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How to play Chain Gang

Chain Gang is a free daily football trivia puzzle. You are given two NFL players, a Start and a Reach, and you connect them through the things real players share: teams, jersey numbers and colleges.

Play today's chain

The basic idea

Every puzzle begins with two players who have no obvious connection. Pick a link from the Start player, then name a different player who shares that link. That player becomes your new starting point, and you pick another link from them. Keep going until you land on the Reach player. The shorter and more distinctive your chain, the higher your rating.

The three kinds of link

Team. A franchise the player appeared for in the NFL or its predecessor leagues. Teams are the easiest link to find and the lowest-scoring.
Jersey number. A number the player wore professionally. College numbers do not count. Two players who both wore #84 in the pros are linked, even if they never played for the same team.
College. A school the player attended. Colleges are the most rewarding link because they connect players across eras.

Each exact link can only be used once per game. You cannot use #1 twice, but you can use #1 and then #16. You can use Penn State once and then Ohio State.

Scoring

Your rating tops out at 100. It is a weighted average of the links in your chain:

College and number links have a weight of 100. Team links have a weight of 60.
The first two links count in full. The third counts for 90% of its weight, the fourth 80%, and so on down the chain.
Using a reveal (a hint) costs 10 flat points. Each incorrect guess costs 15.

Because the rating is an average, a long chain made of college and number links can still score well, while a single extra team link drags the average down.

Worked examples

The same puzzle, solved four ways: Saquon Barkley to Antonio Brown.

Saquon Barkley → Eagles → Michael Vick → Steelers → Antonio Brown

Rating 60 (two team links)

Saquon Barkley → Penn State → Tyler Warren → #84 → Antonio Brown

Rating 100 (a college link and a number link)

Saquon Barkley → Penn State → Pat Freiermuth → Steelers → Antonio Brown

Rating 80 (a college link and a team link)

Saquon Barkley → Penn State → Micah Parsons → #11 → Michael Pittman Jr. → Steelers → Antonio Brown

Rating 85 (three links, one of them a team)

Strategy tips

Look at both ends first. Check the colleges and numbers of the Start and Reach players. If they share one, the puzzle is a one-link chain.
Think in colleges. Big football schools have produced hundreds of pros. A college link is easy to make and scores 100.
Save team links for the end. If you are stuck, use a team link as a bridge, but expect to lose points.
Number links connect eras. Popular numbers such as #11 or #84 have been worn by dozens of players across decades.
Avoid wrong guesses. Fifteen points is a big penalty, so confirm a player really shares the link before you submit.

After you finish

Once you connect the two players, Chain Gang shows the best chain: a short route through a single bridging player that earns a perfect 100 whenever one exists. It picks a well-known player when it can.

Game modes

Daily. One hand-picked puzzle, the same for everyone, that changes at midnight Eastern time. Share your rating without spoiling the answer.
Freeplay. An endless supply of random matchups. Tap "New matchup" for another.
Archive. Every past Daily puzzle, saved separately so you can leave one half-finished and return.
Stats. Your results and streaks, kept in your own browser.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account? No. Progress is stored in your browser's local storage on your own device.

Which players are included? Players from the NFL's history, drawn from open roster data that is refreshed daily.

I found a wrong stat. What do I do? Use the feedback form.

Is it free? Yes. The site may show advertising to cover its costs; see the privacy policy.