Where in the world is me

February 14, 2021 9:45 AM

If you were dropped into a random city somewhere in the world, could you guess where you were from context clues? City Guesser shows you a video from the point of view of a pedestrian walking through a city and asks you to guess where you think it is, then shows you how close you were.

While the game itself is fun, in these times you may find some utility in just virtually wandering the streets of a far-flung locale. Come for the guessing, stay for the flaneury.

posted by rodlymight (101 comments total)

With western Europe, the degree of difficulty is that so many store names are in English, French or Italian.
posted by davebarnes at 10:10 AM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

That is fun. To begin with, I was really bad at it, because I tried to reply quickly. I let the videos run for a while, and then I could even guess places I'd never been to, like Bratislava. Also, to get the applause and everything, you need to be very accurate, so zoom in on the map if you want that.
posted by mumimor at 10:21 AM on February 14, 2021

omg this is really fun. I love cruising around looking for clues, what country? what city? I may do this all day.
posted by supermedusa at 10:29 AM on February 14, 2021

This is fun!

If anyone else is getting big gray blobs of the map blocked out, it worked better for me when I turned off the English language layer.
posted by jameaterblues at 10:32 AM on February 14, 2021

Huh, I selected Canada twice from the main page. The first time I got London (England) and the second time I got Seattle.
posted by Epixonti at 10:34 AM on February 14, 2021

There doesn't seem to be any advantage in guessing early.

Some of them are very easy--'That's Tower Bridge/Times Square'--and others contain actual visible names of cities. That said, I'm pretty proud that I was able to identify Queenstown in New Zealand, having spent 24 hours there 32 years ago.

Overall, this is lovely fun. The handheld, on-foot camerawork is a particularly human pleasure.
posted by Hogshead at 10:39 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

was proud to get Brighton with no contextual clues. this is addictive!
posted by supermedusa at 10:43 AM on February 14, 2021

This thing is addictive.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:44 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

The draw I got for the US was pretty easy (a huge Statue of Liberty is kind of a dead giveaway) and the Santa Monica Pier and Golden Gate Bridge were kinda obvious too. But apparently Harvey Milk Blvd. is not where I would have expected...
posted by martin q blank at 10:53 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

I got three Eiffel towers in a row, which made it easier to get a 9 run going. Busted when I went Reims over Nantes.
posted by biffa at 10:54 AM on February 14, 2021

These are a lot of fun. In the mode of GeoGuessr but with video? I'm in.
posted by tclark at 11:04 AM on February 14, 2021

I live in Portland and have never been to Seoul. I got Portland wrong and Seoul right.
posted by outfielder at 11:15 AM on February 14, 2021 [22 favorites]

holy crap I had not realized how viscerally I miss the feeling of walking around a city
posted by taquito sunrise at 11:16 AM on February 14, 2021 [27 favorites]

others contain actual visible names of cities

Early on, I "missed" one because there was commercial signage in English, then a poster in what looked like Malay that mentioned Jakarta. Surely they wouldn't let the answer be that obvious? So I guessed Kuala Lumpur.

Nope, it was Jakarta.

To make up for that, I did get Buenos Aires pretty quickly. Recognized the license plate on a car!

The one with the submarine flying the Russian flag was pretty confounding. Okay, it's a Russian naval port. Which one?? Several possible choices, very far apart. I was not close.

And yes, take a moment to zoom in and aim your guess, if you want to get the hoorays and confetti. Took me a few tries to get that.
posted by gimonca at 11:19 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

Also, a quick reminder that many "Irish pubs".......are not, in fact, in Ireland. I do feel a little stupider now for guessing based on a "Slainte" clue on a storefront.
posted by gimonca at 11:24 AM on February 14, 2021

This is so much fun.
posted by cincinnatus c at 11:29 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

Geoguesser is similar, no video only street view imagery. Earlier in lockdown I was playing it remotely with someone, we'd load the same start point and explore around "together".
posted by joeyh at 11:33 AM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]

I love this.

