Guess the weight: how many does it take?
How many grapes weigh as much as a football? How many apples balance a giraffe? Guess the Weight puts one object on a balance scale and asks how many of another it takes to level it. Then the scale tips, and the real number lands.
A game is five comparisons, from kitchen-table pairs to giant animals. Press Play again for five more, or share your result as a link so a friend gets the same five.
How to play Guess the Weight
- Read the comparison. One thing sits on the left pan. You choose how many of the other thing go on the right.
- Set your guess. Slide along the scale from 1 to 10 million, nudge with − and +, or tap the number to type it. Fractions work, such as 2.5 apples.
- Weigh it. The scale unlocks and tips the way your guess falls, too light or too heavy, then the pile changes to the real number and the scale levels.
- Finish five comparisons. Each is worth up to 100 points, for 500 in a game.
On a keyboard, the arrow keys make small steps, Shift with an arrow changes the guess tenfold, and Enter weighs it.
Scoring: how close is close enough?
The score depends on how many times too many or too few you guessed, not the raw difference. Twice too many costs exactly as much as half too few, so a round with three apples is as fair as one with three million blueberries.
| Within 5% of the answer | 100 points |
| Half again too many or too few | 77 points |
| Twice too many, or half as many | 61 points |
| Three times off | 41 points |
| Five times off | 22 points |
| Ten times off | 6 points |
Twenty times off or more scores zero. Where an official rule allows a range, such as the weight of a regulation ball, any guess inside that range counts as exact.
Why weight is hard to guess
We judge weight mostly by size, and size misleads. Things of the same size can differ a lot in density: a tennis ball is mostly air, a golf ball is solid. Small things also add up faster than we expect. A grape weighs about 5 grams, so a single football already takes 83.9 of them.
The bigger the gap, the harder it gets. A few apples is easy to picture; thousands of blueberries is not, and that is where the last rounds of each game take you.
How to guess weights better
Keep a few anchors
A handful of known weights does most of the work:
- Dollar bill, US paper currency: 1 g
- US nickel, Modern five-cent coin: 5 g
- AA battery, Energizer MAX alkaline: 23 g
- Tennis ball, Regulation full-size ball: 57.7 g
- Apple, Medium · edible portion, with skin: 182 g
- iPhone 16, Standard model · no case: 170 g
- Soccer ball, Regulation full-size ball: 430 g
- MacBook Air, 13-inch · M4 model: 1.2 kg
Divide, don't picture
Guess each object's weight in grams, then divide. An apple of about 180 g against an almond of about 1 g is roughly 150, before you ever picture the pile.
Think in powers of ten first
Decide whether the answer is in the tens, hundreds or thousands before you fine-tune it. Landing in the right power of ten already earns most of the points.
Watch for density
Hollow things such as balls are lighter than they look. Metal, batteries and electronics are heavier than they look.
Surprising weights from the game
- An Asian elephant weighs about as much as 27,500 apples.
- A MacBook Air weighs about as much as 103.3 strawberries.
- A soccer ball is about 2.4 apples, lighter than most people guess.
- A US nickel weighs 5 g, exactly twice a penny.
Where the weights come from
Every weight comes from a primary source: the U.S. Mint for coins, the official rules of each sport for balls, manufacturers for batteries and devices, the USDA FoodData Central reference portions for food, and the San Diego Zoo for animals. Food and animals vary, so the game names the portion or the animal it uses, such as a medium peeled banana or an adult male Asian elephant. 30 objects are in the game, from 15 sources.
Questions about Guess the Weight
Are the drawings to scale?
No. They help you recognise each object. Use the number under the scale for the full count, especially in the millions.
Is there a daily puzzle?
Yes. Today’s puzzle is the same five comparisons for everyone, new at local midnight. Your result and streak stay in your browser.
Can I play more than once?
Yes. Press Play again for five new comparisons. Pairs you played recently come up less often.
Can I challenge a friend?
Yes. Share your result and the link opens the same five comparisons, with your score to beat.
Can I type a fraction?
Yes. Type numbers like 2.5, or use k and m for thousands and millions, such as 12k.
Why is my exact answer not 100?
Within 5% of the answer always scores 100. Outside that, points fall away as the guess gets further off.
More games like Guess the Weight
If you like judging how much, try a different kind of hunch.