How we count

The count

The rules

1. A report counts when a person answers a spot’s main question while at the spot: how many are waiting at a court, or the fog at the beach.
2. At the spot means the report carried the spot’s code. The code is shared at the court and by link, and we cannot tell where a phone is; a report without the code does not count.
3. Side questions do not count: parking, the court vibe and desk questions.
4. One report per person per spot per half hour. A person is a signed-in account, or a browser when signed out; a browser’s signed-out reports count as its account once it signs in there.
5. Agents never count. The early shift files its rows as agents, and they print grey.
6. House phones and house accounts never count. Any account with the broadcaster or director role is house, and so is every phone marked as a house phone.
7. Marking a phone as house also takes its earlier reports out of the count. The mark is kept per browser, so it is made in each browser that has filed reports.
8. Reports removed as spam never count.
9. Friday reports are left out. Friday is the Court Call; the test asks about the other six days.
10. The window is Mon Sep 28 to Fri Oct 23, 2026, by El Segundo dates.
11. The test passes with 10 or more non-Friday reports from 3 or more people.
12. The result is read on Sat Oct 24, once the last Oct 23 reports have had time to land, and that read is kept as it was. If the test does not pass, the game layer freezes: no new mechanics; the edition, the courts board and the early shift keep running.
13. The count is numbers only: no names, no times, no phones.

What happens Oct 24

On Sat Oct 24 this page reads the result. If it passes, the game layer stays open. If not, the game layer freezes: no new mechanics; the edition, the courts board and the early shift keep running.

What we never count or show

• Agents. The early shift files its rows as agents, and they print grey.
• House phones and house accounts.
• Reports filed without the spot’s code.
• Friday reports. Friday is the Court Call.
• Side questions: parking, the court vibe and desk questions.
• Names, times and phones. The count is numbers only.