It's incredible to me how obvious US/not the US is at the very first glance, even without any visible signage. I've spent the better part of an hour playing this, and the only time it took more than two seconds of video to determine if it was America or not was 1) Toronto and 2) the Yale campus.

Are other countries as obvious to people who are from there?
posted by phunniemee at 11:36 AM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

I am terrible at this, but I am also guessing after 30 seconds or so, how long are you who are answering correctly watching for on average? Possibly it's just that I'm very bad at geography, which is definitely true.
posted by lemonade at 11:37 AM on February 14, 2021

Getting within a mile on my first try was nice. But Venice is a bit of a giveaway.
posted by automatronic at 11:41 AM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]

This is fun! My biggest miss was guessing NYC, when it was Hawaii. After the reveal I noticed the palm trees 🤦
posted by Sparky Buttons at 11:42 AM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

(in case anyone hasn't noticed, you can speed up the videos in the top right corner. I was doing a "monuments" one and had to speed through many minutes that were nothing but tourist butts before I could see enough of anything to make a guess.)
posted by dnash at 11:43 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

lemonade I find it more fun to take my time before guessing. enjoy the tour. sometimes fairly obvious clues will come along, so its fun to keep an eye out for them. also sometimes those clues are a complete bamboozle and you will be wrong by 10ks of miles.
posted by supermedusa at 11:52 AM on February 14, 2021

This is a nice escape from being stuck at home. I got several by less than a mile, but was also off by over 1700 miles on one, so my average is probably not that great.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:04 PM on February 14, 2021

I did a few, then thought "I'd like to go to these places", then felt sad, because even when Covid restrictions are lifted, we'll still be locked in.
posted by Grangousier at 12:11 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

other countries as obvious to people who are from there?

Being from the UK, I am usually almost instantly able to pin things down to UK/Not UK!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:16 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

other countries as obvious to people who are from there?
France and Italy are obvious to me. And everything from the former east block is obvious as "former east block", but not down to countries. I haven't tried the global one yet, so I don't know, but I'm guessing Japan would be easy to guess too?
posted by mumimor at 12:30 PM on February 14, 2021

Oh this is fun.
posted by praemunire at 12:33 PM on February 14, 2021

I found south/south east asia very easy to peg in general but very difficult to identify country/city.
posted by supermedusa at 12:34 PM on February 14, 2021

I am either pinpoint precise or WILDLY incorrect. I love this! Thank you for sharing it!
posted by kimberussell at 12:40 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is really fun. But I am also having all kinds of complicated feelings watching video of people just ... hanging out. I knew I missed that, but I didn't realize how much. I don't even really care about guessing, I just like watching the video wandering around a city.
posted by basalganglia at 12:45 PM on February 14, 2021 [8 favorites]

In a particularly surreal moment, I was just dropped into downtown Wuhan.
posted by ChuraChura at 1:41 PM on February 14, 2021 [11 favorites]

I like this better than geoguessr. Here, I'm more just along for the ride instead of looking for clues. I think I'll revisit this any time I feel like I'd rather be walking through an unfamiliar place.

Identifying by region (PNW, SE Asia, Former Bloc) is fun/quick. So far (after a few dozen), my average is within about 20km. That includes some gimmes like a big sign that said frankfurt, but also I apparently didn't know where that giant shiny bean was! ( I picked boston. boston has beans, right?)

Having visited neither, I did choose Nagasaki when I was actually in Hiroshima. I had no big clues either way other than (Japan, but not a part I've seen before). That felt odd, though there were probably some hints I didn't consciously notice.

The toughest for me (from the canadian prairies) is identifying any smallish prairie town. They're all so similar!

