Wikiracing

Wikiracing is a game using the online encyclopedia Wikipedia which focuses on traversing links from one page to another.[1][2][3][4][5] It has many different variations and names, including The Wikipedia Game, Wikipedia Maze, Wikispeedia, Wikiwars, Wikipedia Ball, and Litner Ball.[6] External websites have been created to facilitate the game.[7]

The Seattle Times has recommended it as a good educational pastime for children[8] and the Larchmont Gazette has said, "While I don't know any teenagers who would curl up with an encyclopedia for a good read, I hear that a lot are reading it in the process of playing the Wikipedia Game".[9]

The Amazing Wiki Race has been an event at the TechOlympics[10] and the Yale Freshman Olympics.[11]

The average number of links separating any Wikipedia page from the United Kingdom page is 3.67. Other common houserules such as not using the United States page increase the difficulty of the game.[12]

As of July 2019, a website and game known as The Wiki Game has been created, allowing players to Wikirace against each other in a server, for more points and recognition on the server. The game achieved more recognition as Internet stars such as Game Grumps played it on their channels. There is a version on the App Store as well, in which players can do a variety of Wikirace styles from their phone.

Variations

Wikiracing has many different variations, but here are examples:

Speed Wiki, in which participants compete to reach the finish page (previously concurred upon), within a limited time. The first to reach the final page within the time limit is thereby crowned the winner.[13]

Click Wiki, in which participants race to reach the final page with the fewest clicks or within a certain number of clicks.

Wikispeedia, in which the participant is given two Wikipedia articles or the participant can choose two. Starting from the first article, the goal is to reach the second one, exclusively by following links in the articles you encounter. "Next to wasting some precious time and learning interesting yet useless Wikipedia facts," you're also providing data for research by the Data Science Lab, a research group in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland."[14]

See also

References
  1. Aubrey Whelan. "'Wikiracing' picking up speed among college students". The Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/21/2010.
  2. Ben Jones. "Latest game for bored students? Wikiracing". Star Tribune, 6/20/2010.
  3. Ariel Doctoroff. "Want To Waste An Hour (Or Three)? Go On A Wikirace". Huffington Post, 7/22/10.
  4. Colin Hepke (2008). "On Your Mark, Get Set, Wikipedia"! Cornerstone 2(3), 8.
  5. Ben Jones. "Students glued to computers turn Wikipedia into a game". College Times, 7/8/2010.
  6. Stefan Thaler, Katharina Siorpaes, Elena Simperl and Christian Hofe (2011). "A Survey on Games for Knowledge Acquisition". Semantic Technology Institute International. pgs 14-17.
  7. John Walker. "Searching For Fun: Wikipedia Game". Rock, Paper, Shotgun, 6/10/2010.
  8. Heidi Stevens. "Zero in on your child's lack of focus". Seattle Times, 8/14/2011.
  9. Jacqueline Hornor Plumez. "The Career Doctor". Larchmont Gazette, 9/25/2008.
  10. Denise Smith Amos . "500 teens converge for TechOlympics". Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/5/2010
  11. Alison Griswold. "Saybrook frosh win". Yale Daily News, 4/11/2011.
  12. Brock Read. "6 Degrees of Wikipedia". The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/28/2008.
  13. "The Wiki Game". Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  14. "Wikispeedia". Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  • Wikipedia's Wikirace project page
  • Wikipedia's Wiki Ladders project page
  • Wikipedia Game – Free, multi-player game
  • WikiRace – An implementation of the game in 10 European languages
  • WikiRacer.io – Race your friends in a unique version of this classic game
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