The circle can be any closed shape
You are not limited to a fixed-radius circle. Trace one continuous loop around a city, follow a coastline, enclose a river valley, or combine several dense regions while avoiding empty land. Once the line closes, Headcount treats everything inside it as your population guess.
Read the world population map
The warm points show where people are concentrated. Large urban regions glow brightly; deserts, mountains, oceans, and sparsely settled interiors stay dark. The puzzle is visual estimation: compare the intensity and area of the clusters inside your shape with the day's target.
One blind official attempt, then practice
Your first locked shape is the official daily result, so the live population total stays hidden while you draw it. After submitting, practice mode can show a live counter and lets you redraw. That separation keeps the shared daily score meaningful while still helping you learn population density.
How this differs from other population games
Headcount asks you to enclose people with a hand-drawn boundary. Mapfold hides a country and uses fact-based choices—including some population clues—to eliminate candidates, HigherQ compares two city populations, and Geo Blackjack turns city totals into a card-style target of 21 million.