up?
Around 90 cities and towns from every state, from metros like Mumbai to hill towns like Gangtok. You can only guess cities from the list, and the list shows as you type.
Which PIN code do you use for a city?
The PIN code of the city's main (head) post office, usually the one ending in 001.
How is distance measured?
Straight-line distance between city centres, rounded to the nearest 10 km.
When does the next city come out?
At midnight in your own time zone. The countdown under a finished game shows how long is left.
Do I need an account?
No. Your streak and stats are saved on your device.