I was recently introduced to
GeoGuessr, an interesting little map/travel/deduction game where you are dropped in a completely random location via Streetview and have the freedom to travel around until the streetview mechanics or Google Maps glitches frustrate you into making a random guess - which is usually what happens.
What I have determined helps in this game is a sound knowledge and ability to recognize the makes of cars.... it will help you determine 1st/2nd/3rd world country by the 'new-ness' of the car and the makes offered (eg. You won't find a Skoda in America!). If you're good at languages, take a peek at road signs and see if you can figure out what language 'Husk Bilbelte' is. Languages might not be that useful though, since most European languages (English, French, Spanish) or very commonplace throughout the Globe, so it falls back to geography and some common sense.
In my first play-through, I was dropped in some odd locations.... a very sparse one-lane road in the middle of nowhere and it took more than several clicks before I reached my first sign: 'Husk Bilbelte'. Another trial dropped me in the middle of a buffet restaurant. That was great, I couldn't move anywhere and only had a panoramic view to work with, but the signs were in English so I dropped the marker in the middle of North America..... Nope! I'm in Cuba!
Anyway, without further ado, here's a short LP for GeoGuessr, and my second time playing this game. Five rounds!
Round 1
Look here! I've been dropped off in civilization, and a tourist-y spot at that! Celebrity Cruises... I don't travel much, but there are lots of cruise ships in the Caribbean, no? Is that where I've been dropped off?
Turning slightly, I see an American flag (not pictured), so I suspect I am in America. Or the port is on an island that belongs to America (eg. Puerto Rico).
I turn 90 degrees, and a building filled with flags enters my view.
Great, I'm in a place where they love all countries equally.... this
helps? At least the vehicles all look distinctly of the kinds offered in America. But wait, that work van says 'Alaska Glass & Supply' on it. I would normally be satisfied with this answer, but I found it so fast so I think I can be even more precise by doing a bit more looking.
If I hadn't hit the jackpot before, now I have without even moving from my initial starting spot. Ketchikan, the salmon fishing city in Alaska? Well, it's got to be in the Alaskan panhandle then. Let's zoom in on the guessing map and find Ketchikan.
I think I'm standing..... right there!
And I was only 0.009 km = 9 metres off! Put that in the record books!
Round 2
Looks like we're dropped off near a restaurant parking lot. A quick inspection of the cars shows a Honda CR-V, and some other American-looking cars. I think we're in America from my initial glance.
Two men making a drug deal on the back of a sedan.
An abundance of American pickup trucks, an old and new American SUVs in the background and a minivan has me utterly convinced this is America, and of course all this in a McDonald's parking lot. Let's go a bit further down the road and see what else there is...
Oh wait, a Tim Hortons? This is most definitely either Canada or the North-eastern USA where Tim Hortons are as abundant as they can be. What else is nearby? A motorcycle gang, a 'No Stopping Anytime' sign and a 'Red Light Camera' sign that I can decipher despite it being blurred. This feels like home. Northern Ontario then? Keep going.... a Canadian Freightways truck and Totem Motel. Then the next sign on the street tells me clearly where I am:
Edson, Alberta reads the top of the tire sign. Okay, that's not Southern USA, and it's not Northern Ontario either. But a correct answer is still a correct answer! Using the guessing map, I zoom in on Alberta and find Edson on the Trans-Canada Highway just West of Edmonton.
I zoom in further and the guessing map provides me with more details.... including local businesses! Great, so I search for Totem Motel and fail to find it, but I do find that Tim Hortons and the Shell station I was near. Submit!
Pretty much full marks again. Dropped outside a huge sign with the city's name the first time. Dropped in my home country the second time. How long can this luck hold out?
Round 3
I'm convinced that I finally got the bad draw. We'll see how this one plays out. Rotating shows not very many interesting details: I'm on a road with 3 lanes: 2 in one direction and 1 in the other. I run down the street at the oncoming minivan and I spy a highway sign:
Okay, I'm near Henryville and Phillipsburg (sp?) in the middle of nowhere. What country am I in? I assume again that I'm in the USA, because of how much more Streeview'd roads they have. And well hey, I've already spent the last 2 rounds north of the 49th Parallel so odds are I'm in Oklahoma, eh?
Hm.... 90 mph.... don't you think this is a bit too fast for our American friends to be driving? It's not even the Autobahn or freeway, just a small rural road. No, this has got to be 90 km/h. And this is starting to look a lot like Canada again. A couple steps further down the road and....
Oh? A pickup truck that clearly states it's a Quebec truck. I am definitely in Canada, but the part of Canada that speaks the wrong language (not that I have anything against the French, just that deciphering road signs and advertisements will be more challenging/fun!)
