Time Portal
Games
history guessing game
SHOW HN2025
How HN took it
38 positive, 15 neutral or asking, 23 mixed, 45 critical, out of 121 comments about the project. Thread score +0.01.
Execution: 2 for, 30 againstIdea: 12 for, 7 againstDesign: 4 for, 6 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun, original GeoGuessr-like concept
From 3 comments
This is awesome. I had the same feeling I had when I first played GeoGuessr. It's one of the first times I've seen what is obviously AI-generated video used in a super compelling…
cdjk on HNThis is awesome! Definitely some more obscure historical events in there. Agree that the scoring is a bit harsh, especially since the clips are, let’s say, somewhat…
backprop1989 on HNThis was awesome! I think this project is super creative and original. Also, I got top 63%!
joshdavham on HN
Polished UI and UX
From 1 comment
Very polished UI/UX. I'd say this is far closer in similarity to TimeGuessr than GeoGuessr. The only difference is that in TimeGuessr you are guessing a year and a location based…
vunderba on HN
Good use of AI in a learning context
From 2 comments
Nice game!! Well done I think. And another nice example of how AI and generative art can help learn in an interactive way. Event though some pictures are missleading. I guessed…
0xcb0 on HNhttps://timeguessr.com/ I really enjoy time guessr! Playing it on the TV with family is fun too.
ddxv on HN
Objections
AI images are anachronistic and historically inaccurate
From 4 comments
The super anachronistic output makes this really difficult. One of the examples was the battle in the war of the roses but all the imagery suggests over a hundred years later.
bthater on HNyeah it's a cool concept, but knowing what I know about the ability of generative AI to accurately replicate specific moments of history, it falls flat. The whole point of this…
lukev on HNThe picture was clearly based on El Castillo [Temple of Kukulcán, in Chichén Itzá], which is on the Yucatan Peninsula. Note the chamber on top. It looks nothing like the Aztec…
PeterCorless on HNBrilliant idea but e.g. I got the conversion of the kingdom of Aksum to Christianity and none of the images resemble reality. I think this might work better if you fed the LLM…
riffraff on HN
Scoring is too harsh
From 4 comments
My first reaction is that the scoring is too harsh. I got within 50 years and 100 km and the resulting score is 7,406 / 10,000.
stingrae on HNScoring function is unfair. If you get a location wrong with 100 km on a world map or the time wrong by 50 years, score drops like 50%.
yobbo on HNLove the game but I second improving the scoring mechanics. I was 40 years off and less than 5km from the place and "only" got 7829. Assuming 99% accuracy for location, and based…
bucketsofthundr on HNLove the concept. Got annoyed with the scoring. I was off by about 200 years and got the country right and only got 2,995 out of 10,000. Felt sad i got such a low score then…
jimkleiber on HN
Dislike of AI-generated art
From 2 comments
Interesting concept, but the use of AI art is personally extremely off-putting. Maybe it works for people who like having everything filtered through a modern cinematic cgi…
skort on HNI was excited by the title until I saw it was all AI :( It would’ve been cool to collect actual images from history. I’m sure there are 1000s of public domain images that could…
dartos on HN
Some clips are too violent for children
From 1 comment
This is awesome. I had the same feeling I had when I first played GeoGuessr. It's one of the first times I've seen what is obviously AI-generated video used in a super compelling…
cdjk on HN
Scoring can be gamed by re-guessing
From 1 comment
I'm no history buff, so i found it quite fun just as a game. the system is quite easy to cheese by simply going back and re-guessing once you have the answer, was really enjoying…
ButOneDuck on HN
Requests
Fix scoring curve and make it more transparent
From 3 comments
Love the game but I second improving the scoring mechanics. I was 40 years off and less than 5km from the place and "only" got 7829. Assuming 99% accuracy for location, and based…
bucketsofthundr on HNThis is cool, but I'm not sure some of the hints are not more red herrings than anything else. Because AI sort of blends things, the prompt needs to be spot on or, for example,…
keyle on HNGood call. I should make the scoring more transparent.
samplank2 on HN
Add a PG mode for kids
From 1 comment
This is awesome. I had the same feeling I had when I first played GeoGuessr. It's one of the first times I've seen what is obviously AI-generated video used in a super compelling…
cdjk on HN
Show era markers on the timeline
From 1 comment
This is cool, but I'm not sure some of the hints are not more red herrings than anything else. Because AI sort of blends things, the prompt needs to be spot on or, for example,…
keyle on HN
Use real historical images or paintings
From 3 comments
I was excited by the title until I saw it was all AI :( It would’ve been cool to collect actual images from history. I’m sure there are 1000s of public domain images that could…
dartos on HNBrilliant idea but e.g. I got the conversion of the kingdom of Aksum to Christianity and none of the images resemble reality. I think this might work better if you fed the LLM…
riffraff on HNI enjoyed it :) I see a lot of complaints about the ai generation. My 2c would be the photorealistic style is throwing people off a bit. Painting/artistic renderings might do it…
zild3d on HN
Make the game more interactive and infinite
From 1 comment
Questions
Is it open source and can people contribute?
From 1 comment
Great concept. I'm an avid geoguessr and wikitrivia player, you're definitely onto something here. I built a prototype version similar to this called PastPort last year, but I…
SamPatt on HN
Is it being monetized?
From 1 comment
This is killer. Love it! Are you planning to monetize it or keeping it as is?
voisin on HN
Alternatives named
TimeGuessr
From 2 comments
Very polished UI/UX. I'd say this is far closer in similarity to TimeGuessr than GeoGuessr. The only difference is that in TimeGuessr you are guessing a year and a location based…
vunderba on HNhttps://timeguessr.com/ I really enjoy time guessr! Playing it on the TV with family is fun too.
ddxv on HN
NYT Flashback quiz
From 1 comment
Cool idea but the AI images are kind of lame. For anyone who wants something like this I recommend NYT's Flashback quiz:…
kdamica on HN
GeoGuessr
From 1 comment
This is awesome. I had the same feeling I had when I first played GeoGuessr. It's one of the first times I've seen what is obviously AI-generated video used in a super compelling…
cdjk on HN
PastPort
From 1 comment
Great concept. I'm an avid geoguessr and wikitrivia player, you're definitely onto something here. I built a prototype version similar to this called PastPort last year, but I…
SamPatt on HN