I was most proud of getting Rio de Janeiro in like 2 seconds because of the sidewalk by the beach. Most mad at Vail, because that video was obviously post-covid but the streets were still so full! Boo to those people!
posted by Acari at 2:02 PM on February 14, 2021 [3 favorites]

I had entirely underestimated how nostalgic it would make me to get dropped right onto a place I passed by daily for years.
posted by sailoreagle at 2:11 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

I haven't actually traveled that much of the world but I'm pretty good at excluding things because I tend to notice street sign shapes and the like. So I was wavering between a city in Quebec (where I've never been) and one in France, but the street signs weren't right for France.
posted by praemunire at 2:28 PM on February 14, 2021

This is fun and relaxing. I jumped into one and the viewer immediately panned over to show they were inside the White House. Lol.
posted by Emily's Fist at 2:42 PM on February 14, 2021

Weird, I just picked Canada and my first five cities were Vancouver, Vancouver, Victoria, Vancouver, Vancouver.

This offends the residual Albertan in me, but I suppose I'm just supposed to be glad it wasn't all Toronto or something.
posted by aramaic at 3:06 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

As always, it's a little embarrassing when they show what's clearly a major non-Western cultural site that's meant to give it away, and you have to figure out what it is later by googling, like the Itsukushima Shrine.
posted by praemunire at 3:08 PM on February 14, 2021

For some reason, when I did Canadian cities, it gave me London, England like 3 times. Also, I am very bad at identifying cities in my home country, apparently.
posted by rodlymight at 3:10 PM on February 14, 2021

> Are other countries as obvious to people who are from there?

Briton here - the ones in the UK are usually immediately obvious to me.

> the only time it took more than two seconds of video to determine
> if it was America or not was 1) Toronto and 2) the Yale campus.

Huh. As a Briton, the Yale one confused me. I've never been there. I eventually guessed Cambridge MS, mostly because I *have* been there, I guess. But it somehow feels like not the worst guess.
posted by merlynkline at 3:35 PM on February 14, 2021

This is fun!
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:46 PM on February 14, 2021

OMG this is amazing, I love it!

My first 3 guesses within a few seconds of each video starting:

c.200 miles out (in France)
c.100 miles (in California)
4 miles out (in Tallinn, which I kind of guessed from the first picture of a bit of plain, anonymous wall but it seemed to unlikely I'd be that right, until I saw a bar name. Turns out Estonian walls are very recognisable).

I did then guess Mexico and it was Argentina, which put me about 4000 miles out, so I should maybe quit while I'm ahead.
posted by penguin pie at 3:49 PM on February 14, 2021

The second one was my hometown, and it told me I was a mile out when I like, have vomited on that doorstoop a dozen times buddy, don't you tell me how to live.

But for foreign towns I doubt you need to the street granularity.
posted by Jilder at 3:56 PM on February 14, 2021 [5 favorites]

There are folks on YouTube like GeoWizard who actually record themselves playing this and get perfect scores. It's astonishingly relaxing and interesting to see how someone goes about piecing together the EXACT location on a map.
posted by thebots at 3:57 PM on February 14, 2021

I eventually guessed Cambridge MS, mostly because I *have* been there, I guess. But it somehow feels like not the worst guess.

IT'S THE WORST GUESS HOW DARE
posted by praemunire at 3:59 PM on February 14, 2021

Also managed to get only a mile out when guessing somewhere that turned out to be New Delhi and 2 miles out for somewhere in Hamburg, both cities that I’ve never been to, with no obvious clues as to which city, let alone where in the city.

I’m starting to think I’ve got whatever it is birds have in their brains that make them able to fly in the right direction when migrating. Iron filings behind my nose? Or something.
posted by penguin pie at 4:02 PM on February 14, 2021

I am very bad at this, because as near as I can tell cities basically look like cities. Unless there's a specific landmark or a sign giving it away I'm reduced to guessing based on language, and if the language is English, Spanish, or French then I'm just picking randomly.
posted by sotonohito at 4:04 PM on February 14, 2021

I placed Perth on the Florida coast and then on the next shot got within a mile in Qatar. I was surprised how many times I was only one country away.

