MapDrop

UPDATE: On May, 8th, 2020 I relaunched MapDrop as a web app. I completely ditched the old Android/React Native App (for various reasons) in favor of this one. Visit www.mapdrop.de and have a look.

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In August 2018 I started working on an educational geography game for mobile (Android and iOS) using React Native and Expo.

I want to get more hands on React Native, GeoJSON, GIS (geo information systems) and mapping in general. So yeah, a publishable game, combining both, makes perfect sense!

Currently the Android v0.2.1 release is in “internal test” channel, which is even more closed than alpha/beta channels and restricted to some handful of Google accounts/GMails. Thought that makes sense, regarding its development stage.

    

Google Play Store description

MapDrop is an educational geography fun game using satellite imagery.

You are dropped somewhere on earth’s surface and, in a second step, guess where that place is. The closer your guess is, the better your score. The more you play, the better you get to know our planet. If you are lucky you explore places and structures you had no idea they existed.

Gameplay:
Depending on your chosen level of difficulty, we zoom into a random spot on earth. Fear not, we don’t drop you into water! You are then given the possibility to adjust the puzzle by zooming out until you think you know where you are. Of course, this costs you points, so use it wisely. You solve the puzzle by adjusting a world map to your chosen area. The calculated score depends on level, amount of zooming out and the quality of your solution.

Happy earth exploring!

Tech info:
This app uses React Native for cross platform development. It also makes use of Expo framework to abstract everything even more. This blows up app size as well as permission count.

Non-exhaustive list of planned features:
– Scoring system based on proximity, level etc.
– Map themes
– Regions (continent, states)
– Multiplayer via Wifi and/or Bluetooth
– More platform releases

Want to be a tester? If you have an Android 5 (Lollipop) smartphone or later and a Gmail address, you’re welcome to drop me a line.

You are testing already? Feedback via email is VERY appreciated!

Changelog