Cities Game: Telegram Bot

Picture a long train ride, a queue, or a quiet group chat. Someone says "let's play the cities game" and two minutes later nobody remembers which letter comes next. 🏙️ This bot acts as referee. It names a city, tracks the letter, and keeps score.

The rules are the same as the classic version. The bot gives you a random city from its list, you answer with a city starting on the last letter of that name, and the chain goes on.

How the bot settles letter disputes

Every cities game ends up in the same argument: what happens when a name ends in a soft sign? Here that question is decided in advance. If a Russian name ends in the soft sign, the hard sign, or the letter Ы, the game takes the second to last letter instead.

So you never argue with the bot about it, and the rule stays the same for everybody at the table.

If you lose track of the chain, the /word command shows the current letter. It saves a lot of squinting at the last message.

Stuck on a tough letter?

Few cities start with some letters, and thinking of one under pressure is hard. The bot gives you three ways out:

• /next swaps the current city for a different one. There is a small penalty for the swap, so use it sparingly.
• /guess gives you a hint when the answer is on the tip of your tongue.
• /stop ends the game when you are done or your stop is next.

While a round is running, /stat shows how you are doing at that moment.

Leaderboards that make you want one more round

A solo game gets dull fast without something to beat. This one has rankings, and they give you a reason to come back.

1. /me shows your own statistics.
2. /topsingle lists the top 25 records set in a single round.
3. /topusers shows the top 25 players.
4. /topchats ranks chats by the number of games played.

The chat ranking is great for groups of friends or classmates. You can pit your chat against others and see whose geography is better. 🏆

Playing with friends in a group chat

You can add the bot to any group. After that, type /start and everyone takes turns while the bot checks each answer.

To restart, use /new_game. It opens a vote, so the group decides together instead of whoever taps first.

New members can type /info to read the rules. That beats explaining them out loud for the fifth time.

Missing a city? Add it yourself

No list of cities is ever complete. New names appear, and some small towns never made it into the database. The /add_city command lets you propose a city for the base. If you know a place exists and the bot refuses it, this is how you fix the gap.

Geography fans spot gaps in any list quickly, and this command is made for them. 🗺️

What you get besides a way to kill time

The cities game trains memory and geography. Students pick up names they would otherwise skip, and adults recall towns they have not thought about in years. Parents can play with kids on a road trip, since the game needs only a light connection and a few minutes.

The bot also never gets tired and never sulks when you win. You can run a dozen rounds in a row and test a new strategy each time, such as keeping a few cities in reserve for hard letters.

Tips for playing better

• Build a reserve. Memorize a few cities for awkward letters. They will rescue you at the right moment.
• Watch the endings. A name ending in a soft sign shifts the letter back by one, and that changes the whole round.
• Go easy on /next. The penalty is small, but it still counts against you.
• Play with people. A group chat is more fun than a duel with the bot.

To begin, open the bot and send /start. 🎯