The US gave me the hardest time. I can't tell a Florida neighborhood from a flat California one.
posted by dances with hamsters at 4:08 PM on February 14, 2021

I've been playing this for a couple of days and came here thinking to make a FPP myself. Synchronicity in action!

Things that I've noticed: (1) cities in the US SOUND different -- more beeping horns, maybe (2) there are McDonalds and Starbucks pretty much EVERYWHERE, (3) tourists tend to stand out no matter where you go, (4) bird sounds!

Some are easy -- the entrance to the Louve, outside Faneuil Hall in Boston, Westminster Bridge in London, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, etc. Others are crazy hard -- I found myself in a dark street at night in the rain in what turned out to be Shanghai in one. Cities in China and most Eastern Bloc cities except Moscow are pretty much impossible for me. A couple of times I guessed correctly on pure intuition -- I got Kuala Lumpur out of the blue and don't have a clue how or why. One I was sure had to be Havana, based on the cars, but guessed somewhere in South America because I assumed they wouldn't have a video from Cuba. Turned out to be Havana after all.

The best part is all of the places that I've been dropped where I thought, "that's a place I would really enjoy just walking around" that I never would have expected to have that thought about. I should start a list, maybe.

Also, it's worth checking out the parent site virtualvacation.us where you can pick a city and see the walking (or driving!) tour.
posted by TwoToneRow at 4:11 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

Really enjoyed the action of just strolling a city. I tried the US and it was a bit NYC-heavy. Not sure where the footage came from. But at least one city was filmed post-covid, as at least half the people were wearing facemasks in Vail.
posted by hydra77 at 4:15 PM on February 14, 2021

Also, a quick reminder that many "Irish pubs".......are not, in fact, in Ireland. I do feel a little stupider now for guessing based on a "Slainte" clue on a storefront.

I got excited in one city of moderate economic condition when I saw a couple of buildings with Mexican flags; then the wall had a giant dia de los muertos style skull on it; by the time I saw the name "Hotel Guacamole", I realized I was seeing a cliche Mexican themed restaurant, not actual Mexico. Penang, Malaysia.
posted by Superilla at 4:21 PM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]

> Are other countries as obvious to people who are from there?

I get 'within a mile' on most of the Australian ones so far. The problem is they've all been capital cities so far, and the capital cities are surprisingly easy to tell apart.
posted by andraste at 4:38 PM on February 14, 2021

Calgary is easy - the skyline isn't super identifiable, but the magpies are a dead giveaway
posted by theory at 4:47 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

I failed to identify a city I lived in for four years.
posted by Shutter at 4:52 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

Where can I sign up for "Interstate Overpass Guesser"?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:12 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

Copacabana, Rio, was a gimme because of the tiles.
I feel that the 'congratulations' algorithm should take into account the size of the country, for instance in the U.S., just guessing 'northwest US' should give you confetti, who cares if you guess Portland instead of Seattle?
posted by signal at 5:13 PM on February 14, 2021

This is super fun! I missed the spot in Kuala Lumpur by about a mile.

Covington, VA...bit of a giveaway to have the town name on a bank/govt building, but it took me a while to pinpoint it on a map.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:15 PM on February 14, 2021

Woohoo! Confetti for being within a mile. LaTrobe Street, Melbourne.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:20 PM on February 14, 2021

The 'country streak' mode where you just have to guess what country you're in is a lot of fun.

Also, there is something achingly wonderful about these, especially when you have the sound on. The different quality of the light in various cities, guessing the time of day. The sounds - wind tunnels and people chattering and just general sounds. I had someone tramping through the snow before, and I don't think I've ever heard what it sounds like to walk on snow.
posted by andraste at 6:20 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

Hah, I loaded the US one and at one point it started panning around a very typical Southern California beach town...and slowly the video plodded on...and I realized it was a particularly bougie one...and with nothing more to go on then that, correctly picked Huntington Beach as the bougie SoCal beach town.

