Krillion scoring & tiers

Krillion scoring puts every accepted answer in one of six tiers. The rarer the tier, the more points, and the deeper the Krillion dive.

How Krillion scoring works

Most trivia games ask whether an answer is right. Here, every answer in a prompt’s bank is right, and the question is how unusual it is. Each accepted answer has been placed in one tier ahead of time, and the tier alone sets the points. Speed does not matter: an answer typed in the first second is worth exactly what the same answer is worth in the last.

You give one answer per prompt and it is scored once. There are no partial points, no bonus for streaks inside a dive and no penalty for a rejected attempt.

The six Krillion scoring tiers

A pass, a timeout or an answer that was never accepted scores 0 for that prompt and is shown as “No echo”.

Plankton and Schooler

Plankton is the answer most people would say first. It is worth 10 points, which is small but never worthless: it keeps a prompt from ending at zero. Schooler answers are a step less obvious. They are the solid, familiar choices that a well-read player would list after the first one, and they earn 30.

The Too Clever tier

Some answers feel obscure but are the first “clever” pick nearly everyone reaches for. Those sit in the Too Clever tier and score 15, only slightly above the most obvious answer. The tier exists so that a famous piece of trivia is not rewarded as if it were a real discovery.

Rare and Deep Cut

Rare answers, at 60 points, are the ones that are correct, well documented and simply not top of mind. Deep Cut answers, at 85, go further: they are the entries most players would not produce without real knowledge of the subject. The results screen counts every answer of 60 points or more as a rare find.

One in a Krillion

The top tier is reserved for designated gem answers. Naming one is worth the full 100 points, the screen flashes gold, and the krill beside the game turns gold for a moment.

How Krillion points become depth

Each point is ten meters. A daily dive has seven prompts, so the maximum is 700 points and 7,000 meters. As your total grows the background darkens and the zone label changes: the sunlight zone above 200 meters, the twilight zone to 1,000, the midnight zone to 4,000, the abyssal zone to 6,000 and the hadal zone below that.

Your overall band

Your total for the dive also earns a band on the results screen, named after the tiers:

• 0 to 150 points: Plankton
• 151 to 250 points: Schooler
• 251 to 350 points: Rare
• 351 to 449 points: Deep Cut
• 450 points or more: One in a Krillion

Reaching the top band takes an average of about 64 points per prompt, so one zero can be recovered, but two or three usually cannot.

Who decides Krillion answer rarity

Tiers are set by the editors of each answer bank when the prompt is written. They are not live percentages of what other players answered, and they do not change during the day. That means the same answer is worth the same to everyone, whenever they play.

It also means the bank has limits. A correct answer the editors did not list is rejected rather than scored. A rejection costs nothing, so the practical response is to try another answer while the clock is running.

Checking the scoring after a dive

When you finish, the results screen has a full answer sheet. Open a prompt to see every accepted answer with its points, and your own answer highlighted. It is the quickest way to learn how a category was divided. For the rules of a dive, read how to play Krillion; for using the tiers to your advantage, see Krillion tips & strategy.