Think you know every corner of the five boroughs? It’s time to put that confidence to the test. 👀
If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you’ve likely seen the global phenomenon GeoGuessr—the game that drops you in a random location on Google Street View and asks you to figure out where on Earth you are.
Well, a local New Yorker just raised the stakes for us!
A Reddit user by the name of -Joooohn- has officially created NYCGuessr, a hyper-local version of the game dedicated entirely to the streets of New York City.
How it works
The premise is simple but surprisingly addictive:
- The Drop: You’re shown a 360-degree Street View image from somewhere in the city.
- The Guess: First, you have to identify which of the five boroughs you’re in.
- The Pin: Once you’ve narrowed down the borough, you have to drop a pin on a map to show exactly where you think you are.
The closer you get to the actual GPS coordinates, the higher your score.
And because New Yorkers are nothing if not competitive, the game even assigns you a rank based on your performance. Scoring high might earn you the title “I’M LITERALLY FROM HERE,” while a poor showing might label you a mere tourist (the ultimate NYC insult).
The game first started gaining traction on Reddit, where the creator shared the project to get feedback from fellow locals. Since then, it has quickly gone viral across neighborhood subreddits from Astoria to Bed-Stuy.
While some rounds might drop you in front of an iconic landmark like Junior’s in Downtown Brooklyn, others will leave you staring at a nondescript brick wall in Queens or a leafy side street in Staten Island.
According to the developer, the game features a daily challenge so you can compete against your friends for the top score every 24 hours. They are also working on adding new features, like the ability to obscure street signs to make the “pro” mode even more difficult for the real NYC savants.
Ready to see if you actually know your way around? You can play the game for free at nycguessr.io.
A little advice: Look for the little details—the color of the street light poles, the specific style of trash cans, or the “dead giveaway” bodega awnings. Good luck!
