What Is Seldom?
Seldom is a daily trivia game built around an unusual goal: being correct is not enough. You want a correct answer that as few other people as possible would think of.
Everyone receives the same daily prompt, which can cover broad everyday categories such as countries, animals, films, foods, or words. Instead of searching for one hidden solution, you have five chances to explore the edges of the category.
For example, if the prompt were “Name a fruit,” an extremely familiar answer such as Apple could score very highly, while something much less commonly suggested could score close to zero.
A new daily puzzle appears at midnight UTC. Seldom is free to play and does not require an account for the daily puzzle. Previous challenges are also available through its archive.
Rules and Scoring
You get five guesses for the day's question. Each valid answer receives a score from 0 to 100 representing roughly how many people out of 100 would have given that answer.
The scoring direction is the opposite of many trivia games:
- Common answer = higher score
- Unusual answer = lower score
- 0 points = a “Seldom”
Your five scores are added together for a total out of 500, and lower is better. A perfect game would therefore be 0/500, meaning all five answers were Seldoms.
The game describes its score bands as Perfect for 0, Legendary for 1–50, Brilliant for 51–150, Nice for 151–250, and Keep Going for 251 or more.
How to Play Seldom
- Read today's prompt. Suppose the question is “Name a fruit.” There may be many technically correct answers, so the challenge is deciding which ones other players are least likely to choose.
- Avoid your first instinct. Apple, orange, or banana may be safe answers, but their familiarity makes them poor choices when lower scores are better.
- Submit a more unusual valid answer. Think beyond the most famous examples and try something that still clearly belongs to the requested category.
- Repeat until you have made five guesses. Each answer earns its own 0–100 rarity score, letting you see how successfully you avoided the crowd.
- Check your final total. Add the five scores together and compare your result with the game's grading scale. Finding even one 0-point answer earns a Seldom; finding five produces the perfect 0/500.
Strategy Tips
The strongest approach is usually to move one or two layers beyond the answer that immediately comes to mind. For a category such as dog breeds, for example, a globally famous breed is likely to be common, while a legitimate but less familiar breed has much better low-score potential.
Try thinking geographically, historically, or by subcategory. If the prompt asks for countries, don't stop with the largest or most famous nations. If it asks for films, consider older releases, international titles, or less obvious entries that still unquestionably satisfy the question.
Specificity can also help when the prompt allows it. Seldom accepts many common aliases and alternative spellings, but the important part is finding a genuinely valid answer rather than something merely obscure-sounding.
Most importantly, don't approach Seldom like traditional trivia. Knowing the most famous answer can actually work against you. The game's central skill is predicting what the crowd will overlook.