Geography Made Addictive (Geo Challenge Facebook Application)

Member Name: charby

Product:	Geo Challenge Facebook Application
Date:	27/07/09 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, can compete with friends, expand your knowledge

Disadvantages: None

Although I do spend quite a bit of time on Facebook, I do prefer to talk to friends by text or over MSN, or, if possible, in person, so I don't actually do much socialising there. For people who don't really use Facebook, you may be wondering what else there is to do on this social networking site other than talking to people, but it's really quite simple: Applications. There are thousands of applications on Facebook, from quizzes to games to competitions and so on. Although there are many games that I enjoy playing on the site from time to time, my favourite is probably Geo Challenge, which is the game I am reviewing today.

*What is Geo Challenge?*

Geo Challenge is a Geography-based game that is surprisingly fun to play. It consists of four rounds, and in each the player has to use some of their geographical knowledge to answer questions and identify places and flags correctly. For each correct answer you get a certain amount of points, which increase depending on how hard the question is, and you also get bonus points for getting several questions correct in a row. While this game sounds far too educational to be fun, it can be quite addictive, and I have spent quite a few hours trying to beat the high scores of my Facebook friends.

*Suitcase Shuffle*

This is the first of the four rounds, and involves identifying flags. The premise is that you have to put flags onto suitcases so that they're sent to the right country. The name of a country comes up at the top of the screen, and you must click on that country's flag out of a choice of three or six possible flags. The first few countries are relatively easy, such as England, Australia and the USA, but after a while they start to get a lot harder, and you'll find yourself having to pick the correct flag for African and Asian countries that many people have barely heard of. The good thing, though, is that when you get the answer wrong, the game tells you the correct answer, so that you've got a better chance of getting it right next time. Also, if you have no idea which flag to choose, if you wait a few seconds then the game will eliminate some wrong answers for you. I wouldn't recommend waiting too long though, as you will get less points overall in the round if you don't have enough time to fit more flags in the 60 second game.

I really enjoy this round, and find that by playing it I now know the flags of many countries that I didn't know before. Although being able to recognise countries' flags isn't exactly essential in daily life, it can be interesting, and is an important part of geographical knowledge. This round, like all rounds, lasts for 60 seconds, with a 5 second bonus for every ten questions correctly answered.

Educational Score: 8/10
Fun Score: 9/10

*Map Mayhem*

This is the second of the four rounds, and involves recognising countries. The player is shown the outline of a country, and has to choose which one it is out of four possible options. Like the last round, the first ones are pretty easy, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, which all have fairly memorable shapes, but again it's not long before things get harder. I would say that most people would find it difficult to identify Somalia and Afghanistan merely from their outlines, but again, by playing the game a lot, you get to recognise a lot more of the countries, and by the time you've played four or five times, you'll find it a lot easier to identify countries such as Latvia and Iraq, even if at first you had no clue. Again, if you're struggling, the game will zoom out a bit of the picture of the country so that you can have a better idea of where it is in the world, and so make a more educated guess.

I like this round, but less than Suitcase Shuffle. The truth is that a lot of countries look similar, and I often confuse the shape of countries such as Nepal, Austria and Cuba, as they are all very short yet wide, and when you're trying to play quickly to get more points, it's easy to click on the wrong one. I also don't believe that this round is as educational as the last, as even if you can identify the shape of the country, it doesn't mean that you have any better an idea as to where it is in the world. Still, it is a fun game to play, as you can feel fairly chuffed with yourself when you get a tricky one right.

Educational Score: 6/10
Fun Score: 7/10

*City Blitz*

This is the third of the four rounds, and involves finding cities on a map of the world. The name of a city will come up in the top left hand corner, and you must click on where in the world you think it is. You will then be told whether you were 'Perfect', 'Good', 'Fair' or 'Way Off', and receive points according to how accurate you were. Again, this round starts off fairly easily, with famous cities such as London and New York City coming up first, but it's not long before you're trying to work out where Urumqi is, and just where in South America you would find Quito. If you're having trouble working it out, then if you wait a few seconds the game will tell you which country this city is in, which will hopefully give you a better idea of where you should click, assuming of course that you know where that country is on the map.

