This is a really cool game that looks at places around the world using google maps and asks you to determine where you are. It reminds me of a game I used to play as a kid called Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Play the game, get your score and post it. See who can beat my score of 9417 points. While playing think about this?
1) What stereotypes or clues are you using to get your answer?
2) How worldly are you? Was this hard or easy?
3) If you could travel to a different country where would you travel to and why?
4) What influences travel?
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20131206-how-well-do-you-know-the-world-play-geoguessr-to-find-out
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ReplyDeleteWow, once you start playing that game its hard to stop! The first time I played i got a little over 4000, but by the fifth or sixth time i played it I got 6,254.
To find the answers I was looking for signs most of the time to try to know what the language was there. It worked for certain places like Russia or China, but it was difficult when the signs were in English because there are so many places where English is the first language.
I believe I am worldly from a knowledge point of view. I love learning about different places and cultures, but I have not been anywhere other than the United States and England, which from a cultural view, is not very different from our own in Canada. I found this game a little challenging at first because I'm not good with computers but after I got it I found it very easy.
If I could travel anywhere i would choose Dubai because its a very extravagant metropolitan place, but also has a very different culture than we do in Canada.
I think most people have a sense of adventure and going different places really brings that side out of a person. Another influence of travel is obviously money. During the recession in 2008 the travel industry decreased, because not a lot of people could afford to travel.
I also tried to look for signs with different languages but it got so hard cause so many places speak english even if it's just a little bit!
DeleteLooking at the road signs is definitely a helpful method! Likewise though, I was pretty stumped whenever they were in English because that didn't really solidify what country I might have been dropped off in. Dubai seems like a beautiful place! I'd love to travel there too if I was ever given the opportunity.
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ReplyDeleteSo this game was actually really fun as well as very interesting. My score after the five rounds was 7351. I found myself searching for road signs or store signs to determine the language spoken, and then using climate and architecture and anything else I could to narrow it down. Stereotypes I guess were kind of an influence when it came to looking at shops and such. For example: I used the items on a patio restaurant's menu to figure out it was Greek.
Some levels were harder than others but overall I was relatively close each time. It was most difficult when I was dropped on a country road with no signs or really anything to judge where I was. The farthest I was off was when I used a sign written in Spanish to guess Mexico, turned out to be Spain. Other than that I was relatively close most of the time.
As for where I would like to travel: this game showed me a really nice area of Greece and kind of made me want to see it for myself. I think a lot of things influence travel choices but everywhere is worth seeing. The issue is that people only have a limited amount of opportunities to travel and therefore want to have the best experiences each time they leave their country. I believe that if anyone had the ability to travel to their heart's content, without worry, then there would be value in every and any destination that shows you a different culture or way of life.
Its a really good idea to look at the road signs Trevor! I didn't start doing that until I read your and other peoples posts and it made it so much easier to guess the location. When the location was in a rural environment though, it was extremely difficult to know where you actually were because you had no signs to give you clues.
DeleteWell out trevor, i did literally the same thing with road signs and architecture! the game is very fun but can be misleading at times because many languages such as Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese use similar phrases and even sound the same sometimes. The stereotypes were shocking just due to languages at some points!
DeleteGreat Post!
Put**
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ReplyDeleteThe first time that I played the game I got 8,793. I mean I the second time I only scored 6,840, sadly. I think the reason for this is that there were more images of the US. I have basic knowledge of some of the terrain where we drive through on our way to Florida, or the other warmer states for family vacations. I can recognize some of the general areas, at least enough to pin point the location to the states over Europe, or Canada. I know that the states are generally very flat (unless you are in the mountains), there are a lot more pine trees, and the earth appears dryer than Canada. So, for me the first time I was able to get pretty close to most of the locations. The second round had more images of Asia, and Europe, which were confusing sometimes.
If I had to pick one place to travel to next it would be Ireland. I think that for me it seems like a very peaceful, relaxing destination. It is not a warm, tropical spot but I think the culture would be interesting to experience, with the beautiful green landscapes.
I think that travel for vacation is influenced by marketing, politics, climate, and most of all proximity. Places like Hawaii, Cuba or Mexico have a lot of people chose them for vacation due to their warm temperatures, but I also know that people are looking for safety as well in the political category. The names at the top of the list often have to do with marketing. I know this is somewhat the case with me and Ireland. Ultimately however I believe our decision comes down to the price. How much will it cost to stay and fly? A big portion of the flight costs have to do with proximity, which is why countries like the US, Mexico, and Cuba are more popular choices for Canadians. For instance, my family travels to the USA more than any other country because we can drive to most places in less than 24 hrs. This seems to be the case for many Canadians in the statistics below and for Americans as they are the majority who visit Canada.
