--- title: "Wiki Journey" description: "Participants race or collaborate to navigate between two unrelated Wikipedia pages using only in-article links. They record their total clicks and compare the lateral routes taken to reach the goal." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/creative-energiser-activity-that-sparks-curiosity-wiki-journey/" --- # Wiki Journey Participants race or collaborate to navigate between two unrelated Wikipedia pages using only in-article links. They record their total clicks and compare the lateral routes taken to reach the goal. **Time:** 15 minutes. Playmeo lists 2 to 5 minutes for play; 15 minutes allows proper rule briefing, navigation time, route verification, and a structured debrief. **People:** 4 to 24. Solo racers or self-selected pairs ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Track and compare lateral associative paths across hyperlinked information. **Use it when:** Use as a digital energizer at the start of an online or device-enabled session where participants need a quick mental shift. **Skip it when:** Skip when participants lack internet access, share a single screen, or when network filters block Wikipedia. ## Materials and tools - One internet-connected device per person or pair with a web browser - A shared chat window or presentation display for posting target links ## Before participants arrive 1. Verify Wikipedia is reachable on the local or participant network. 2. Select a starting topic and an ending topic. Choose two well-developed articles that are seemingly unrelated (for example, Kevin Bacon to Outer Space, or Nelson Mandela to Qantas). Avoid very obscure stubs with few outbound links, and avoid direct parent-child categories. Test that a viable connection exists within 4 to 6 clicks before running the session. 3. Have the exact starting URL and the destination article title ready to copy into the chat or display board. ## Say this to open We are going to play Wiki Journey. I will give you a starting Wikipedia page and a destination page. Your challenge is to start on the first page and reach the destination exclusively by clicking blue links inside the article body. No search bar and no external search engines. If you get stuck, you can use your browser back button, but each back click adds one step to your total count. When you reach the destination, post your total click count and full article path in the chat. ## How to run it ### 1. Brief rules and publish endpoints (3 minutes) Explain the rules aloud and paste the starting URL along with the destination topic name into the chat or room display. Emphasize the core constraint: players may only click links inside the article text. Address bars, search bars, and on-page search boxes are forbidden. Let participants know that each press of the browser back button counts as one additional click toward their total. ### 2. Navigate the article chain (5 minutes) Start a 5-minute timer. Participants navigate individually or in pairs from the starting page. For example, moving from Nelson Mandela to Qantas by clicking South Africa, then International trade, then Aviation, then Australia, then Qantas. Anyone who reaches the final article posts 'Done', their total click count, and their sequence of article titles into the chat. ### 3. Verify paths and contrast routes (4 minutes) Call time when three people post their path, or when the 5-minute timer ends. If participants completed the journey, ask the person with the fewest clicks to read their route aloud. Then ask someone who took a completely different route to read theirs. If no one reached the target, ask participants to name the furthest or most promising page they reached before getting stuck. ### 4. Debrief navigation strategies (3 minutes) Facilitate a brief whole-room reflection using the debrief questions. Collect 2 or 3 brief contributions on how people balanced broad conceptual hubs against specific terminology, and how the click count shaped their choices. ## Debrief questions - Which intermediate article served as the turning point that pointed you toward the final topic? - Did anyone find a surprisingly short path, and what made that route efficient? - What lateral association did you try that led into a dead end? **Finished output:** A posted collection of lateral article paths linking two unrelated concepts. ## Remote Run entirely in the main video room. Paste the starting URL and destination name into the video meeting chat. Participants keep their browsers open locally and post their completed paths and click counts in the chat as soon as they finish. ## Hybrid In-person and remote participants use their own laptops or mobile devices. Display the start URL and destination on both the room screen and the online chat at the same moment. All participants enter their finished paths into the shared online chat so everyone sees the submissions simultaneously. ## Access and participation choices - Participants can pair up so one person directs strategy while the other clicks. - Anyone may opt out of racing and simply observe or explore links privately without reporting a score. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants use the Wikipedia search bar instead of following links.** Reiterate before starting that the search bar is off limits; all movement must happen through in-text hyperlinks. **A participant navigates to a dead end with minimal outbound links.** Remind them they can use the browser back button to retreat to a broader topic, counting each backward step as an extra click. ## Terms used here - Hyperlink: An in-text clickable connection that navigates directly to another page on the same website. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in the Playmeo activity database under the title Wiki Journey by Mark Collard. The underlying mechanic is widely known online as the Wikipedia Game or Wikispeedia. Retained the Wikipedia navigation race mechanic documented in Playmeo. UWT added explicit article pairing guidance, an expanded 15-minute timetable with distinct route comparison steps, rules for back-button tracking, and debrief prompts covering both route choices and click counts. [Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/energizer-warm-up-games/wiki-journey/) [Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/energizer-warm-up-games/wiki-journey) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/creative-energiser-activity-that-sparks-curiosity-wiki-journey/