I guess technically I have been there (once, ugh, so many tourists) but really it's just my default bougie beach town.
posted by librarylis at 7:25 PM on February 14, 2021

Calgary is easy - the skyline isn't super identifiable, but the magpies are a dead giveaway

Edmonton tho

On the world setting I did passably well (usually within five miles, occasionally one mile, which I count as a success; recognizing a city I have never set foot in but not knowing the city’s geography especially well? I’ll take it. My sole real failure was guessing Buenos Aires for Cordoba, but 400 miles off for a guy who has never been to Argentina was reasonable, I think.

When I reset it to my home and native land of Canada, plenty of one-mile confetti showers. Many years of extensive travel both for work and for fun shifted my appraisals from, “Okay, let’s see if we can see a billboard or storefront,” to, “Hey, there’s a great Thai place around the corner from there. Oooh, I like that bookstore across the street!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:26 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

As well, it’s hardly fair dropping us in a major airport. They have a locationless architecture, and listening to passing accents isn’t likely to offer any clues.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:55 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

Should have guessed Albuquerque from the sky.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:48 PM on February 14, 2021

Wow this is great!

I heard bells and thought - those sound like the bells in The Sound of Music- yep, Salzburg!
posted by freethefeet at 8:57 PM on February 14, 2021

My boyfriend and I weren't able to hang out in person on Valentine's Day because came down with something on Friday and thought he might had COVID. Though we both tested negative, he basically just feels cruddy with a cold or flu or something. So our Valentine's day date has been to played a few rounds in a multiplayer room. This is like an extension of something we've done occasionally during COVID where we'll get takeout from somewhere and then wander around the relevant location on google maps. Moldovan food - available in Boston, quite tasty, and satisfying street view.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:58 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

great game! mostly within 200mi, worst was picking something in europe and it was guadalajara.
posted by j_curiouser at 10:07 PM on February 14, 2021

also, is it overcast almost everywhere almost all the time?
posted by j_curiouser at 10:38 PM on February 14, 2021

I love GeoGuessr, but ironically this one is not for me. For two reasons.
1. The camera person is never looking at the things I want to look at, and they always look away from the things I want to look at more.
2. The slight up-down-up-down from the walking in the video (argh, no stabilization!) made me motionsick after two videos.

I am really glad other people love it. Will be interested to see if GeoGuessr buys them or sues them.
posted by rednikki at 1:54 AM on February 15, 2021

Manchester was obvious filmed during the last year, it is very city centre during lockdown and sad after all the earlier bustling cities.

Also, it's not OK to say England (includes Wales and Scotland).
posted by hfnuala at 2:08 AM on February 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

1. The camera person is never looking at the things I want to look at, and they always look away from the things I want to look at more.
This is what I like! It's like seeing the world through someone else's eyes, something I've always been curious about. To begin with, I couldn't even recognize places I have lived in, now I'm learning how to get the confetti almost every time. But also it's so fascinating to see what they are looking at and where they are looking.

also, is it overcast almost everywhere almost all the time?
I'm getting a lot of sunny days.
posted by mumimor at 2:11 AM on February 15, 2021

I did some more UK ones and there's more than 1 Manchester video, the other one I've seen isn't lockdown. Also, I dunno if it is familiarity but British city centres are grim and pedestrian unfriendly compared to the West European ones I've been offered.
posted by hfnuala at 2:22 AM on February 15, 2021

In the UK ones I was in a tiny village near Sheffield. The Camera person stopped to look at a weir for a minute or so. (I still got it right but it took a lot of video)

Then weirdly when I tried worldwide and the first place is sent me was a backstreet in Penang which I instantly recognised, since it's the only non UK place I've been in the last 10 years.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:23 AM on February 15, 2021

This is SO interesting, thank you.

