No—World Map Puzzle does not use your location. It requests no location permission, never tries to infer where you live, and sends no answer or geographic information to a server. The World Map Puzzle uses the same eight countries every round: Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and Australia. You match their silhouettes to numbered targets on a small schematic world map, so “location” in the game refers to a country’s position on the map, not your device’s GPS position.
What “use my location” means here
Device location and geographic knowledge are different things. Device location would involve coordinates, a nearby city, or a location-based street scene. This game instead asks you to recognize where eight countries belong in relation to the rest of the world. Its map, country shapes, and answer targets are fixed in advance, so knowing your home country does not change the challenge.
| Location-related question | World Map Puzzle behavior |
|---|---|
| Does it request location permission? | No. |
| Does it infer where the player lives? | No. |
| Is the map personalized by location? | No; every round uses the same eight-country fixture. |
| How are answers checked? | In the browser by matching the selected or dragged country ID with the target ID. |
| Is an answer or geographic information uploaded? | No. |
The game runs entirely in the browser and uses embedded SVG country paths rather than downloading a live map during play. There is no geocoding API, uploaded answer, or live boundary service involved in the placement process. The normal website may load as a web page, but the game’s location matching and scoring do not transmit your coordinates or answers.
How to play World Map Puzzle without location access
No location-permission step is required before you begin. To complete a run, use this workflow:
- Open World Map Puzzle and locate the tray of eight named country pieces: Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and Australia.
- Choose one named piece in the tray. The selected piece receives a visible outline so you can tell which country you are placing.
- Find the matching numbered location on the schematic map. Targets are numbered rather than named before placement, while the tray supplies the country name.
- Activate the target by clicking or tapping it, or drag the selected piece onto that target. These routes use the same country-ID check and award the same points.
- For keyboard play, keep the piece selected, tab to a numbered map target, and press Enter or Space.
- When the match is correct, the target outline fills, a check mark appears, and the placement earns 125 points. The accessible label then reports the country that was placed.
- Continue with the remaining seven pieces until all eight countries are in position. Completing the set produces exactly 1,000 points.
- Watch for incorrect targets. The first mistake does not move the selected country, so you can try again, but a second incorrect target creates a visible deadlock. Choose Restart to begin another run.
Choose a pointer, touch, or keyboard route
Dragging is optional. The simplest pointer or touch route is to select a piece first and then activate its numbered target. A keyboard player can select the same piece, move focus through the map targets, and use Enter or Space. For the complete keyboard-only method, see how to play World Map Puzzle without dragging.
Each numbered target uses the source dataset’s label point as the center of a 44-pixel interactive control. That larger interactive area makes targets such as Japan easier to use with touch or a keyboard without changing the visible country path. After a correct placement, the target changes to a check mark and its accessible label identifies the placed country. Correctly placed countries cannot be placed a second time.
| Input method | Concrete action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Pointer or touch | Select a country, then activate its numbered target. | The same ID match, feedback, and scoring rules apply. |
| Native drag and drop | Drag the selected country onto its target. | Placement is accepted only when the country ID matches. |
| Keyboard | Select a country, tab to a target, then press Enter or Space. | The focused target is checked without requiring a drag. |
Where the country outlines come from
The outlines are not drawn from memory or generated from a live service. They are simplified offline from Natural Earth’s 1:110 million-scale Admin 0 Countries dataset. The underlying Natural Earth 1:110m Admin 0 Countries GeoJSON provides country paths, alpha-3 identifiers, English names, bounding boxes, and label coordinates used by the game.
The implementation projects the selected features into a simple 360-by-180 equirectangular view box, using x = longitude + 180 and y = 90 - latitude. Coordinates are rounded to one decimal, and paths are simplified offline so the client bundle stays compact. The resulting eight shapes are embedded in the build, which means the game does not need to request a live map when someone starts a round.
Using one fixed fixture also makes the puzzle reproducible. The same eight source-derived placements and the same 1,000-point completion can be repeated in local and production browser tests rather than depending on a random map. This fixed scope is useful for quick country-shape and world-position practice, but it also means the game is intentionally smaller than a full atlas.
Scoring, mistakes, and ending a run
The scoring rules are fixed and transparent. A correct country-target match fills the outline and adds 125 points. Placing all eight countries completes the run at exactly 1,000 points. The game does not award points for a country placed at the wrong target.
| Action | Game result |
|---|---|
| Correct target | The outline fills, a check mark appears, and the score increases by 125. |
| First incorrect target | The selected country stays in place and one retry remains. |
| Second incorrect target | A visible deadlock ends the run until Restart is selected. |
| All eight countries placed | The run completes with exactly 1,000 points. |
| Correct piece selected again | The already placed country cannot be placed twice. |
After either completion or deadlock, the score, placed country IDs, and terminal state are frozen. Later input does not change that result until Restart is chosen. Restart preserves the same map, country set, scoring values, and mistake limit, so every attempt tests the same eight locations.
What the schematic map can and cannot show
A small-scale recognition map is deliberately generalized. At 1:110 million scale, coastlines and borders are already simplified, and the game’s offline path simplification removes additional vertices. Its equirectangular projection also stretches distance and area away from the equator. These choices make the shapes practical for a compact browser game, but they do not provide survey-level precision.
The boundaries are also cartographic data rather than a legal ruling. The game does not state a position on sovereignty, recognition, disputed territory, maritime limits, or preferred country names. If boundary interpretation is your main concern, see how World Map Puzzle handles legal or disputed borders.
The puzzle’s learning scope is similarly specific. It does not test:
- Capitals or flags.
- Country subdivisions or overseas territories.
- Disputed areas or precise border measurements.
- Every recognized country.
- Navigation, logistics, scientific measurement, surveying, or treaty interpretation.
It is therefore best treated as a quick recognition game. It is not an official political map or a substitute for classroom grading that requires one.
A practical location-free privacy checklist
Before starting, these facts answer the main privacy and setup concerns:
- Do not enable or grant location access for the game; there is no required location-permission step.
- Expect the same eight country shapes and map targets rather than a personalized or random location-based map.
- Do not expect a live boundary download during the round; the shapes are already embedded in the build.
- Remember that matching and scoring happen locally, with no answer upload or geographic information sent to a server.
- Use Restart after a deadlock or completion to reset the run without changing its countries, map, points, or rules.
The location being tested is on the map
World Map Puzzle uses your answer choices, not your coordinates. Its goal is to test whether you can connect each named silhouette with its relative position on a fixed world map, earn 125 points for each correct match, and complete all eight placements for exactly 1,000 points. Your physical location is neither needed nor requested.