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October 13, 2014

Got a minute? You could go globetrotting with Pinpoint



In real estate, it’s all about “Location, location, location.” The same can be said for the new Windows Phone game Pinpoint by Foundbite. But in this case, say it five times.

Pinpoint combines the power of a clever guessing game with an unexpected global geography lesson in five quick rounds.

All of the imagery in Pinpoint is pulled from the Windows Phone-exclusive app Foundbite, which you can use to capture the “real atmosphere of a place, event or experience” using images and sounds. As the app description notes: “Through the combination of photos with sound, the app offers [you] kaleidoscopic access to thousands of striking experiences from all around the earth.”

The team at Foundbite, which includes London-based developer James Mundy, has taken the best sounds and images featured in the app and pulled them into Pinpoint. James and his business partner manually review those images to choose the ones best suited to the game.

Foundbite_sample

Each time you play Pinpoint, you will see a different set of Foundbite images–and if you contribute to that app, you might even see one of your own pictures used in the game!

“At the moment there are around 350 playable Foundbite images in Pinpoint. These are from all over the world and show all manner of things,” said James.

More images will likely be added on a regular basis, so the game will change each time you play.

While playing Pinpoint, you look at and listen to a Foundbite (a picture or set of pictures with the ambient sounds from the actual location) and try to guess where it was recorded in the world.

When you’re ready to make your guess, you will see a map of the world, and you can adjust your map view to see different parts of the world. You can then zoom in on the map and narrow in on your target location. You then place a “pin” on the map to guess the location.

There is a formula to determine your score, and according to James, it uses an exponential curve based on how close your answer is to the Foundbite shown. The closer your answer is to the actual location, the more points you score. The farther away your answer is from the actual location, the lower your score for that round.

The highest score you can get for each round is 4,000, and right now there are five rounds per game. So your high score per game could be 20,000. (Note: James did mention that they are considering the option of letting players choose to see a range of images per game, say five to 10, which would make the game harder.)

At the end of the game you get a badge based on your score (I recently earned the “Globe Trotter” badge). There are five badges you can earn:

  • Couch Potato (0 <= 3,000)
  • Day Tripper (3,000 <= 5,000)
  • Rolling Stone (5,000 <= 10,000)
  • Globe Trotter (10,000 <= 15,000)
  • Intrepid Explorer (15,000 <= 20,000)
Pinpoint_Score_312

After you finish a game, you can review the various Foundbite images that you saw while playing — and credit is given with each image to the person that submitted it. You also have the option to share your results via social media.

Pinpoint is free to download, and it is currently exclusive to the Windows Phone Store.

You can learn more about the app from the Foundbite blog, and keep up with their efforts via Twitter or Facebook. For those who really want to geek out, you can go behind the scenes, too.

One more thing: Pinpoint remembers your high score and invites you to try to beat it the next time you play. Think you can beat my high score? (Shown at right.) Share your best score in the Comments below.