What is Metazooa?
Metazooa is a daily animal guessing game with a clever twist. Instead of hints like colour or size, every guess is placed on the tree of life. When you guess an animal, the game tells you how closely it is related to the mystery animal, by showing the most specific group the two share. Guess a lion when the answer is a mouse, and you learn it is a mammal. Guess a squirrel, and you narrow it down to rodents. Step by step you zoom in from broad groups to the exact species. It is surprisingly educational, because you start to learn how animals are actually related, and some of the results are genuinely surprising. It suits nature lovers, curious kids with a grown-up alongside, and anyone who has ever wondered whether a whale is closer to a cow or a fish.
How to play
- Guess any animal to start.
- Each guess shows the closest group your animal shares with the mystery animal.
- Use those clues to move down the tree until you find the exact animal.
Quick facts
- Typical time
- 3–8 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Price
- Free.
- Account
- Not needed. You can link a Google or Discord login to keep your stats.
- Past puzzles
- No past days, but a free practice mode gives you unlimited rounds.
- On a phone
- Works in your phone's browser. Nothing to install.
- Sister game
- Metaflora, the same idea with plants.
Tips to get better
- Start with very different animals. Open with a mammal, a bird, a fish and an insect. The answers tell you which big branch to stay on.
- Read the group name. The shared group is the real clue. If your dog shares the group Carnivora with the answer, think cats, bears, seals and weasels.
- Guess to divide. Each guess should split what's left. Inside the mammals, try a rodent, a hoofed animal, a primate and a bat before you go for the win.
- Remember the odd relations. Whales are closer to hippos than to fish, and hyenas are closer to cats than to dogs. These trip up everyone, once.
- Think of well-known animals. The answer is usually something you've heard of, not an obscure species.
Who it's for
A game for nature lovers, and for anyone who likes learning by accident. You don't need any biology to start, and after a week you'll know why a hyena isn't a dog. The scientific group names can be off-putting at first. It's lovely to play with a curious child, with a grown-up handling the long words.