I've only played global, but it is, indeed, very addictive. Finding that I really can't tell the difference between SE Asian scripts - something to investigate.

American places I found that almost always you see a flag in the first ten seconds or so.

I am from the UK and didn't get a UK scene (Glasgow!) until quite a few videos in. It was a weird brain feeling when you suddenly recognise very clearly all the brands and shop signs (was on a busy shopping street). A jarring but fuzzy kind of relief maybe? As in suddenly you understand your environment and are looking for other kinds of clues than languages or street names or labels. Very interesting and not something I think I've really felt before despite travelling a lot (pre-Covid).

Between this and the lemmings post above, I might need to add to my internet blocker until the work day is over!
posted by sedimentary_deer at 3:33 AM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

I don't think I've ever heard what it sounds like to walk on snow.

*Sobs gently at the unexpected pathos*

Glad you got to hear it, andraste!
posted by penguin pie at 4:53 AM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Briton here - the ones in the UK are usually immediately obvious to me.

Same here. (I mean, I'm not actually an official Briton yet, but still.) I can tell a UK video pretty much right away, but nailing it down to a particular location is harder, especially if it's on a high street. "Hm. Topshop....Argos....Gregg's....this could be anywhere."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:59 AM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

I managed to no scope Glasgow thanks to the video starting up outside the Jury's Inn I lobbied hard against during planning for our since covid-cancelled trip. Between the drab area and a recent documentary raised the specter of a tourist in a watertank, it has ben agreed that if we can travel again, we'll stay somewhere better. A bittersweet victory.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:19 AM on February 15, 2021

I've lived in the US for 4 years, and I find US cities really easy to spot. The signage is distinctive, as well as things like the door handles. And of course street signs.
posted by destrius at 6:23 AM on February 15, 2021

This is both really soothing and also makes me a bit sad about not being able to travel
posted by brilliantine at 7:01 AM on February 15, 2021

also, is it overcast almost everywhere almost all the time?

Well... three times I found myself looking at Vancouver so yes.

With no exaggeration, when I first lived there I arrived a couple of days into January. It was March before I cast a shadow on the ground.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:16 AM on February 15, 2021

I thought at first I'd be able to peg US/Canada from the wide streets and big cars, but at least twice, if I waited long enough, I'd see a big sign in Cyrillic characters.

Then there was the time that, from a street sign, I was able to get the location to within a city block by zooming way in, but forgot to actually set the marker, and the location "guessed" was the location of my last guess, on a different continent.
posted by pykrete jungle at 7:46 AM on February 15, 2021

Also, regarding the camera looking at things other than what I wanted--what's funny about this is that, for the purposes of the game, I'm looking for things I wouldn't video even if I were in the videographer's shoes: "Yes, that's a very relaxing a picturesque view of a wide river and a pleasant waterfront. Now show me a bus stop!"
posted by pykrete jungle at 7:48 AM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]

I guessed Paris for an obviously French city, because I don't have much experience in France, and it was actually Cannes. Then I did get Paris and was like "oooh, that is so much more Paris!" The streets and sidewalks are so much wider.

Then I got a city with canals and kept saying, "That's so pretty. Ohh, beautiful, so lovely" but then guessed Amsterdam when it was actually Bruges. I shoulda known it was Bruges! Because Bruges is the most beautiful city I've visited.

I join you all in missing traveling!
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 7:59 AM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I like this but also UGH SOB I miss travelling.
posted by desuetude at 10:35 AM on February 15, 2021

I found myself walking around a park somewhere in England in late spring/early summer. No people, lots of birds (and rhododendrons in full flower). Then the person left the park and headed out into the countryside, walking through the woods, looking out over a gently hilly landscape. Then on to the outskirts of a town or village, at which point they turned to avoid the centre and carried on round the edge, eventually ending up in either the same park they'd started in or another one with a similar focus on rhododendrons. It was so relaxing, I couldn't look away.

