How to play Whereabouts
Whereabouts is a free geography game you play in your browser on a 3D globe with no borders, no names and no cities marked: you are shown a place, you drop a pin where you think it is, and you score by how close you came.
- Each game is five places. A place is named and shown in a photograph, with one line that says what it is without saying where.
- Turn the globe and come in closer to look at the coasts, the mountains and the deserts. Nothing is written on it: it is a photograph of the Earth from space.
- Tap the globe to drop your pin. Tap somewhere else to move it, and press “Lock in your guess” when you are happy with it.
- The globe shows where the place really is and draws the shortest way from your pin to it. A pin within 40 kilometres scores the full 5,000 points, and the score falls away smoothly with distance: about a third of it is left at 2,000 kilometres.
- Then the place is yours to read about: three things worth knowing, the opening of its encyclopedia article, and where on Earth it is.
- Today’s five are the same for everyone and change at midnight. Free roam deals five from anywhere, as often as you like.
Controls
- Touch
- Drag to turn the globe, pinch to come closer, tap to drop or move your pin.
- Mouse
- Drag to turn the globe, scroll to come closer, click to drop or move your pin.
- Keyboard
- The arrow keys turn the globe, + and − change the distance, Space drops your pin in the middle of the view, Enter locks in your guess, Esc opens the menu.
Questions
How is the score worked out in Whereabouts?
By distance alone. The server measures the shortest way over the Earth’s surface from your pin to the place: within 40 kilometres is the full 5,000 points, 500 kilometres is about 3,800, 2,000 kilometres about 1,600, and the far side of the world is nothing. Five places make a game out of 25,000.
Why are there no borders or names on the globe?
Because finding a place without them is the game. The globe is one photograph of the Earth from space, with its real coasts, mountains, deserts and sea floors, and nothing drawn on top.
How many places are there?
One hundred and fifty, from landmarks most people could point to, to islands and deserts almost nobody could. Each day asks two of the easier ones, two harder and one from the far corners, and no place comes round again for thirty days.
Where do the photographs and the facts come from?
The three things worth knowing about each place are written for the game. The opening paragraph and the photograph come from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, with their authors and licences credited beside them, and the globe is NASA’s Blue Marble.
Is my progress saved?
Yes, in your browser on the device you play on: today’s five as far as you have played them, your best game and your run of days. Your guesses are sent to the server to be measured and are not kept there.