Sports Under 150
Ten nations, ten sports. Add up their world rankings. Lower is better.
How to play Sports Under 150
- Ten nations are dealt one at a time, and there are ten sports.
- Put each nation in a sport. Its world ranking in that sport is added to your total.
- Each sport can be used once. Finish with a total under 150 to win.
Tips
- Do the budget math: under 150 across ten nations is about 15 each. An unranked nation scores 100, and two of those end the day.
- Some sports are shallow. Only 17 nations are ranked in gymnastics, while almost every nation has a soccer or volleyball ranking, so save the shallow sports for the few nations that can fill them.
- Give a one-sport nation its sport, like Fiji in rugby. All-rounders like the United States and Canada are your flexible pieces: put them in the shallowest sport still open.
- When a nation is weak everywhere, put it in its least-bad deep sport. A 60 in volleyball beats a 100 in gymnastics.
Worked example: ten nations, under 150
A real pre-launch board, with world rankings as the game had them in October 2026. Best possible total: 110.
The nations arrived in this order. The table shows the best possible board.
| # | Nation | Sport | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | Basketball | 3 |
| 2 | United States | Hockey | 1 |
| 3 | Japan | Gymnastics | 1 |
| 4 | Venezuela | Baseball | 4 |
| 5 | Indonesia | Badminton | 1 |
| 6 | Chile | Tennis | 28 |
| 7 | Croatia | Soccer | 13 |
| 8 | India | Cricket | 1 |
| 9 | Malaysia | Rugby | 40 |
| 10 | Thailand | Volleyball | 18 |
Strong all-rounders are flexible. Spain is top 3 in soccer, basketball and tennis. The United States is top 3 in six sports. A nation like that can go almost anywhere, so put it where the weaker nations still to come are least likely to need.
One-sport nations get their sport. Venezuela is 4th in baseball and 34th or worse everywhere else. Indonesia is 1st in badminton, and India is 1st in cricket and 11th or worse elsewhere.
The weakest nation decides a lot. Malaysia is unranked or worse than 80th in five of the ten sports. Its best options are baseball (23), cricket (25), badminton (28) and rugby (40), and stronger nations already need the first three. So rugby is Malaysia’s, and Chile, who would have liked rugby (16th), takes tennis (28) instead. Together that’s 68. Swap them and it’s 116.
Questions
- What’s the best strategy for Sports Under 150?
Ten nations, ten sports, a budget of 149. Why scarce sports are worth protecting, where to park a nation that ranks nowhere, and how to think one flag ahead.
Read the full strategy guide- Which rankings are used?
- Official world rankings from each sport's governing body, such as FIFA, FIBA, IIHF, World Rugby, and WBSC. A nation's better men's or women's ranking counts.
- What if a nation isn't ranked?
- A nation outside a sport's ranked field, or ranked worse than 100th, scores 100 there.
- When does a new puzzle come out?
- Every day at midnight Pacific time. Everyone in the world gets the same puzzle, so you can compare results with friends.
- Can I play past puzzles?
- Yes. Every past day is in the archive. Sign in with a free account to play the last 7 days, or go Premium for every past puzzle. Archive games don't count toward your streak or the daily leaderboard. Replay a day as often as you like: the archive keeps your best score.
Something else on your mind?