How EraPin Works — The Daily Game Where History Meets Geography
Every day, EraPin serves you five historical photographs. Your mission: figure out where in the world each one was taken, and when. That's it. No multiple choice, no hints (unless you ask for them), just you, a photo, and a world map.
It takes about 5 minutes. It's free. And once you start, you'll find yourself thinking about it for the rest of the day.
The Game — Round by Round
A historical photograph fills your screen. It could be crowds in a square, rubble from a disaster, soldiers on a beach, or a rocket on a launchpad. Study it. Look for clues — architecture style, vegetation, signage language, clothing, vehicle types, terrain.
Tap the world map where you think the photo was taken. Zoom in if you're confident. Your pin appears with the place name. Not sure? You can reposition as many times as you want before confirming.
Slide the year picker. The era clue helps narrow it down — "Walkman cassette players, rotary phones" tells you it's the early 1980s. But the exact year? That's where your knowledge pays off.
The map reveals the real location with a golden pin. A dashed line shows how far off you were. You see your distance, year difference, and a two-sentence reveal about the event. Then you move to the next round.
After five rounds, you get your total score, a rank title, your streak count, and a country leaderboard showing how players from different countries performed today.
How Scoring Works
Location: Full marks if you're within a few kilometres. Points decrease with distance — 500km off still scores well, but 5,000km off earns very little.
Year: Exact year = full marks. Each year off costs points. Being 5 years off still scores respectably. Being 50 years off doesn't.
Per round max: 5,000. Five rounds = 25,000 possible. A score above 20,000 means you really know your history.
The Ranks
A Real Example
A black-and-white photograph. Crowds of people filling a wide boulevard. Some carry flags. Buildings with European-style architecture line both sides. A large domed structure is visible in the background. The mood feels tense — this isn't a celebration.
The clue: "Cobblestone boulevards echo with defiant voices as tear gas drifts past baroque facades and church spires on a cold spring morning"
The era hint: "Rotary phones, vinyl records, early colour television"
You think: European city... baroque architecture... cold climate... 1960s based on the era clue... maybe Prague? You drop your pin on Prague, Czech Republic and slide the year to 1968.
The reveal: Prague Spring, 1968. You were spot on. 4,847 points.
A colour photograph showing a devastated coastline. Debris scattered across what was once a town. Palm trees bent sideways. A fishing boat sits on top of a building. The sky is overcast.
The clue: "Warm monsoon waters rise without warning across low-lying fishing villages where stilt houses once dotted the tropical shoreline"
The era hint: "Smartphones, social media, flat-screen televisions"
You think: tropical coastline... tsunami or cyclone... 2000s or 2010s... Southeast Asia? You pin Banda Aceh, Indonesia and guess 2004.
The reveal: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Banda Aceh was ground zero. 4,920 points.
What Makes It Addictive
The photograph tells a story. Every image is a real moment — a protest, a disaster, a revolution, a discovery. You're not just guessing a location. You're piecing together a moment in history from visual clues.
Two dimensions of guessing. Location is one skill. Time is another. Clothing, technology, image quality, architecture — they all help you narrow down the decade. Combining both is what makes each round feel like detective work.
You learn something every round. Even when you're wrong — especially when you're wrong. The two-sentence reveal after each guess turns every round into a micro history lesson.
Same puzzle, everyone worldwide. Every player sees the same five rounds each day. Compare with friends, family, or your class.
Better Than GeoGuessr for Classrooms
Teachers who've tried GeoGuessr in class know the problem: random street views, too hard for students, no way to track scores. EraPin solves all three.
— Brock Saniter, 7th Grade, Elmwood Schools
Set up takes 30 seconds. Share a link. Students enter their name and play. Their scores appear on your live leaderboard. No accounts, no downloads. Generate custom quizzes for any topic — Cold War, French Revolution, AP World Unit 5.
Set up your classroom for free →
Hints — If You Need Them
Location hint (−500 pts): Narrows the region — "This event happened in Southeast Asia" or "Look towards the Mediterranean."
Year hint (−750 pts): A poetic clue referencing another event from the same year. "While this was happening, a man walked on the moon for the first time" tells you it's 1969.
Streaks & Sharing
Play every day to build your streak. Your score card shows your streak count, rank, and round-by-round performance. Share it with friends — the share card includes your score without spoiling the answers.