Here are the statistics for where Canadians traveled to overnight by country:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/arts37a-eng.htm
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/arts38a-eng.htm
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ReplyDeleteThe first time i played, my score was 8485, i found this game really interesting but also challenging. I was mainly looking for signs with languages or markers that would help indicate maybe what country I was in but for 3 of my 5 rounds i was in the middle of nowhere with no signs or anything so i had to look at the trees, plants and terrain to help me figure out where i could be.
I'm not sure how worldly I am or if this could really give me an answer because i was guessing, i was not sure on any of the guesses i made. I found this hard because it really makes you think and use all the resources you can find to try and figure out where you are.
Usually when I'm asked where is one country i'd like to travel to I'd say England because i love it there but if i were to choose somewhere i've never been I would probably go to New Zealand because it looks like such a beautiful place to be and i have family there.
I believe that human curiosity influences travel, people are always curious of other cultures and places. I think everyone wants a chance to see and try new things so that's why we travel.
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ReplyDeleteWow this game can get really addicting! The first round I played my score was 8624 and unfortunately after that round my scores just continued to get lower. I think this happened because the first round I played all of the destinations were in North and South America. I travel around these places very often so it was much easier to figure out the destinations then when they were in Asia, Africa and Europe.
To figure out the answers I usually looked at the vegetation and compared it to similar vegetation I have seen during my travels. Then, I would pick the area that seemed most familiar. I would also look to see if the picture was in a tropical or temperate environment, rural or urbanized community and all the different languages on the street signs. These clues would help me determine the location.
I don’t think I’m very worldly because I do travel a lot in the Americas but I have not been to Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia and don’t really know much about these places. This is why the game was really easy for me when the locations were in the Americas but extremely difficult when they were in other areas. This game really made me doubt my knowledge of the rest of the world.
If I could travel to a different country, I would want to visit Haiti. I would want to see this country because I know that this country is rich in history. The country also has many French roots which entices me to learn more about it because of my French roots. Lastly, I would want to visit Haiti as a mission trip because I know it is a developing country and especially after the earthquake, they would need some help.
There are many good reasons for people to travel that are so hard to pick one from the other. After doing some research, I realized the main reasons for travelling is to discover new cultures and develop new skills. These skills help you gain perspective which helps you become more knowledgeable of the world and teaches you to become more tolerant of others.
Here is the source I used:
http://www.airtreks.com/ready/17-reasons-why-travel-is-good-for-you/
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ReplyDeleteThe first round i played of this game, I achieved my highest score of 8,969. As I continued playing in attempt to beat my high score, my scores gradually got worse until my guesses were at the opposite side of the world from the actual answer.
In order to make an educated guess as to where in the world I was, i looked for a few specifics. First off I was looking for any signs that gave a clue as to what languages were spoken in that country. This was difficult because many of the countries spoke English. Another thing I looked at was the weather and vegetation to determine which type of country it was (i.e. tropical, desert) and how close it was to the Equator. If i was still stuck, I looked for less obvious details like which side of the road they drove on, and car license plates.
I like to think I am a worldly person because I love learning about geography and other cultures, but i've only ever been to the United States and Dominican Republic.This game was difficult because the objective was to pinpoint which country you were in, and where in the country you were. I found it relatively easy to find the country/region of the world I was in, but it was very challenging trying to pinpoint where in the country you were.
If I had the opportunity to travel anywhere i wanted, it would be to a country such as Nicaragua where our money is worth much more there than it does here, because not only is it tropical, but you don't have to spend an arm and a leg. I'd also like an opportunity to travel to Europe to see the amazing architecture there as well as the Canadian north/Alaska to see the beautiful wildlife and mountains. I think the main influence of travel is one's willingness to go on an adventure. Most people have the desire to explore the world and see something that they wouldn't see everyday in their home country.Weather changes are also another very large influence on travel.
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ReplyDeleteThis game was actually pretty neat. After playing this game for the first time I achieved a score of 8107. I found this game relatively challenging. Certain locations were easier to guess because they had buildings/architecture and road signs, but ofter times the game dropped me off on deserted roads and I had really nothing to go by except to make note of the different climates and vegetation which even then could be incredibly misleading.
