๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan ยท Oสปzbekiston
Samarkand and Bukhara were the great cities of the Silk Road, and Timur rebuilt one of them as a statement to the world. Uzbek scenes are ribbed turquoise domes over desert-coloured brick โ the most distinctive skyline in Central Asia.
Uzbekistan's collection needs 3 more rounds before it opens. These are live today.
Uzbekistan is oasis cities in desert, watered by two rivers that no longer reach the Aral Sea. The Timurid palette โ turquoise and cobalt tile on buff brick, ribbed melon domes, huge portal iwans โ is unmistakable and belongs to a two-hundred-year window.
Architecture
Ribbed turquoise domes on tall drums with tiled portal iwans are Timurid, 1370โ1500. Unglazed patterned brickwork with no tile is earlier, 900โ1200. Wooden-columned mosques with painted ceilings are Khiva and the Ferghana valley. Concrete panels with ceramic mosaic murals are Soviet Tashkent, post-1966.
Landscape
Grey-brown steppe and irrigated cotton is the Zeravshan and Ferghana country. Sand desert with saxaul scrub is the Kyzylkum. Dry seabed with beached ships is the former Aral shore โ a scene impossible before about 1990.
Period tells
Cyrillic on signage points to 1940โ1995; Latin-script Uzbek is largely after 1995. Heavy tile restoration with very even colour is Soviet or post-independence rebuilding, most visible at the Registan. Trolleybuses and wide avenues in Tashkent are post-1966.
A starting shortlist, oldest first. Every one of these makes a round that Uzbeks can nail and everyone else has to work out.
Afrasiab, SamarkandMedieval
Wall paintings of ambassadors from China, Korea and the steppe in the house of a merchant prince, before the Arab conquest.
BukharaMedieval
A perfect brick cube with a dome, its walls woven in basketwork patterns โ the oldest Islamic monument in Central Asia.
SamarkandMedieval
Craftsmen deported from Delhi and Damascus raised the largest mosque of its age, and it began collapsing almost at once.
SamarkandMedieval
A 40-metre stone sextant sunk into a hillside produced a star catalogue accurate for two centuries.
TashkentModern era
Most of the old city fell; the Soviet rebuild made Tashkent a showcase of mosaic-clad modernism.
Uzbek history touches medieval & renaissance and the 20th century. Each of those eras has a timed round of its own โ the same centuries, but questions drawn from every country in the library, so you find out whether you can date the rest of the period as confidently as you can date Uzbekistan.
Medieval & Renaissance
Uzbek moments here: Sogdian Samarkand painted (660), The Samanid mausoleum built (900), Timur builds the Bibi-Khanym (1404) +1 more.
20th century
Uzbek moment here: The Tashkent earthquake (1966).
Dates, order and places from the moments above. Answers are printed underneath โ cover them with a hand if you want to test yourself, or read them out for a quiz round.
1.Sogdian Samarkand painted โ what year?
Answer660
Wall paintings of ambassadors from China, Korea and the steppe in the house of a merchant prince, before the Arab conquest.
2.The Samanid mausoleum built โ what year?
Answer900
A perfect brick cube with a dome, its walls woven in basketwork patterns โ the oldest Islamic monument in Central Asia.
3.Timur builds the Bibi-Khanym โ what year?
Answer1404
Craftsmen deported from Delhi and Damascus raised the largest mosque of its age, and it began collapsing almost at once.
4.Ulugh Beg's observatory โ what year?
Answer1429
A 40-metre stone sextant sunk into a hillside produced a star catalogue accurate for two centuries.
5.The Tashkent earthquake โ what year?
Answer1966
Most of the old city fell; the Soviet rebuild made Tashkent a showcase of mosaic-clad modernism.
6.Which came first in Uzbekistan โ Sogdian Samarkand painted or the Samanid mausoleum built?
AnswerSogdian Samarkand painted, in 660.
The Samanid mausoleum built follows in 900, 240 years later.
7.Which came first in Uzbekistan โ Timur builds the Bibi-Khanym or Ulugh Beg's observatory?
AnswerTimur builds the Bibi-Khanym, in 1404.
Ulugh Beg's observatory follows in 1429, 25 years later.
8.Where in Uzbekistan would you drop the pin for Sogdian Samarkand painted?
AnswerAfrasiab, Samarkand
Wall paintings of ambassadors from China, Korea and the steppe in the house of a merchant prince, before the Arab conquest.
9.Where in Uzbekistan would you drop the pin for the Samanid mausoleum built?
AnswerBukhara
A perfect brick cube with a dome, its walls woven in basketwork patterns โ the oldest Islamic monument in Central Asia.
10.How far apart are the oldest and newest Uzbek moments in this collection?
Answer1,306 years
From Sogdian Samarkand painted in 660 to the Tashkent earthquake in 1966.
You don't need a photograph or a map reference. Name a moment โ "Sogdian Samarkand painted, Afrasiab, Samarkand" โ and the builder fills in the year, drops the pin, writes the factoid and paints a 360ยฐ scene you can stand inside. Publish it and it joins this collection for everyone.
Step 1
One line is enough โ an event, a place, a year you half-remember. Or let the AI draft five moments around a theme.
Step 2
The year, the exact coordinates and a one-sentence factoid come back filled in. Everything stays editable.
Step 3
A 4K 360ยฐ panorama of that place in that year, ready to spin around inside the game.
๐บ๐ฟ Put your own scene on /play/uzbekistan
Credits cover the AI: 1 to auto-fill a moment, 3 to draft five at once, 25 for each 4K panorama. Your map stays yours โ you choose whether it's public, unlisted or private.
Moments Uzbeks want to see in the game. Vote them up โ the top of this list gets built next.
Each round drops you into a 360ยฐ scene from Uzbekistan's past. Look around for clues โ architecture, clothing, technology, landscape โ then place the scene on the world map and pick the year. You score up to 5,000 points a round: closer in distance and closer in time both pay. Five rounds make a game.
No. You can play Uzbek rounds straight away with no sign-up. Signing in saves your XP, keeps your character progressing through history, and puts you on the leaderboards.
The collection spans 660 to 1966 โ from sogdian samarkand painted through to the tashkent earthquake. New moments are added as the community suggests them.
Yes, completely free. There is no paywall on rounds, the daily challenge, or the leaderboards.
Yes โ that's how the collection grows. Suggest any moment Uzbeks would recognise instantly, like sogdian samarkand painted. Approved suggestions get built into playable 360ยฐ rounds and credited on the page.
Daily Challenge
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