GeoGuessr
 | |
Type of site | Browser game |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 9 May 2013 |
| Owner | Anton Wallén |
| URL | www |
GeoGuessr is a web-based geographic discovery game designed by Anton Wallén, a Swedish IT consultant, released on 9 May 2013.[1] The game uses a semi-randomized Google Street View location for paying members and Mapillary for non-members. The game requires players to guess their location in the world using only the clues visible.[2] The website received hundreds of thousands of unique visitors per day within a week of being released.[1]
Development
The idea for GeoGuessr came from Wallén's love of visiting far away locations on Google Street View, and the way in which it gave a visitor the sense of actually being there.[3][4] He decided to add a gaming element to it.[3][4] The development of the game took a couple of weeks, spread over a period of several months.[3] It uses the Backbone.js JavaScript library and version 3 of the Google Maps API for paying members.[5] For non-members Mapillary is used for the locations. Wallén posted the completed game to Google Chrome Experiments on 10 May 2013.[5][6]
Gameplay
GeoGuessr places the player on a series of five algorithmically determined semi-random locations around the world.[1][2] The locations are limited to roads and other paths that have been photographed by Google Street View cameras for paying members, which excludes the majority of Asia and Africa, most of the Amazon basin in South America, most of Central, and Outback Australia and most of the far north in Canada and Russia.[6][7]
The Street View window of GeoGuessr does not provide any information beyond the street view images and a compass; things such as road signs, vegetation, businesses, climate, and landmarks have been suggested as some clues that may help the player determine their location. The player may also move about along the roads through the normal directional controls provided by Street View. Once the player is ready to guess the location, they will place a location marker on a zoomable map. After the placed marker is submitted as a guess, GeoGuessr reveals the true geographic location and assigns the player a score depending on how far away the player's guess was from the true location. Scores range between 0 for a guess at an antipode and 5000 points if the guess is within about 150 meters of the correct location.[8] A new location is then provided to the player, and the process repeats until the player has guessed five locations for a maximum of 25,000 possible points.[9] Newer features include a variable time limit and grouped challenges, such as "Famous Places" or "Sweden".[10]
Non-members are restricted to play one game a day and the locations are photographed by Mapillary with limited ways of moving and zooming compared to Google Street View.[11]
Reception
GeoGuessr was positively received by the media, with reviewers citing its simplicity of play and addictiveness.[1][2][4] The game has also been praised as an educational tool and has inspired a number of classroom exercises.[4][12]
References
- ^ a b c d Keating, Joshua (21 May 2013). "GeoGuessr: Where in the (Googleable) world are you?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ^ a b c Isaacson, Betsy (10 May 2013). "GeoGuessr Uses Google Street View To Take Players On A World Journey". Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ a b c Morini, Thiago Ferrer (26 May 2013). "Geoguessr: ¿Dónde diablos estoy?" [Geoguessr: Where the hell am I?]. Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d Coldwell, Will (2 June 2013). "Where in the world am I? The addictive mapping game that is GeoGuessr". The Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ a b Pitcher, Jenna (13 May 2013). "Get lost with Google Maps-based game GeoGuessr". Polygon. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ a b Oremus, Will (15 May 2013). "How to Beat GeoGuessr, the Insanely Addictive Google Maps Guessing Game: Tips and tricks from a National Geographic cartographer". Slate. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ "Where is Streetview". Google.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ^ Pogue, David (13 January 2017). "I just discovered GeoGuessr, a free mystery game that will show you the world". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ Femia, Will (16 May 2013). "Find yourself with Geoguessr". The Maddow Blog. MSNBC. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ Richter, Tabea (10 January 2018). "Mit dem Online-Quiz "Geoguessr" die Welt entdecken" [Discover the world with the online quiz "Geoguessr"]. General-Anzeiger (in German). Bonn, Germany. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ "Regarding the latest changes to non-pro functionality". Geuguessr Community. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ Breedlove, Heather (30 June 2014). "Around the World: 10 Tools That Help Classrooms Connect". Insight. Retrieved 1 July 2018.