Test your geographic knowledge using Google Street View with “Where In The World?”

Australian developer Swizel Studios has released a fun new game to Google Play that tests your geographic knowledge of the world using Google Maps Street View.

The game selects random Street View locations from around the world and challenges you to identify the location. Your final score will be based on the accuracy of your guesses and it’s integrated with Google Play Games so you can challenge your friends. Being Street View, you can navigate around the area and zoom in/out to try to find visual clues.

Google added the ability for developers to use Google Maps Street View in their apps in a recent update to Google Play Services. It’s great to see imaginative uses of the technology appearing in the wild so quickly. Andrew says he’s become very good at identifying locations based on street signs, local architecture, terrain and even the design of electricity poles around the world. It also helps if you know the areas for which Google does and doesn’t actually have Street View.

During a quick match up with a coworker at lunchtime we found ourselves frantically moving around the landscapre trying to find street signs, identify language used in advertising billboards and making educated (and some not-so-educated) guesses based on places we’ve been. The Google Play Games integration adds a bit of a competitive streak too (and I lost, so now I have some work to do).

There’s a few rough edges – a couple of challenge modes that are yet to be implemented, occasionally the Street View images take a while to load and “Easy” mode could stand to be a little … well, easier … but the game’s off to a great start and it’s fun to play competitively (or co-operatively) with friends.

Main screen

The game’s Street View interface

Guess where the Street View came from

Why yes, Dan IS beating me

If you’re in Sydney, Andrew Kelly (Swizel’s main driving force) is also involved with several Sydney-based MeetUp groups including the Android Australia User Group and the Google developer group GDG Sydney. You might meet him at some of those events!

Have you checked out Where In The World? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!