Hidden Gems: GeoGuessr

BreakingModern — Welcome to Hidden Gems, a semi-regular column in which I scour the depths of the Internet to help you break your browsing rut. My mission is to find entertaining websites that will make you stop refreshing your Facebook home page every other minute.

geoguessr

Today, let’s look at GeoGuessr.com. It’s exactly what you think it is – a geographic discovery game that takes advantage of Google Street View to place you in random locations all around the globe. To play the game, you must guess where you are by clicking on the world map on the right side of the screen. Points are earned by the accuracy of your guesses. GeoGuessr doesn’t rely on a global map all the time, however. If you like, you can narrow the game down to regions, nations and cities. Here are some of GeoGuessr’s gems I had a great time playing.

geoguessr

Famous Places

This map is great fun and pretty self-explanatory. It can also serve as a bit of a self-esteem boost if you’ve been largely failing at the other maps, since it’s somewhat easier. I know I felt unreasonably smug when I was able to accurately guess that I was at the Grand Canyon. Another cool thing about this map is, if you’re a traveler, you might come across a landmark you’ve been to in person. At one point the game had me looking out from a gondola in Venice, which instantly brought me back to my own trip there a couple of years ago.

geoguessr

Canada

The sheer size of Canada makes this map one of GeoGuessr’s more fun options. With a significant number of open spaces and metro areas, you could easily spend a big chunk of your day using this map. I suggest you don’t do that, however. There are other things to do during the day. But my point stands: this is a really neat map to play.

geoguessr

Taiwan

A lot of GeoGuessr’s smaller maps tend to plop you on nondescript city streets. That can certainly be engrossing in itself. But there’s something far more interesting about getting placed outside the city, looking at the sea or the mountains. Taiwan’s map is definitely one of GeoGuessr’s more beautiful options. I didn’t exactly succeed in the guessing aspect of this map, but who cares about that?

Websites like GeoGuessr prove that there are still possibilities for innovation on the Internet. Tons of them. There are new ways to learn and have fun. With so many self-serving content distributors, it’s refreshing to actually find something new. GeoGuessr is simply a good time.

For BMod, I’m .

Featured Image: Globe. Wikimedia Commons

All Screenshots: Jordan Wold

Jordan Wold

Author: Jordan Wold

Jordan Wold is a pop culture obsessive writer from the Midwest. He plans on attending Boston's Emerson College in the fall of 2015 as a Visual & Media Arts major. He is also far too proud of his own tweets. Follow him @JordanWold1.

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