Grace the map.

January 18, 2023 6:36 AM

Elden Ring GeoGuessr game tests your knowledge of The Lands Between [lostgamer.io] “Elden Ring players can now test their knowledge of the game's world in a fan made GeoGuessr game. For the unfamiliar, GeoGuessr is a browser game that drops players somewhere in the real world and tasks them with pinpointing their exact location on a map. Now, thanks to reddit user TheEdenChild, there's an Elden Ring version that drops players into The Lands Between. [...] After being dropped into the world, players must pin their location on a newly created satellite map of the world. There are also custom settings - you can select specific areas, length, and timers - plus a leaderboard and support for multiplayer, with more features planned in the future. BONUS: There are also Genshin Impact, GTA 5, Skyrim, World of Warcraft, and Fortnite versions of the game, with Breath of the Wild, Final Fantasy 14, and others coming soon.” [via: Eurogamer]
posted by Fizz (19 comments total)

Sorry but not sorry for all of the lost productivity that is about to happen.
posted by Fizz at 6:41 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Perfect timing! I just started my second Elden Ring run a week ago. (Hopefully this one lasts longer and doesn't just crater a month of my life.)
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 7:02 AM on January 18, 2023

Oh man the Skyrim and GTAV ones are a blast too, thanks!
posted by saladin at 7:16 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Cute game! It highlights what's so great about Elden Ring, its sense of place.

I have high hopes that Elden Ring forces every other game developer to rethink how they do open worlds. The only other game with as much a sense of place is Breath of the Wild. Some other games have some nice landscaping. Skyrim had the big mountain in the middle, Assassin's Creed: Origins has the pyramids, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has towns situated on rivers more or less like real England. But mostly those games work by putting chore dots on a map. You know where to go because there's a big blue dot or a green marker on the horizon or a yellow growing trail telling you to go there.

Elden Ring leads the player with landscape design. You know where to go because you're on a road and if you follow it, you'll find a crossroads with the ruin of a town. Or there's a castle on a cliff nearby and you think you can get up there. Or a strange glowing tower in the distance beckoning you. There's one UI element hint in the game, the glowing yellow line coming from your save points that vaguely points in the right direction. But that's just an initial bearing. There's also a minimal map but it doesn't have a bunch of task icons littered on it. It's barely readable.

I found that inscrutability really offputting for a long time. But then I finally learned it was deliberate. And furthermore, that I could trust the game designers that I'd find my way to the fun if I just paid attention to the landscape. It's well enough designed with enough geographic hints that things are discoverable. The corollary here is that this world is fairly dense and that you're likely to stumble into something interesting most places you go. Now when I play every other open world game I kinda cringe at the clutter of UI markers combined with kind of bland world design.
posted by Nelson at 7:24 AM on January 18, 2023 [9 favorites]

I recall the game developers of Breath of the Wild referencing that you can place yourself most anywhere on the map and understand your position in relation to Hyrule Castle which is really cool and a brilliant way to design the map.
posted by Fizz at 7:26 AM on January 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

did a 5-round game, got 16836 which seems pretty good. agreed with everyone above that what's so good about Elden Ring's world design gets highlighted neatly here -- you glance around and think "oh ok there's that divine tower, there's liurnia, this place is gross and so obviously caelid," etc. -- you get situated in the contextual geography more quickly and firmly than in any other video game I've ever played.
posted by Kybard at 7:36 AM on January 18, 2023

This is great because Elden Ring gives you so many landmarks, but also it gives you so many landmarks. Divine tower? Minor erdtree? Fort on the horizon? Ruin??

Also the memories it brings back. Valley, water, ok, Liurnia? But wait, is that a stake? Lake Agheel? AGHEEL YOU MOTHERF

(Love the Agheel reveal)
posted by rodlymight at 7:39 AM on January 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

This was fun! I botched one point in the magic lake but the others I got within easy walking distance.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:42 AM on January 18, 2023

Sort of related: during the stay-at-home part of the pandemic, my buddy and I had a game where we'd take a screenshot of Link in a hard-to-guess location on the BOTW map, and text it to the other person, who'd have to figure out where it was and take a matching screenshot.

It was pretty entertaining for a while.
posted by daisystomper at 7:50 AM on January 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

I did the full Elden Ring map, and managed 19950 over my five rounds. I only played through the game once, so it’s a testament to the different visual design of each land that I was pretty easily able to find each location! It’s crazy how we can keep such huge fictional locations in our heads.
posted by RubixsQube at 8:32 AM on January 18, 2023

Not by the same developer, and somewhat less sophisticated, but there is already a Breath of the Wild version: Hyrule Guessr.
posted by little king trashmouth at 9:31 AM on January 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

This is a clever idea, and I’m amazed someone hasn’t made it before now
posted by Going To Maine at 9:47 AM on January 18, 2023

I know Teyvat better than I know my own city. =(
posted by meowzilla at 10:21 AM on January 18, 2023

A friend notes it’s surprising that the Pokémon games aren't on the to-add list. Probably someday…
posted by Going To Maine at 10:41 AM on January 18, 2023

World of Warcraft

20558 on 'Full Map'--first try, no time limit, some panning, no zooming or moving. It's not hard to think of other skills I should have developed instead. :D
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:51 AM on January 18, 2023

It's not hard to think of other skills I should have developed instead. :D

I know where all of the skill book locations are in Skyrim but I still struggle to remember my social. Welcome to my dumb brain.
posted by Fizz at 11:12 AM on January 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was wondering about that invader in my game who instead of dueling was just running around with a 360-degree camera on his head.
posted by straight at 1:24 PM on January 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

Haven't played GTA5 in years, but still got over 20k easily. The Skyrim map, however, seemed a bit samey to me, but my guesses were mostly in the correct area.
posted by Harald74 at 11:47 PM on January 18, 2023

Somehow scratches the same itch as digging up treasure in Sea of Thieves only by comparing the landscape to the map. See also Witcher 3 without minimap. I also turned it off for HZD.
posted by yoHighness at 1:11 AM on January 19, 2023