What is Noillirk?
Noillirk is a daily word game about thinking off the beaten path. Each day brings seven open prompts, the same for everyone, such as "Name a bird" or "Name a city in Japan". Any correct answer is fine, but the ones everybody types first are worth very little. The fewer players who would think of your answer, the more points it earns, and your red balloon rises one kilometre for every point.
Score 700 and you leave the atmosphere behind, reaching low Earth orbit at 700 km. Most players finish somewhere between the ozone layer and the International Space Station, and every climb ends with the full answer sheet so you can see what you missed.
How a climb works
- Read the prompt. You get 25 seconds and one box to type in.
- Type one answer. If it is not accepted, you may try again: three tries per prompt while time lasts.
- Watch the verdict. Your answer lands in one of six tiers, and the balloon climbs by its points.
- Repeat seven times. After the last prompt, share your altitude and open the answer sheets.
Want the details, with real examples? The rules and tips page walks through a full climb. Missed a day? Every finished climb waits in the answer archive, and Unlimited deals fresh sets whenever you like.
Points and altitude
| Tier | Points | Climb | For "Name a bird" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shooting Star | 100 | +100 km | Shoebill, Hoatzin: the one or two prize answers, each with a fun fact |
| Thin Air | 85 | +85 km | Bittern, Moorhen: answers only a handful of players reach |
| High Flyer | 60 | +60 km | Toucan, Vulture: uncommon, but you could think of them in seconds |
| Flock | 30 | +30 km | Penguin, Hawk: good answers that plenty of people share |
| Overthought | 15 | +15 km | Kakapo: feels unusual, so lots of players pick it |
| Pigeon | 10 | +10 km | Eagle, Robin, Owl: the first birds that come to everyone's mind |
From the ground to orbit
Your climb passes through the real layers of Earth's atmosphere. The troposphere holds the clouds and the weather; above it, from about 12 km, the calm stratosphere carries airliners and the ozone layer. The mesosphere, from 50 km, is the coldest layer and the place where most meteors burn up. At 100 km you cross the Kármán line, the usual boundary of space, and enter the thermosphere where auroras glow. The International Space Station circles at about 400 km, and a perfect climb ends in low Earth orbit at 700 km.
How to climb higher
- Let your first idea go. If it came to you instantly, it came to everyone else too.
- Distrust the "clever" pick. The famous oddball answer is often Overthought.
- Get specific: a regional dish, a lesser-known species or a technical term often lands in High Flyer or Thin Air.
- Do not gamble on made-up names. A wrong answer earns nothing, and a safe Flock beats an empty round.
- Warm up in Unlimited before the daily climb, and read the answer sheets afterwards.
Questions
Why is the game called Noillirk?
Noillirk is Krillion spelled backwards. Krillion sends you down into the ocean; Noillirk flips the idea and sends you up into the sky. It is an independent game and is not connected to krillion.io.
When does a new climb start?
At midnight New York time. Every player gets the same seven prompts that day.
How do you decide which answers are rare?
Each prompt has an answer sheet sorted from the answers people give most often to the ones almost nobody gives. The higher up the sheet an answer sits, the fewer points it earns.
What happens if my answer is not on the sheet?
It is checked automatically. If it is a correct answer to the prompt it counts as Thin Air, worth 85 points. If not, you can try again, up to three tries per prompt while the clock is running.
Can I play a day I missed?
Yes. Choose "Replay a day" in the menu to fly any earlier climb with its original prompts. The answer archive lists the answers of every finished climb.
Is my progress saved?
Your streak, results and unlocked craft are stored in your browser. There is no account. Clearing the site's data starts you from scratch.
Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?
Yes. Noillirk is a lightweight web page that runs in any modern browser, with nothing to install.