Google's Maps-based quiz game is your new favorite time-waster


As anyone who's survived a Sporcle or Geoguessr addiction knows, geography-based games are kryptonite for people who want to be productive. So if you're thinking about playing Google's new Maps-based game, Smarty Pins, be warned: You probably won't get anything done for awhile.
Smarty Pins, which Google quietly launched yesterday, uses Google's Maps interface to ask players questions in categories ranging from entertainment to history to science. Players must locate the correct answer (which is always a location) on the map by dropping a pin.
Players start with 1,000 miles, which serve as points, and lose miles depending on how far they are from the correct location. Guessing correctly doesn't earn you miles, but a savvy geographer can win them by answering a question correctly quickly, before a hint is given.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The game ends when you run out of miles, but that doesn't mean you can't whip out your (virtual) map and play again — and again, and again.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
Intimate Apparel: a 'gorgeous, vibrant' production
The Week Recommends Samira Wiley is 'astonishing' in this revival of Lynn Nottage's 'exquisite' seamstress tale
-
King Charles and the Sovereign Grant: how UK taxpayers fund the monarchy
The Explainer Royals received £86.3m from government last year – and they are in line for a 50% increase
-
From Hilde, With Love – the 'moving' story of an accidental revolutionary
The Week Recommends Liv Lisa Fries gives a 'compelling' performance as the soft-spoken heroine.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read