Goal of the game
Each round shows a photograph of a real-world building, bridge, monument, or landmark. Your job is twofold: place a guess on the world map as close as possible to the true location, and answer whether the structure is still fully standing, only partially standing, or no longer standing (demolished or destroyed). You do not need an account; progress and high scores are saved in your browser.
Placing your map guess
When the question screen appears, you will see an interactive map (powered by Leaflet). Tap or click once to drop a marker. You can adjust your guess by clicking again before you submit. The map can be collapsed on smaller screens to give more room for the photo—expand it when you are ready to commit to a location. Your location score is based on distance: guesses within a few hundred kilometers of the correct point can still earn meaningful points, while a guess on the wrong continent will score much lower.
The “still standing?” question
Many famous structures are still in use today; others were damaged by war, fire, or earthquakes, or were deliberately torn down. Building Guessr uses three categories: Yes (substantially intact and recognizable), Partial (ruins, heavily damaged but identifiable remains, or major reconstruction), and No (demolished or destroyed beyond meaningful recognition). Read the building’s era and visual clues; when in doubt, partial is often the safest choice for ancient ruins that are not complete buildings anymore.
Scoring breakdown
Each round combines three elements. Location contributes up to roughly 1,000 points depending on how close your pin is to the actual coordinates. Status adds a separate chunk of points if you match the database entry (standing, partial, or no). A time bonus rewards faster answers, so quick map reading and confident decisions pay off. Harder difficulty settings shorten the timer and may increase score multipliers, while some challenge modes change the rules entirely (for example, Expert mode removes hints).
Difficulty and hints
Easy rounds give you more time before the clock runs out; Medium and Hard reduce that window. On most modes, a text hint appears after a delay if you have not submitted yet. Expert challenge mode turns hints off, so you rely entirely on the photograph and your own knowledge. Use Easy while learning the map controls; switch to Hard when you want a serious geography workout.
Game modes and filters
Before you press Play, you can narrow the pool of buildings. Region filters limit rounds to a continent. Era filters focus on ancient, medieval, early modern, or contemporary architecture. Type filters emphasize categories such as religious buildings, palaces, skyscrapers, or infrastructure. Challenge presets include Speed Run (very short timer per round), Marathon (many rounds in one session), and Lost Buildings (structures that are partial or gone)—each changes pacing and strategy.
Daily challenge
The daily challenge uses a fixed set of five buildings for every player on the same calendar day. That makes it easy to compare scores with friends or post your result on social media. Completing the daily also feeds into streak-style stats in your local profile. If you miss a day, your streak resets, so regular players treat it like a morning crossword for architecture lovers.
After you submit
The results screen names the building, shows a short description, links to Wikipedia for deeper reading, and displays how far your guess was from the truth. Use that feedback to calibrate how aggressively you should guess on the next round. When you finish all rounds in a session, you will see totals, averages, and options to share or copy your score.
More help
For strategic advice on reading photos and narrowing regions, see our tips & strategy guide. For background on the project, visit About or the FAQ.