Daily Color
A single flat swatch that everyone gets on the same local date. It is the purest test of the eye, because there is no shape, no shadow, and no context to lean on — only the color itself.
A LITTLE COLOR DAILY
PicRGB
The daily color guessing game
Guess closer. Get smarter. PicRGB shows you a color and asks you to name it in HEX, RGB, or HSL, then scores how close you got using perceptual color distance rather than raw numbers. The daily mode hands everyone the same challenge on the same day, so there is one answer to argue about.
Which mode should you play?
Free Snap
Use your camera or upload an image, tap the thing whose color you want, and take as many Color Guesses as you like. No daily limit, no reset, and no need to wait for tomorrow to practise on something you actually own.
How it works
Look at the Target Color
A flat swatch, and nothing else. There is no shape, no shadow, and no surrounding color to judge it against, so the only thing left is your own perception of it.
Make up to three Color Guesses
Type a HEX code, drag the RGB sliders, or set a hue, saturation, and lightness. All three notations move the same Color Guess, so you are free to mix them within one attempt.
Read the Hint, then get closer
After each Color Guess you get a per-channel Hint saying whether red, green, and blue need to go up, down, or are already right — plus an Accuracy Score showing how perceptually close you landed.
A Color Guess that lands exactly on the Target Color scores 100.0% and ends the day there and then, so the last of your three guesses is only needed when you are still working on it.
How your Accuracy Score works
Comparing two colors by their numbers alone is misleading. Two colors can sit an uncomfortable distance apart in HEX or RGB and still look almost identical to you, while others are a small numeric jump that you would notice immediately. So PicRGB scores your Color Guess the way your eye sees it.
Both colors are converted to CIELAB, a color space whose distances are tuned to match perceived difference, and the straight-line distance between them is measured as Delta E. That distance is subtracted from 100 to give your Accuracy Score, and the result is capped at 0.0% and 100.0%. An identical color is a Delta E of 0 and scores 100.0%.
The channel Hints are cruder on purpose. Each one simply says whether that red, green, or blue channel needs to go up or down, which is enough to aim the next Color Guess without handing you the answer. Read what CIELAB and Delta E mean if you want the background.
HEX, RGB, and HSL are the same color
All three notations describe one color, and PicRGB keeps them in step. Change the saturation in HSL and the RGB sliders move with it; type a HEX code and both follow. Use whichever notation you trust, then switch mid-guess if that suits you better.
- HEX
- #6557C8
- The six-character code web designers already live in. Type one in and the RGB and HSL controls follow it immediately.
- RGB
- 101 · 87 · 200
- Red, green, and blue light levels from 0 to 255. Fine for mixing a Color Guess one channel at a time, which is exactly what the Hints ask you to do.
- HSL
- 247° · 51% · 56%
- A hue angle with saturation and lightness. Useful when you can see that a color is "a darker, more purple version" but would not know which RGB channel to move.
Why guessing a color is so hard
Your eye judges a color against everything around it, so the same swatch looks warmer beside a blue wall and cooler beside an orange one. A color in shadow, on a phone screen in daylight, or next to a brighter copy of itself will each push your estimate somewhere different, and a monitor will happily show you a color that is not in the photograph at all.
That is why the daily challenges give everyone the same target: once the color is identical, the only variable left is your eye. A few days in, most people are reliably overestimating saturation, and the channel Hints are how you find out.
Frequently asked questions
How is my Accuracy Score calculated?
PicRGB converts your Color Guess and the Target Color into CIELAB, a color space built so that equal numeric distances look like equal visual differences, then measures the straight-line distance between them. That Delta E distance is subtracted from 100, so an identical color scores 100.0% and a Color Guess that shares nothing with the Target Color falls to 0.0%.
What is the difference between HEX, RGB, and HSL?
They are three ways of writing down the same color. HEX is a single compact code such as #6557C8, RGB is the red, green, and blue channel each running from 0 to 255, and HSL is a hue angle with saturation and lightness percentages. All three controls in PicRGB edit one Color Guess, so you can start from a HEX code and finish by nudging HSL lightness.
How many guesses do I get?
Three Color Guesses per Daily Color Challenge. It resets at midnight local time, and the guesses you have already spent stay on your device, so refreshing mid-challenge does not hand you a fresh day. Free Snap has no daily limit and no reset.
Is today’s challenge the same for everyone?
Yes. The Daily Color Challenge is derived from the date, so everyone playing on the same local date gets the same Target Color.
Do I need an account to play?
No. Open PicRGB and start guessing straight away. Nothing about a daily challenge requires a login, so your Daily Progress lives on the device you played on and you can decide about an account later.