scoring
Krillion Scoring Explained: Tiers, Points and Depth
Krillion scores answers on six rarity tiers from Plankton (10 pts) to One in a Krillion (100 pts), and your depth in meters is simply your score ×10. Full breakdown.
How does Krillion scoring work?
Every valid answer lands on one of six rarity tiers, worth 10 to 100 points: the rarer your answer among today's players, the higher the tier. Your dive's depth in meters is simply your total score ×10 — a 260-point dive puts you at 2,600m (we verified the math on a real dive). Invalid or unrecognized answers and expired timers score zero. After seven prompts, your total is rated on the official "bearing" scale from Plankton to One in a Krillion.
Related: How to play · Strategy tips · Score calculator
The six rarity tiers
The in-game ladder, displayed during every dive:
| Tier | Points | Sinks you | In-game flavor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plankton | 10 | 100m | — |
| Too Clever | 15 | 150m | — |
| Schooler | 30 | 300m | "Solid — swims with the school." |
| Rare | 60 | 600m | — |
| Deep Cut | 85 | 850m | "True obscurity. Few go this deep." |
| One in a Krillion | 100 | 1000m | — |
The tier names are the game's own commentary on crowd behavior: obvious answers are Plankton, and answers that feel clever but have gone mainstream sit one rung up at Too Clever. The deep tiers reward genuinely obscure-but-valid picks.
What scores zero
Two ways to bank nothing on a prompt (both observed in testing):
- The timer expires — after 25 seconds you get "the clock beat you to it." and +0.
- The answer doesn't land — an answer that violates the prompt (e.g., a country without the required letter) or isn't recognized by the validator shows "NOTHING LANDED · +0 PTS". See the validator guide.
Depth is just score ×10
The HUD tracks DEPTH in meters and SCORE in points, but they are the same number in different units: a Deep Cut (+85) sinks you exactly 850m. The depth ruler maps your position onto real ocean trivia — 332m is the deepest scuba dive ever, the Titanic rests at 3,800m, and a perfect 700-point dive (7× One in a Krillion) would end on the trench floor.
Final bands ("the bearing")
When the dive completes, your total is rated:
| Score | Official rating |
|---|---|
| 0–150 | "Plankton. Plenty of ocean left down there." |
| 151–250 | "Schooler. Swimming with the school." |
| 251–350 | "Rare. Below the thermocline. Nice." |
| 351–449 | "Deep cut. Seriously deep dive." |
| 450+ | "One in a krillion. Trench dweller. Absurd." |
You also see how you compare: the result screen shows a percentile — "better than X% of today's players" — plus your logbook stats (streak, played, average, best). See leaderboards explained.
Want to check the arithmetic before you dive? Use the score calculator to total seven prompt results, convert the score to depth, and preview the bearing band locally.