In case you’re interested in learning how much you suck at US state geography, here’s a game to help. The goal is to match up states on the blank country map, and you end with an average error in miles. I did not do well. [via kottke]
In case you’re interested in learning how much you suck at US state geography, here’s a game to help. The goal is to match up states on the blank country map, and you end with an average error in miles. I did not do well. [via kottke]
(48/50) 96% Avg. Error: 6 Miles Time: 360 seconds
I hang my head in shame.
Same for me 48/50, 96%, 5 miles avg error.
44 correct, average error 28miles :)
(48/50) 96% Avg. Error: 5 Miles Time:504 seconds. But I was on a conference call at the time. :)
If you like this, you might like http://www.imagequiz.co.uk. Doesn’t calculate your error in miles, but does allow you to make your own quiz!
49/50 Avg Error 1 mile 361 seconds. I had a call that interrupted me at the end.
(49/50) 98% Avg. Error: 1 mile Time: 444 seconds
I knew that degree in geography would come in handy some day.
Oh, and in the spirit of the gloating that has taken over this comment board, I am legally blind and a paraplegic.
I blame my error of 2 miles and my 96% on my aging hands that don’t click and drag as well as they used to. Yep, that’s it.
48/50, error down to 4 or 5 miles.
I suspect this game is highly dependent on the order in which it feeds you the states. A lot of the coastal and great lakes states are basically impossible to not get perfectly and after you have enough states in the mix, you are just fitting the puzzle pieces together and could do it without even knowing what the USA looked like.
The fact I got 84% as an ignorant European who has only ever visited NYC and DC I think confirms the influence of order effects in the scores of this game… Many many times I was thinking ‘Huh, I thought that state was right on the other side of the country’ while dropping a state into exactly the right place… Good learning tool though I guess.
p.s. Mr Yau – please warn us when linking to Flash sites with embedded Comic Sans and unexpected sound effects! I wasn’t emotionally prepared for the shock…
I was going to say the same thing. If the first state you get is Wyoming, you’re going to have a bad time.
66%. But then I’ve only been to one state (which I got wrong!)
96% – 3 mi average, 316 seconds. Had Nevada a little too east and Oklahoma a little too west.
If you liked this challenge, the site Sheppard Software has several levels of quizes like this, both for the US and for many other regions. For a real challenge, try level 9, Master level, where the states are rotated and resized randomly and disappear after placement, so you don’t get to use the outline of states that you have already put in place to help. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm
Fun game but the score is quite meaningless. It depends mostly on the order at which the states are offered; if you happen to get lots of coastal states initially and then work your way inwards, you can get 100% without knowing much at all about US geography. If you get Kansas or Wyoming first, you’re in trouble unless you happen to have a *really* good mental model of the map.
98% (49/50) , 2miles, 280sec. Yes my first was Wyoming, was a little off
(48/50) 96% Avg. Error: 3 Miles Time: 271 seconds
First was Missouri…. later ended up missing North Dakota by a bit
My school age children are doing repeated runs at this to get a “perfect score”. Yes the order makes a big difference but stop being so critical already – it was a fun little quiz and more educational than many others that are floating around!
82% 34 mile error 210 secs