Picture questions in Tidbit

Most trivia is words: a question, four answers, pick one. Picture questions turn that around. You get a picture and four names, and the answer is often something you recognize before you can say why.

Tidbit has over 500 picture questions, of three kinds: outlines of countries and US states, country flags, and portraits and archival photographs of historical figures. The flags and outlines are among the geography questions, and the portraits are among the history ones.

They sit alongside the rest of the library, which has over 12,000 questions and 30 subjects to pick from. Every picture question has four options, like every other question in Tidbit, so you can often reach the answer by ruling out the ones it is not.

Picture questions are in free Freeplay too

You do not need a special mode to see them. Freeplay asks picture questions as well as text ones, and Freeplay is free with no sign-up needed.

Prefer text only? Turn Image questions off in Freeplay’s settings on Home, and turn it back on whenever you want the pictures again.

Start a game from Tidbit Home, or go straight to geography trivia, where Freeplay opens on geography questions.

Four picture modes

  • Polaroid: every question is a picture, from every set.
  • Outlines: name the country or state from its shape.
  • Flags: name the country from its flag.
  • Historical Figures: name the person from their portrait.

Each picture mode is ten questions, and they come with Premium. They are a good way to practice one kind of picture at a time, and ten questions is short enough to play again straight away.

You can see them with every other mode on Game Modes.

How to read a flag

  • Ireland and Côte d’Ivoire: the same three colors in the opposite order. Ireland has green next to the pole; Côte d’Ivoire has orange.
  • Chad and Romania: blue, yellow and red stripes, almost identical. Chad’s blue is darker.
  • Indonesia and Monaco: both red over white, and Monaco’s flag is a little squarer. Poland is the same two colors the other way up, white over red.
  • Australia and New Zealand: both dark blue with the Union Jack and the Southern Cross. New Zealand’s stars are red with white edges; Australia’s are white, with a large extra star under the Union Jack.
  • The Netherlands and Luxembourg: red, white and blue stripes. Luxembourg’s blue is lighter, and its flag is longer.

Most flag mix-ups are pairs like these: the same colors with one small difference. Learn the pairs and a lot of flag questions get easier.

Beyond the pairs, look for the one thing that is unusual: a symbol, a color few others use, an odd shape. Nepal’s is the only national flag that is not a rectangle.

More flag pairs worth knowing

  • Senegal and Mali: green, yellow and red upright stripes. Senegal has a green star in the middle.
  • Mexico and Italy: green, white and red upright stripes. Mexico has its eagle in the middle.
  • Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela: yellow, blue and red. Colombia’s yellow band is as tall as the other two together; Ecuador adds its coat of arms; Venezuela’s bands are equal, with an arc of white stars.
  • Slovenia and Slovakia: white, blue and red stripes with a shield. Slovenia’s is small and sits in the top corner by the pole; Slovakia’s is bigger, with a white double cross.
  • Denmark, Norway and Iceland: crosses set toward the pole. Denmark is a white cross on red; Norway adds a blue cross inside the white; Iceland is a red cross inside white, on blue.

Notice how many of these come down to one detail in the middle or the corner. When two flags share their colors, look there first.

How to read an outline

  • Look for the one feature that stands out: a long thin arm, a boot, a hook. Afghanistan has the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip reaching east to China.
  • Some shapes are famous on their own: Italy’s boot, Chile’s long strip down the Pacific coast, Norway’s ragged coastline.
  • In the US, many western states have long straight borders, so they are near-rectangles. Eastern states more often follow rivers and coasts, so their edges wiggle.
  • Some states give themselves away: Florida’s long peninsula, Michigan in two pieces, Oklahoma’s panhandle and Idaho’s narrow north.
  • Islands have no land borders to go by, so look at the coastline. Sri Lanka is a teardrop; Cuba is long and narrow.

If the shape does not ring a bell, use the four options. Rule out the ones you are sure it is not, and the outline only has to settle what is left. A country that runs long from north to south will not match an answer you know is wide.

Three pairs of US states

  • Vermont and New Hampshire: two wedges side by side. Vermont is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom; New Hampshire is the other way round.
  • Mississippi and Alabama: neighbors of a similar shape. Mississippi’s western edge wiggles along the Mississippi River; Alabama’s western edge is straight.
  • Kansas and Colorado: both nearly rectangles. Kansas has a notch in its top right corner, where the Missouri River cuts it off.

Pairs like these are where most state mix-ups happen. Once you know which way a wedge points, or which side a river runs, the rest gets easier.

Famous faces

  • Date the picture first. A painted portrait points to someone from before photography was common; a black-and-white photograph, to someone from the mid-1800s on.
  • Read the clothes: a uniform, a crown, a wig or a high collar narrows down the time and the place.
  • Use the options. Four names from four different centuries can often be sorted by the picture alone.
  • Think about who was painted or photographed at all: rulers, scientists, writers, explorers and leaders.

The portraits are among the history questions, so a history round in Freeplay is the easiest way to meet them. History trivia opens Freeplay on history questions straight away.

Practice that works for pictures

  • Play little and often. A few picture questions a day stick better than a long session once a week.
  • When you miss one, look at the right answer for a moment before moving on.
  • Learn in groups: flags that share colors, states with straight borders, faces from the same century.
  • After a session, find the countries you missed on a map, and look at their neighbors too.

Polaroid is a good check of how you are doing: every question is a picture, from every set, so it tests flags, outlines and faces together.

Start playing

The quickest way in is free Freeplay on Tidbit Home, with Image questions on. For mostly flags and outlines, choose geography; for faces, choose history.

Like picture questions? A mix of everything else might suit you too. Here is how to make a general knowledge trivia break part of your day.

Tidbit is for ages 13 and above.

By the team making Tidbit. Questions or a correction? Get in touch.