I really enjoy this game, and think that it is the best round for improving your geographical knowledge. I can now accurately pick out many cities on a map which I had merely heard of before, such as Vancouver (southwest Canada), and Tehran (North Afghanistan). I do, however, have some gripes with this game. Whenever you get several places right in a row, you get an animation coming up to tell you your bonus, which completely covers Europe and part of Africa, so if you're trying to pinpoint an city in this area, you have to wait for a couple of seconds before it disappears and you can see where you are clicking. Another problem I have that is, with big countries especially, even if you know which country the stated city is in, you could still end up with a 'Way Off' score if you don't know exactly where it is. When placing a city in China, for example, if the city is in the Northwest and you click on the Southeast, then you won't even get a 'Fair' rating, which I think is pretty unfair (terrible joke). On the other hand, if you recognise that a city is in Europe but have no idea where, by clicking on the centre of the continent chances are it'll be close enough to achieve a 'Fair' or 'Good' rating even if you're several countries too far away. In conclusion, though, I think that this round is a great way to expand your knowledge of where cities are in the world.

Educational Score: 10/10
Fun Score:: 8/10

*Landmark Loco*

This is the fourth and final round, and involves finding famous landmarks on a map of the world. The format is very similar to City Blitz, but with pictures of famous landmarks instead of the names of cities. The round starts off with fairly recognisable sites such as the Statue of Liberty, The Tower of London and the leaning Tower of Pisa, and then moves on to more difficult to recognise landmarks, many of which I have never even heard of, let alone be able to place on a map. If you wait for a few seconds then the game will reveal the name of the location, but that's only really a help if you have any idea where the place is in the world.

I think that this is a good round, and very similar to City Blitz in many ways. I find that it's often easier to place landmarks than cities, as often from the picture you can see if a place is European or if it's from South America, for example, and so can have a pretty good guess. This round also seems to have mainly landmarks from Paris, which means that as long as you know where France is, you will be able to get several landmarks 'Perfect' without much effort. All the problems from City Blitz seem to apply here too, though I find it easier to remember where in a country I would find a landmark, more than I remember the name of a city. Having said that, education-wise this round isn't as valuable, as it's often not necessary to know where exactly you would find The Louvre or whatever, though I suppose that it is good for a cultural education.

Educational Score: 9/10
Fun Score: 8/10

*Points*

Once you've finished all four rounds and have your total score, the game will tell you how well you did by telling you which geographical job you would be able to get with your score. If you're average but not great, for example, you may be a Hotel Receptionist, whereas if you have excellent knowledge you may be a pilot or an explorer. You are then also shown how well you did compared to your friends on Facebook, as well as the world in general, and can always see these results at the bottom of the game screen. I find that this is what makes the game so addictive, as you often want to come back to try and beat the score that one of your friends made.

*Trophies*

For doing especially well in Geo Challenge you can earn nice little trophies, and your total number of trophies is shown along with your score, so you can show off to your friends about how much better at the game you are than them. You get trophies for playing a certain amount of times, as well as for getting high scores in a particular level or getting enough points without making a mistake. Trophies can be a god way of keeping you interested in the game once you think you're already pretty good and would otherwise get bored, and so, although they're nothing special, it does increase the longevity of the game.

*Going Pro*

If you really enjoy Geo Challenge, then you can pay to upgrade your game and have access to the European Tour and USA Tour, as well as the World Tour that I have just reviewed. I personally haven't upgraded the game myself, and so cannot comment on how good these extra games are or if they're worth the money (I don't even know how much they cost), but it's nice knowing that they exist, so if you're rich or willing to pay for more entertainment then you can play these.

*In conclusion*

Geo Challenge is a great game which is addictive and very entertaining as well as being educational, and I usually play it whenever I'm on Facebook. Since playing the whole game takes little more than five minutes, it's easy to drop in and play it once or twice, and then going back and playing it again another day. This game doesn't really require any commitment of your time, and so it is ideal for playing while you're waiting for a post reply on Facebook, or even if you're just sitting on the internet. I would recommend this to anyone who has Facebook, as it's free and requires no installation: all you have to do is search for Geo Challenge and you're ready to go.

Summary: A great entertaining free game for Facebook

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