Down the road is a sign for a Marina Sabrevois, a tail-gating beige minivan driver and a mechanic who does all work on all vehicles.... which apparently includes this guy:
I feel sorry for whoever has to pay for maintenance on this thing.
Further into town, I find something incredibly useful.
Hotel de Ville de Sabrevois. There's no arguing with that sign... I was dropped off in Sabrevois, Quebec. On the guessing map, I find it close to the US border and don't care about getting the precise location - placing the marker inside Sabrevois will do for me.
Worse guess so far has me 752 m away from my random location in the world.
Round 4
From my previous sample size of 3, it /looks/ like I'm in Canada. Here's my starting spot!
Very picturesque, and I'm sure I'd love to visit. But I think I'm in trouble this time and I might be more than 1 km off after this round. Slightly to the left is parked a Land Rover, and either a Toyota Yaris or a Nissan Versa.... all vehicles common throughout most continents.
I'm guessing this is a boat launch, though I've never actually seen one myself. Looks more like a random place for random boats. Turning around, there are a couple building, one of those say 'Toilets' so maybe I am still in Canada? Or maybe, it's an area with lots of English-speaking tourists?
Well, that's rather helpful. Red dot at any time! Please chime in if you have any idea what this actually means.
This left-hand drive, speed limits written in the pavement and the presence of only small hatchbacks clue me into the fact that we're probably sitting on the shore of somewhere in the UK (and I guess they don't have to deal with snow, if they don't worry about the speed limits being covered up by a centimetre of snow!). But where? My knowledge of the UK is considerably foggier (no joke intended) than that of Canada.
It's at this point that my Streetview camera begins to spin faster and faster out of control! I freak out and press a number of buttons to try and make it stop. In the end, changing to a different tab and back again did the trick.
I wander side streets now and find myself often at a dead-end. I'm sure the Streetview drivers were just as frustrated at me. A sign leads to the beach, and across the bridge I do see a beach. Streetview has now developped the annoying bug that when I click to move, it moves me but at my new location I'm 180 degrees turned around. A sign says Harbour Street, but I still find nothing useful. Next, a Subaru Forester! (I like them). A Citroen van for CHAP Construction. No town or city names on this van. Oh wait, here....
BT stands for.... British Telecomm? I'll take anything at this point.
Life is cruel. Does this mean they don't get as many tourists as there used to be?
Oh, my first business after lots of frustrating map-clicking! And it's got a good name! Port Erroll is where I am... Port Erroll, UK. And it's on the shore somewhere. As I know I'm looking at the shore in England somewhere, I'm confident I can find this small port. It's at this point that Google Maps has fully given up on me and the guessing map starts glitching as well.
So I plop it down on a random spot in the UK.
And I am very glad I didn't go through all the trouble of searching the coastline. Port Erroll isn't even visible as a name until I am zoomed in far enough to see the individual streets. A shame, really, since I'd love to visit this quiet town and see this boat launch. Scanning the area on the real Google Maps in a different tab brings back memories of my trip through Port Erroll.... well, my GeoGuessr-induced trip that is.
Round 5
Some pricey boats, a BMW and he's driving on the right side of the road. I know I'm in for a sign that proudly sports the name of the town/city to its tourists. Okay! Let's go!
Oh my, this reminds of GTA: Vice City. I think fate has landed me in a tropical American destination.
Several c
licks North and I reach a sign that says I'm in Miami Beach, which is of course in Florida, USA. Somewhere near a street called 46th Street (cities have the most interesting street names) and a hotel named the Eden Rae (sp?)
I find Miami Beach adjacent to Miami and Collins Avenue is also easily located. 46th Street was more difficult to find as the map kept glitching again, but the easy and boring numbering of streets made it an easy exercise.
It doesn't say 46th street, but I'm sure it would since it's north of 41st street and beside the Eden Roc hotel.
And that brings Round 5 to a close too!
Final Summary:
So now, I realized I've set the entirely unrealistic goal of 28,407 points. I doubt most people will be as lucky as me... I've hit more than my fair share of both good locations and good names/objects nearby that would clue me in.
Here's a link to my score:
[
LINK]
Bonus Round
The new game that started immediately afterward dropped me off in a rich person's estate, with no way to move (it is just a panoramic picture).
Good luck guessing where this is if you can only rotate in place (they do have a nice fountain).
I figured that Google might have had trouble importing a car to Atlantis (the whole combustion engines don't work so well underwater thing), so I plopped the marker in the middle of the Atlantic, only to find out that it's actually the Sandals Whitehouse European Village & Spa in Jamaica. Oh well, only 3830 km away (but still worth 1667 points!).
Cheers, until next time!
