GeoGuessr is a website where you are thrown into a random spot in the world on Google Maps streetview, and you have to try and guess where you are.
It’s fun to play just by itself, to see how close you can get, but it’s even more fun when you put a spin on it: writing a description of each random area you’re given.
During the last stream, chat and I played a game of GeoGuessr. Just like when we’ve done this before, we were given five random locations anywhere in the world, and we had to guess where they were.
And for each one, we had to write a short description of the area, trying to make it as vivid and detailed as possible.
Here’s some highlights of what me/chat came up with for each location, with some of my favorite phrases bolded.
Location #1: Malta
A wall of rocks as crumbly and mismatched as cookies from a cookie jar, shaken up and licked by moss, then stacked haphazardly on top of each other. Weathered yellow ramparts of a long-dead castle guard the hill behind it, gazing down hungrily, starving for just a taste of its former glory. The smells of gunpowder and mead long faded to diesel and smog.
—MeYellow with age, these walls have stood through the tests of time. Through the very rain that loomed within the clouds overhead, through wars and communities flourishing to wither. Where bridges unite, the isolation of barriers now forgotten. The stories these stone-bricks could whisper within their symmetry.
—DragonflyghterA hasty wall of white-washed rocks bake with blazing sun, on city’s edge, those ruins lie, their grounds all overrun. Precious green clings to rocks in wait, as rusting cars negate nature’s warning bleak, humanity settles places most unique. Desert dust shrouds horizon’s gaze blind, these scorching roads keep naught but thirst and rest in mind.
—RealSayakaMaizonoStones stacked atop stones stacked atop dirt. This was a place that prided itself upon tradition, and each wall served as a record of history. From the wide and stable foundations at the bottom, which had stood strong for hundreds, or even thousands, of years… to the tiny fist-sized pebbles, shoved into gaps between in their larger ancestors by local children passing-by… higher and higher, hundreds of generations of stones towered high into the sky, capped by careening parapets atop palace walls, keeping watch over all.
—cozyrogers
Location #2: Uruguay
Squat buildings lined both sides of the road, the only similarity they shared were the walls connecting them. A mustard and ketchup ranch sandwiched between a garage marbled with flecks of peeling paint and a two-story townhouse plucked fresh from Silicon Valley. Even the trees planted along the sidewalk couldn’t make up their minds whether they had one trunk or two, twisted or standing at attention. The lone garbage can too had an identity crisis: was it a rusty cage on stilts, a poorly-planned barbeque pit, or an abandoned flower planter?
—MeRustling leaves speckled the busy streets filling the air with the scent of summer. A colorful spectacle of greens, yellows, browns and reds amongst the passing cars that broke up the natural beauty. In this community, life is vibrant, but seldom celebrated.
—DragonflyghterTwo rows of eclectic architecture stood shoulder to shoulder against each other. Their vibrant colors as random as their uneven sizes and shapes, hide its contents from prying eyes. cracked and narrow road jutted up against tired and worn walkways as pedestrians strolled past luscious green trees, forced to live there.
—NighthawkBright clean streets conceal a place of strange appeal. Decaying buildings dot the side, their flaking paint – neglect defined. Modern, of form and function, but their state, an awkward junction of broken streets, breeding grass from beneath. The architectural attempt is clear, yet lacking sanity leaves this strange town a wild frontier.
—RealSayakaMaizono
Location #3: Curacao
Houses with rust-colored roofs and sunbleached walls carved out of the wild jungle, connected by roads so dry and dusty that just one breath would turn your nostrils to sandpaper. Sand-grime built up on the bottoms of cars, weighing down the branches of bushes choking on an overdose of sun. Inhaling the particles makes you instinctively tear up, but the heat sucks them away before they can even form.
—MeFlowing fauna shrouds thinnest roads, as dirt and dust kicked up by passing unknowns, cloud this hidden place. This clearing opens to the scene of plastic, shone with sheen of purest light and cloud, so heavenly endowed. A dumping ground to some extent, but left to rot by what event? Thriving thickets will one day reclaim humanity’s disdain.
—RealSayakaMaizonoThe rust of age did not reflect upon the child-like playfulness of the white houses that peeked out through the verdant overgrowth. Dust billowed with the humid breeze that pulled the heavy clouds along the horizon. The vast expanse of lush foliage left isolation in the heart, an endless road to nowhere.
—Dragonflygher
Location #4: Sweden
The sky so blue, you’re driving into the ocean. Little white puffs of sea-form floating along the surface, ebbing in the soft, warm breeze. Shaped like the whales that dwell beneath. Drifting in a valley between forest and grass, you swim in your lane farther and farther toward the horizon, the road becoming your little cup of world.
—MeYou’ve seen them. You’ve read about them. The American highway. Middle of nowhere? Maybe. But definitely the middle of a blue-green sandwich. Grey asphalt crackling beneath your hot tires. A forest poking at the outskirts of visibility. A few clouds to remind you that the sky isn’t pure blue. I don’t like road trips, but I do love the scenery.
—JebusDotaFreedom is an endless expanse of sky stretching across the open road. A feeling of exhilaration rushing through like the blur of green and blue passing by. New adventures await with the warm embrace of summer.
—DragonflyghterScenic scented scenes surround, astounding passing cars abound. The sun cast high above beckons whole, finding warmth and purpose in the traveling soul. Blended highways and countryside ensure journeys replete with sweetest heat. The typically monotonous driving droll is swallowed by the forest’s soul.
—RealSayakaMaizono
Location #5: Italy
A warehouse guarded by tetanus. As if the threat of disease wasn’t enough, every stake in the rusty fence sharpened to a hollow point. The plain sign hanging by the gate promised information at a phone number and URL, but the memorial beside it with faded flowers and melted candles told the truth of anyone who dared to dial.
—MeThe soft sea air that gently drifts, contrasts the ocean’s raging rift. The winding road reveals a home, colored as history’s long tome. Scarlet sun-kissed ceramic tile takes upon sweet daylight’s smile. This rich retreat will guarantee escape from harsh reality.
—RealSayakaMaizonoThere used to be an ocean here. Nobody’s quite sure where it went, but now all there is to find is an abandoned warehouse that looks it’s spent the last century bathing in rust.
—cozyrogersSkies clearer than the Mediterranean sea open over a vast expanse of coastal Italy, the summer sunlight roasting those below like their famous tomatoes. An open road invites traffic to pass through it, drinking in the shade of evergreens along its edges, but never to stop and rest. A weathered old warehouse juts out proudly in defiance to the constant beatings of sun, salt and wind, encased in a prison of rusted iron and for sale signs. A few scattered candles and flowers note a memorial to one who has crossed the path to the great beyond, but failed to cross the road in mortal life. The chickens may be gone, but will not be forgotten.
—Abbey
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso