map.koljapluemer.com

Learning and science

geography quiz

SHOW HN2025

217points
83comments
#283of 3,837 in 2025
Top 8%of 2025 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

13 positive, 15 neutral or asking, 12 mixed, 15 critical, out of 55 comments about the project. Thread score -0.04.

Idea: 11 for, 4 againstDesign: 2 for, 5 againstExecution: 0 for, 4 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

  • Effective way to learn geography and spaced repetition applied beyond cards

    From 4 comments
    • Love this! Played Worldle (https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/) for a while and this would have been helpful. Great application of spaced repetition beyond cards.
      floodfx on HN
    • I got the countries Sweden, El Salvador and Luxembourg. I know where these countries are. I still had to select all of them at least 5 times each before I got another country.…
      moi2388 on HN
    • This is really good. I don't have many of the complaints others have, because... it proved that my geography is way worse than I thought. To me this is kind of an ideal learning…
      tomcam on HN
    • Wow. This is really cool. After reading the headline, I was expecting to see it and think 'meh, why not just use Anki and the Ultimate Geography deck'. I was wrong! But the fact…
      rahimnathwani on HN
  • Zoom-in mechanic reinforces learning

    From 2 comments
    • I find it surprisingly effective how you have to get it closer when it zooms in and you have to do it with less context. There were a bunch of countries that I could point…
      Graziano_M on HN
    • Wow. This is really cool. After reading the headline, I was expecting to see it and think 'meh, why not just use Anki and the Ultimate Geography deck'. I was wrong! But the fact…
      rahimnathwani on HN
  • Easy to start, no signup

    From 1 comment
    • I am really enjoying this! I'll continue to use this for a while, and I really hope I'll learn more countries in the long term Also, I absolutely love that it's so easy to start…
      vladde on HN

Objections

  • Countries repeat too often before new ones appear

    From 5 comments
    • I’d prefer if it did what Anki does — give me 10-20 new countries before cycling back to ones I’ve already done. Just switching back and forth between two countries I already…
      rafram on HN
    • I got the countries Sweden, El Salvador and Luxembourg. I know where these countries are. I still had to select all of them at least 5 times each before I got another country.…
      moi2388 on HN
    • This us cool, but please don't repeat the countries we already know too soon. It gets boring very soon when it asks you in a loop 4 countries you've traveled to and you know…
      littlestymaar on HN
    • I hardly ever comment but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed learning like this. Apart from the UI challenges on mobile Android (already noted by others), I wish it would…
      CAPSLOCKSSTUCK on HN
    • This is fun. I'd appreciate a way to select only certain continents/regions. At the very least let us mark a country as known. As it is there are too many reps when it's a…
      neither_color on HN
  • Mobile touch and challenge mode bugs on Android

    From 4 comments
    • Nice job! A few observations & thoughts: - With remote islands somewhere in the oceans, the last zoom level isn't very effective since the map will essentially only show the…
      codethief on HN
    • I'd like to play this on my phone but everytime I try to zoom or pan it thinks I'm making a guess in the middle of the ocean. Also it often gives me a success when the country is…
      whiterook6 on HN
    • I am enjoying it! Besides the other feedback that has been raised and addressed already, on mobile (Android Chrome) the instructions say to drag the circle, but the behavior is…
      rendall on HN
    • This is really fun but the challenge mode seems to be messed up for me on Android Chrome. When I click the country, it gives me the point but seems to take that same input for…
      wildzzz on HN
  • Disputed or inaccurate country labels (England vs UK, Northern Cyprus, Somaliland, West Bank)

    From 5 comments
    • Neat, but England is wrong. The area highlighted when clicking is the United Kingdom.
      nebalee on HN
    • Some Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish people may take issue with your definition of "England"
      avvt4avaw on HN
    • What list did you use for the list of "countries"? (I only ask because the first one I got was Northern Cyprus which is only recognized by Turkey and not a UN state). edit: I see…
      ks2048 on HN
    • Interesting, thank you for the link. This answers a few questions I had about preferred country names while trying out the game, such as Czech Republic/Czechia,…
      radicalcentrist on HN
    • It also includes "Somaliland" which apparently is only somewhat recognized by China.
      ethanwillis on HN
  • Small countries hard to see when zoomed out

    From 2 comments
    • A few thoughts after ~5 minutes: * I like how the map moves around. It helps nail down relationships to neighbors * I don't mind a few extra "Where's canada", even though it's…
      cschneid on HN
    • Nice job! A few observations & thoughts: - With remote islands somewhere in the oceans, the last zoom level isn't very effective since the map will essentially only show the…
      codethief on HN

Requests

  • Skip or mark-as-known button for known countries

    From 4 comments
    • This is a great idea, though I feel like if you guessed the country accurately the first time I would like it move on to another country. That or a button that lets me skip to…
      kelseydh on HN
    • This is an absolutely excellent way to learn, I am surprised at just how effective it was. I'd love a "manual" mode that let me discard countries/mark them to stay in rotation.
      scottmcf on HN
    • This is fun. I'd appreciate a way to select only certain continents/regions. At the very least let us mark a country as known. As it is there are too many reps when it's a…
      neither_color on HN
    • A progress status would be interesting: ``` Known: 87% ``` Also, I'm going to add to the chorus who wants a [Skip] button for known countries.
      rendall on HN
  • Select custom regions or continents to practise

    From 3 comments
    • This is awesome, I got way more sucked into this than I expected. If you're open to adding more features, a "custom playlist" would be really cool. I'd love to drill myself on…
      radicalcentrist on HN
    • This is fun! I can identify all mainland countries but have really hard time with the island nations in Oceania and the Caribbean. Would love to have an option to select which…
      tiktaktow on HN
    • This is fun. I'd appreciate a way to select only certain continents/regions. At the very least let us mark a country as known. As it is there are too many reps when it's a…
      neither_color on HN
  • Link to Wikipedia or show neighbouring countries after a guess

    From 3 comments
    • +1 Also: After you guess one, a button to jump to Wikipedia to learn more. Today I learned Lesotho is the largest sovereign enclave; there are two smaller on the Italian peninsula.
      imglorp on HN
    • Nice work! It's quite cool. Feedback: ``` - It'd be great to be able to move the map around, zoom in / out - staying in one place feels a bit restricting. - For some smaller…
      LouisSayers on HN
    • I love this! A couple little points: - After someone selects the right country, you should add country labels to the map for a second or two before transitioning so that context…
      eagsalazar2 on HN
  • Show progress status

    From 1 comment
    • A progress status would be interesting: ``` Known: 87% ``` Also, I'm going to add to the chorus who wants a [Skip] button for known countries.
      rendall on HN
  • Dockerized self-hosting

    From 1 comment

Questions

  • What list of countries is used and why are some labels disputed

    From 2 comments
    • What list did you use for the list of "countries"? (I only ask because the first one I got was Northern Cyprus which is only recognized by Turkey and not a UN state). edit: I see…
      ks2048 on HN
    • Interesting, thank you for the link. This answers a few questions I had about preferred country names while trying out the game, such as Czech Republic/Czechia,…
      radicalcentrist on HN
  • What modifications were made to the FSRS algorithm

    From 1 comment
    • cool! what modifications did you make to the default FSRS algorithm?
      mreichhoff on HN

Alternatives named

  • Anki with Ultimate Geography deck

    From 3 comments
    • Wow. This is really cool. After reading the headline, I was expecting to see it and think 'meh, why not just use Anki and the Ultimate Geography deck'. I was wrong! But the fact…
      rahimnathwani on HN
    • Related Anki deck: https://github.com/anki-geo/ultimate-geography The data is also a bit more up to date w.r.t. the problems pointed out by sibling comments like changed names,…
      crvdgc on HN
    • Although that's a decent UI and gamification with the circles and all, if I seriously wanted to memorize this information, I would just want the data as an Anki deck. Front of…
      kazinator on HN
  • Travle.earth

    From 1 comment
  • Worldle

    From 1 comment
    • Love this! Played Worldle (https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/) for a while and this would have been helpful. Great application of spaced repetition beyond cards.
      floodfx on HN
  • Sporcle

    From 2 comments
    • I found "spaced repitition" with sporcle to be quite effective. You have a blank map and have to manually enter in the names of the countries. Memorized the countries, capitals,…
      personalaccount on HN
    • I boosted my geography knowledge by playing Sporcle, e.g. https://www.sporcle.com/games/g/world
      aquafox on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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