Geoguessr.com is a geography puzzle using Google Streetview. Each game consists of 5 rounds. At the beginning of each round, you are met with a view of someplace, anyplace on the planet, in any country, any town or city or countryside. Your goal is to guess, with as much accuracy as you can muster, where in the world you are. You are able to pan from side-to-side, zoom in, zoom out, pan up and down, and move in any direction allowed by that particular round. Some avenues will be cut off, for instance, and there is a limitation of movement, but you might not encounter the artificial wall. I have many times, however.
I am a geography nerd, so I really get this game. I mean, I find it compelling. I don’t expect everyone to love it, but I’m sure there are many fans of this diversion. And there are several blogs and articles offering tips and tricks, some of which I was able to figure out, some I didn’t think about before.
Since the classic “worldwide” game will drop you essentially anywhere Google Street View has documented, you are in for a surprise nearly every time. Did you catch that? Anywhere Google Street View has gone before. That excludes large areas of Africa and South America, unfortunately. Argentina is adding new photos, as are a number of other countries, but there is nothing recorded in Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia. Africa is largely left out. This is just as well: I am still unfamiliar enough with Australia and Finland to keep it interesting.
Here are a few tips:
1. May attention to traffic patterns. In the North and South America and most of Europe, they drive on the right side of the street, but in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan, they drive on the left.
2. Only USA has speed limit signs in MPH. If you see any sign displaying kilometers, you’re not in the States.
3. Australia is huge. Good luck.
4. Canada is also huge, but the Rocky Mountains along the Alberta-BC boundary are kind of unmistakable.
5. Portuguese signs are almost a dead giveaway for Brazil, especially in the tropics. Portugal has pine forests and really old architecture.
6. Chile and Mexico are both Spanish-speaking countries, but Chile has some of the most striking desert features. Mexico has rain forests in the south.
7. Get familiar with Fin place names.
This game will really challenge your geography skills, or lack thereof. It doesn’t hurt to know a bit about the world you inhabit. Just think of it this way: when extraterrestrials visit and ask you where they can find the world leaders, you can point to Sydney or Geneva or London or New York on a map. Or you can screw with them and point to Tulsa.
Well, I’ve got a game to finish. By the rolling hills and the reddish soil, I can tell I’m in the South, but where?
Bebop Marmaduke 