slug: "indigo/borderline"
translates: "indigo/borderline"
lang: en
title: "The Rules of Border-Line"
description: "TL;DR Name a country that borders the last guy’s. If you can’t, you’re out."
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h1 #[small the rules of] #[strong Border#[span#hyphen -]Line]
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p
span.smallcaps Border-Line
| is a classic chat game from the good old days on the Old Country. (I don’t remember who came up with it — David? Collisions, maybe?)
p It works as follows:
ul
li First we decide which order the players will be going around in. This is usually alphabetical.
li
| The first person in line names a country. The next person then has to name a country which borders the previous one and has not already been played. If they can’t name any, they’re out of the game. (This creates opportunities for entrapment if you plan ahead.)
ul
li
| Maritime borders between
span.all-sc EEZ
| s count — this is so that people don’t fucking die in the Pacific and the Caribbean.
li If someone gets eliminated and cannot respond, the game continues with the next unplayed country in alphabetical order. For example, if Player A knocks out Player B by saying Norway, Player C then has to name a country which borders Oman.
p
| A valid list of “countries” (including inhabited dependent territories) is included below. (Countries whose presence may be unexpected are in
strong bold
| , with a little explainer as to why they’re there.)
ul#countrylist
li
strong Abkhazia
| — unrecognised, but independent(ish)
li Afghanistan
li Akrotiri and Dhekelia
li Albania
li Algeria
li
strong American Samoa
| — with the U.S., but not of it
li Andorra
li Angola
li Anguilla
li Antigua and Barbuda
li Argentina
li Armenia
li Aruba
li Australia
li Austria
li Azerbaijan
li the Bahamas
li Bahrain
li Bangladesh
li Barbados
li Belarus
li Belgium
li Belize
li Benin
li Bermuda
li Bhutan
li Bolivia
li Bosnia and Herzegovina
li Botswana
li Brazil
li
strong the British Indian Ocean Territory
| — though time may have run out by the time you read this
li the British Virgin Islands
li Brunei
li Bulgaria
li Burkina Faso
li Burundi
li Cambodia
li Cameroon
li Canada
li Cape Verde
li the Cayman Islands
li Central African Republic
li Chad
li Chile
li China
li Christmas Island
li the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
li Colombia
li Comoros
li Congo-Brazzaville
li Congo-Kinshasa
li the Cook Islands
li Costa Rica
li Côte d’Ivoire
li Croatia
li Cuba
li Curaçao
li Cyprus
li Czechia
li Denmark
li Djibouti
li Dominica
li Dominican Republic
li East Timor
li Ecuador
li Egypt
li El Salvador
li Equatorial Guinea
li Eritrea
li Estonia
li Eswatini
li Ethiopia
li the Faroe Islands
li the Falklands
li Fiji
li Finland
li France
li French Polynesia
li Gabon
li the Gambia
li Georgia
li Germany
li Ghana
li Gibraltar
li Greece
li Greenland
li Grenada
li
strong Guam
| — with the U.S., but not of it
li Guatemala
li
strong Guernsey
| — territory with its own autonomous government
li Guinea
li Guinea-Bissau
li Guyana
li Haiti
li Honduras
li
strong Hong Kong
| — waning autonomy, but still counts
li Hungary
li Iceland
li India
li Indonesia
li Iran
li Iraq
li Ireland
li
strong the Isle of Man
| — its autonomous government in fact includes the longest-sitting parliament in the world
li Israel
li Italy
li Jamaica
li Japan
li Jersey
li Jordan
li Kazakhstan
li Kenya
li Kiribati
li North Korea
li South Korea
li Kosovo
li Kuwait
li Kyrgyzstan
li Laos
li Latvia
li Lebanon
li Lesotho
li Liberia
li Libya
li Liechtenstein
li Lithuania
li Luxembourg
li
strong Macau
| — waning autonomy, but still counts
li Madagascar
li Malawi
li Malaysia
li Maldives
li Mali
li Malta
li the Marshall Islands
li Mauritania
li Mauritius
li Mexico
li Micronesia
li Moldova
li Monaco
li Mongolia
li Montenegro
li Montserrat
li Morocco
li Mozambique
li Myanmar
li Namibia
li Nauru
li Nepal
li the Netherlands
li New Caledonia
li New Zealand
li Nicaragua
li Niger
li Nigeria
li Niue
li Norfolk Island
li North Macedonia
li
strong Northern Cyprus
| — yep, we’re counting it — although i’m not sure how
i de facto
| that claimed
span.all-sc EEZ
| is
li
strong the Northern Mariana Islands
| — with the U.S., but not of it
li Norway
li Oman
li Pakistan
li Palau
li Palestine
li Panama
li Papua New Guinea
li Paraguay
li Peru
li Philippines
li the Pitcairn Islands
li Poland
li Portugal
li
strong Puerto Rico
| — with the U.S., but not of it
li Qatar
li Romania
li Russia
li Rwanda
li the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
li Saint-Barthélemy
li Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha
li Saint Kitts and Nevis
li Saint Lucia
li Saint-Martin
li Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
li Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
li Samoa
li San Marino
li São Tomé and Príncipe
li Saudi Arabia
li Senegal
li Serbia
li Seychelles
li Sierra Leone
li Singapore
li Sint Maarten
li Slovakia
li Slovenia
li the Solomon Islands
li Somalia
li
strong Somaliland
| — unrecognised, but independent however you slice it
li South Africa
li
strong South Ossetia
| — independent(ish)
li South Sudan
li Spain
li Sri Lanka
li Sudan
li Suriname
li
strong Svalbard
| — has its own visa policy, at least
li Sweden
li Switzerland
li Syria
li Taiwan
li Tajikistan
li Tanzania
li Thailand
li Togo
li Tokelau
li Tonga
li
strong Transnistria
| — unrecognised, but independent (and a very good example of border gore)
li Trinidad and Tobago
li Tunisia
li Turkey
li Turkmenistan
li the Turks and Caicos Islands
li Tuvalu
li Uganda
li Ukraine
li the United Arab Emirates
li the United Kingdom
li the United States of America
li
strong the United States Virgin Islands
| — with the U.S., but not of it
li Uruguay
li Uzbekistan
li Vanuatu
li Vatican City
li Venezuela
li Vietnam
li Wallis and Futuna
li Yemen
li Zambia
li Zimbabwe
li
strong Åland
| — this autonomous territory is properly sorted at the end of lists because Swedish is weird
p
i Not
| included are the following:
ul#nocountrylist
li
strong France’s overseas departments
| are integral parts of its territory:
ul
li Guadeloupe
li Martinique
li Mayotte
li Réunion
li
strong The Netherlands’ special municipalities
| are also technically just part of the Netherlands:
ul
li Bonaire
li Sint Estatius
li Saba
li
strong Antarctica
| isn’t a country, and neither are any of the frivolous claims upon its soil.
li
strong Uninhabited territories
| such as Bouvet Island and Clipperton Island are, well, uninhabited. Good luck getting someone to stamp your passport.
li
strong Bir Tawil
| is perhaps best defined as the
em lack
| of a country.
li
| The
strong constituent countries of the UK
| , while somewhat autonomous, are hard to justify including.