Definitely a lockdown video (there was some telltale VE Day bunting on someone's fence), but unlike an empty city centre, empty natural spaces feel just fine to me.

Then I gave myself mental whiplash by throwing myself into the bustle of Shinjuku in Tokyo. It's been more than five years since I last made it to Japan. I miss it. I miss the possibility of it.

*sigh*

Anyway. I do wish the game would let me keep guessing rather than telling me the answer straight away, but that tiny niggle aside, this is a glorious thing.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 10:43 AM on February 15, 2021

Yes, that's a very relaxing a picturesque view of a wide river and a pleasant waterfront. Now show me a bus stop!"

Yeah, that's how I reacted to the beautiful Itsushima Shrine mentioned above. "Beautiful gate that clearly appears to float above the water at higher tide, yeah yeah, pay homage in some curious custom, blah blah blah, WHERE ARE THE TOURIST INFORMATION SIGNS!!!"
posted by praemunire at 12:15 PM on February 15, 2021 [4 favorites]

It's weird to go from an arcade in (apparently) Reno, which apart from seeing a dollar sign on a board could be anywhere in the world to being on Westminster bridge looking at big ben. (Or the one in Boston that starts out looking literally at a sign saying "Boston Common")

Very different propositions, difficulty wise.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 12:46 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I just found out about "country streak" mode with a 60s time limit.
This is even better! I don't have to think about which city I'm in, but just the general sort of vibe.

I'm currently on a streak of 21, including such (truly interesting to me!) insights as:
"that dog looks Turkish"
"Easy - Germa-- no. maybe Austria?"
"Talinn!"
"Hello, Bulgarian cat!"

Note that I've never been to these places or spent much time thinking about them. How does that impulsive thing happen? Rarely does my impression in the first 5s change after the minute is up.
Like this one open in the other tab right now - easily Indonesian, though I couldn't point to a single thing that makes it not... anywhere else in SE Asia (it's just like motorcycles idling on the side of a big road.
Why would I think these things?
I don't know many flags and can't often tell much by the languages. I do look at license plates when available, but that's not mysterious at all and makes me feel like I'm cheating.

I have definitely honed in on what makes me know I'm in the USA, though.
Almost every single one has had multiple flags!

Oh. Just got got by a shopping mall in Malaysia!
posted by Acari at 12:52 PM on February 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

Really fun but Wow I suck at this game. I need to travel more .... :/
posted by like_neon at 1:10 PM on February 15, 2021

What this is also making me miss are the parts of travel that aren't centered around events or specific institutions--there's definitely (and necessarily) the museum and the tour and the meal at the specific restaurant you researched, but there's also the free morning you have because your jetlagged butt is up before any of the locals (except maybe the newsstand or the breakfast seller) have opened up, and you're just walking through a pleasant neighborhood that's not particularly remarked on by the guidebook.

Or being in the neighborhood in between two tourist sites that are a couple of miles apart and that you decided to walk through, and getting a chance to sit at a sidewalk table with an afternoon beer or coffee for no other reason than that your feet are a little tired, and you get to be alone with your thoughts for a bit.

That's the part of travel that this is making me miss.
posted by pykrete jungle at 3:22 PM on February 15, 2021 [4 favorites]

There have been a few, out in parks and such, (only done the US), where I'm looking at the trees, having to use that as the best clue I have. I've been pretty good at NW, NE, SE, but the CA-FL-HI thing has been a tough call a few times. But in the cities, you see too many names/license plates. Or "Philly Rules!" graffiti before you can place the place.
posted by Windopaene at 4:57 PM on February 15, 2021

My first go plopped me down in a city I thought must be European, due to the architecture, presence of trams etc, and people were speaking French around me, but it turned out that it was in Australia!

