TriviaGeographyHistory

TimeGuessr

Pin each photo on the map and pick the year it was taken.

Every day: Five new photographs each day, the same set for every player, each to place on a world map and date to a year. New puzzle: Midnight US Pacific Time.

Play TimeGuessr on timeguessr.com

Play TimeGuessrTimeGuessr on the App StoreTimeGuessr on Google Play

A TimeGuessr round on a phone: a photo, a small map for the pin and a year slider

TimeGuessr shows you real photographs from history and the recent past and asks two things: where was this taken, and when. You drop a pin on a world map and choose a year, and each of the five rounds is worth up to 10,000 points, for a top score of 50,000.

About TimeGuessr

TimeGuessr was made by Gus Owen, who started it as a side project in his gap year before studying maths at the University of Leeds. He grew up near Newcastle following Instagram accounts that post old local photos, and that gave him the idea of a game about placing photos in both space and time. The game took off after the YouTuber GeoWizard played it on his channel, and it now runs as a company with apps for iPhone and Android.

Each game has five photos. Some are famous news pictures, others are street scenes, family snapshots or landscapes. For each one you place a pin where you think it was taken and set a year on a timeline. Points are split between the two guesses, so a photo you can place exactly but date only roughly still scores well, and the other way round.

The daily game gives everyone the same five photos each day, and you can share your score without spoiling the answers. Outside the daily you can play random games whenever you like, try games made by the community, and in the apps build your own rounds from your photos to send to friends.

TimeGuessr suits players who enjoy GeoGuessr but want history in the mix, or history fans who like a map. Because each photo is a single still image, it is less about exploring and more about reading every detail you can see.

How to play TimeGuessr

  1. Open timeguessr.com and choose Daily to play today's five photos.
  2. Study the photo for clues about place and period: signs, vehicles, clothes, buildings, landscape.
  3. Drop a pin on the world map where you think it was taken.
  4. Set the year on the timeline and submit your guess.
  5. See how far off you were in distance and years, then move to the next photo; after five rounds you get a total out of 50,000.

Screenshots

The TimeGuessr globe logo

Tips

  • Treat the two halves separately: you can score well on the year even when you have no idea of the place.
  • Read any text you can find, such as signs, number plates and shopfronts; the language narrows the country quickly.
  • Use technology and fashion to date a picture, and colour and image quality to sanity check your guess.
  • Zoom the map in before you drop the pin; a few hundred kilometres can cost a lot of points.
  • If a photo is a famous news image, think about when that event happened rather than guessing from style.

Questions

Is TimeGuessr free?

Yes, it is free to play on the website and in the iOS and Android apps.

How is TimeGuessr scored?

Each round is worth up to 10,000 points, split between how close your pin is and how close your year is. Five rounds make a top score of 50,000.

Who made TimeGuessr?

Gus Owen, who began it as a side project before studying at the University of Leeds.

Can I play more than the daily?

Yes. You can play random games at any time and try games made by the community.

How is TimeGuessr different from Chronophoto?

Chronophoto only asks for the year. TimeGuessr also asks you to place the photo on a map.

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