I would consider myself a moderately worldly person. I have travelled to quite a few countries and I really enjoy reading about and looking at pictures from places I've never been.
If I could travel to any other country, I would choose somewhere like New Zealand because I am constantly seeing beautiful landscape photography from there and it looks like a great place to explore.
I believe that people travel as a way of escaping their every day life. Some people really benefit mentally and physically from a change of scene/vacation.
I totally agree, Gabrielle! I found that the more deserted, rural locations were much trickier to decipher. We also both had similar strategies as far as considering the climate and vegetation each mystery region offered - even though it wasn't all that effective in result. Oh and great pick - traveling to New Zealand is definitely on my bucket list too!
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ReplyDeleteFirst off i found this game very interesting, but also difficult at times! My score was 9,565 which is suprisingly high considering how terribly i felt i did. Some locations were harder than others depending on if it was very remote, because in those places there was usually a lack of road signs or any indication other than environment to where it was. What made some of them easier, so the clues i used to help me choose locations, were road signs, languages, lisence plates, economy, living conditions, population, buildings, environment etc.
Before this game i considered myself pretty worldly but now that i have been shown how uneducated i am, i'd say not very much. It was very surprising how little i knew about languages or how similar some places looked to others (England to Amersterdam). I've only ever been to Florida, and i was born in Libya though i left when i was 2 months old so i dont think that counts, so i havent been to very many places but i definitely would like to travel some day. (sooner rather than later)
If i could travel anywhere in the world it would probably England, Ireland, Bora Bora, and Greece. Of course there are other places but those are my top 4. I want to travel to these locations because i really want to have the chance to experience new cultures and meet new people. Life can get pretty boring and travelling will give me a chance to be free and relaxed, but mostly happy. There is just so much out there that i have yet to see and learn from, and i hope i will someday get the chance :)
I believe that curiosity and the need/want to experience new and exciting things that differ from everyday life are what influence people to travel, as well as economy, relaxation, culture and word of mouth also help. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efik45iifi/most-visited-cities-in-the-world-2013-21/ :)
Bora Bora and Greece are very high up on my list of places to visit also! I like that you have a fairly diverse top four. Different experience and culture in each country
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ReplyDeleteI found the game to be really interesting, I got a score of 10429. I personally used the vegetation around as a key on where I was in regards to climate and the I looked for street signs, or letters on buildings to try and narrow it down. I’m not gonna lie I got lucky on the last one I completely guessed it. I played it a few times after and normally guessed one out of the blue on every go.
I would say I am fairly worldly, although I haven’t traveled much. I am always watching the news and looking at photographs from magazines like national geographic. If I could travel anywhere right now I would be interested in traveling to Europe, no where in particular.
On a different note, I do wonder how stereotypes influence how people would guess where they were, for example when I was looking through the pictures I saw one of a deforested area of land, no buildings around I assumed it to be in more of a developing nation yet it was in Russia. I was surprised to learn that the landscape I saw was in such a powerful and developed nation.
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ReplyDeleteI love this game. it was very fun and interesting to test my geographical and cultural knowledge. after playing the game I ended with a score of 9295. Much like the others have said, at times the game was difficult but at others there were signs, architecture and vegetation to help make educated predictions. It was much more difficult when there were no signs to read because there was no way of eliminating countries based on language. You were left having to call upon your knowledge of vegetation, climate and landscape and using the process of elimination to narrow into a general area/country.
I do believe that I am a fairly worldly person. I have traveled , but I do not believe that travel is necessary to become worldly. One can become worldly just based on knowledge and a desire to immerse yourself into learning about the world.
I enjoy learning about the foreign places around me and learning about different lifestyles and cultures. It is something that I am very interested in and it's crazy learning about places and things that prior to, you may not have even known existed.
There are so many amazing places that I would love to visit that I cannot pick one. Travel is a luxury that I would encourage anyone to do, but there are so many things that could influence travel. Word of mouth, popularity of the location, business, climate, a desire to escape to anywhere other than where you are etc. the list goes on, but whatever the reason, travel is a luxury and being able to immerse yourself in different cultures is an amazing thing that I wish more people could experience.
once you've played a couple of times the games gets easier., Scored 11,592. It helps once you start to recognize where you would find certain things.
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