Later I pinned it almost to the city block in Stockholm, though, so I felt partially vindicated.
posted by Harald74 at 1:36 AM on February 16, 2021

And small confession time: I still get a little frisson from thinking "I'm a secret agent that just escaped captivity and found myself in a strange city, and it's vital that I establish my whereabouts quickly" when I play this and Geoguessr. I'm 47...
posted by Harald74 at 1:39 AM on February 16, 2021 [5 favorites]

"Are other countries as obvious to people who are from there?" - phunniemee
I was wondering the same. But I tell people "Travel is my most expensive addiction", I was once a dirtbagger for travel. While I think the reason I still travel is just to be reminded that "people are people everywhere" the simple joy of changing street signs, road stripes, building materials, etc - all the subtle norms that make a place look "different" simply because you walked a few feet over an international border holds immense fascination to me--> made this game an immense joy.
posted by rubatan at 9:37 AM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]

Well, we’ve had a couple of entertaining misses.

Me: “I think this is Chester.” Mr. Nat (who used to work in Chester for a few weeks a year): “no, I think it’s too built up to be Chester.” So we chose Manchester. Actual answer: Chester.

Me: “I think that language looks a bit like Finnish but I don’t think that’s Helsinki. Well, I’ve only seen a bit of Helsinki.” So we chose Helsinki anyhow. Actual answer: Talinn.

A little later: “This looks like a more built up version of Helsinki. let’s guess Talinn”. Actual answer: Helsinki.

“This one looks like a seedier version of a Southern California town, like Santa Barbara in disrepair.” “Ok pick a town closer to LA then.” Actual answer: Atlantic coast of Florida.

My favorite error though was when we guessed Thailand based on the written language. Actual answer was Sri Lanka, very far away physically— but the writing systems are in fact directly related (and there’s cultural relation in the variety of Buddhism in both places, too). So even though physical-distance wise it’s a bit embarrassing, in culture or linguistic distance I don’t feel so bad.
posted by nat at 1:22 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

all the subtle norms that make a place look "different" simply because you walked a few feet over an international border holds immense fascination to me

My version of that is supermarkets. I can spend the longest time in a foreign supermarket just taking in the kinds of products that people there consider normal groceries.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:56 PM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]

Twice while playing, within ten seconds my wife and I have gone, "That's our hotel/the square where we had lunch!" (Venice and Stockholm respectively.)

Most geographically distant guess so far: "I think that's St Petersburg?" It was Vladivostok.

If you get one that's a rural walk beside water on a foggy, frosty morning, be warned that it's a nice stroll but you've no chance of guessing it.
posted by Hogshead at 5:30 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

If I manage to live long enough to be able to travel again, I really want to take This Walk in real life.
posted by TwoToneRow at 7:11 PM on February 16, 2021 [4 favorites]

Oh, TwoToneRow, that is just gorgeous.

I would fancy a walk from one end of the "Kingdom" to the other (with some ferry-based intermissions, to cover all the geography, of course). I would die happy, and well-walked.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:20 PM on February 16, 2021

One of my best walks is when I did a section of The Wicklow Way from Glendalough to Glenmalure I guess two years ago when visiting friends in Ireland. Started in the lovely ruins of Glendalough and ended in a village pub with a nice hearty meal and beer.
posted by Harald74 at 3:49 AM on February 17, 2021

Because of the audio component, it occurs to me that there may be some other avenues to locating oneself depending on your knowledge.

At one point I got dropped into a city park with much more subtropical flora than I see typically in Canada. Many birds were singing and while I know approximately zero about birdsong, it occurred to me that an avid birder might say, “Oh, that’s a yellow-throated warbler and a Florida scrub jay. This is maybe... Tallahassee?”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:49 PM on February 17, 2021

I managed to get within one mile on my third try!

The first thing I saw in the video was a large sign saying "Welcome to Ketchikan", and from this subtle clue I was able to deduce that it was most likely filmed in Ketchikan.
posted by yohko at 2:32 AM on February 18, 2021 [3 favorites]