h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ok, this should probably be in Misc Chat but nobody goes there nowadays.

Here's a wee game.

Go to the website mapcrunch.com. This will drop you on a random google maps road somewhere on planet Earth. Now the box to your right asking where to, tick the box saying 'stealth' and hit the 'GO' button. You are now somewhere you've never been and no idea of the country you're in. Your task? Navigate your way to an airport to get yourself home.

It's fun working out where you are from road signs and other clues.

How do I get it to stop printing the location in the middle of the road then?

B

I think I'm worryingly close to a South American drug dealer's home and wanting to get away...

B

OK. I'm on the outskirts of a city. Skyscrapers and stuff, so there must be an airport.

The signs so far are - I think - Portuguese, so I reckon I'm in Brazil. See you on Kokomo!

B

OK, so I think I'm in Mirassol. Plenty of industrial estates and iteninerant construction workers so far. NO road signs, but some buildings are labelled in English (including one, bizarrely, advertising Marmite), so I have hope.

B

I think I'm in South America - not big on road signs wherever it is

And I've stumbled over a very small aerodrome with a glider. Does that count?

B

Can you get home on a glider?

I can get to the Copacabana. That's good enough for me.

Attempt 2 might be a bit harder. I've found a sign with some indecipherable symbols and lots of very big numbers. Not a clue what language they could be yet.

Lots of palm trees and shacks.

B

Good game. I worked out I was in a village near Zurich by looking at place names and car badges, then aimed for the low ground, which took me north. Unfortunately street map ran out of coverage before I could get to where I thought the airport might be. So I popped into a Keller for a schnell halb instead.

Turns out I was in Thailand and could only drive round and round a lagoon and nowhere else.

Attempt 3 put me in the middle of Stirlingshire, which I felt was lacking in credible challenge.

B

I'm in the arse-end of nowhere, somewhere where the plant life is similar to ours. I'm getting a Scandinavian vibe.

Woohoo! Buildings!

Välkommen till Vegby - seems I'm in Sweden. This would be a nice spit for a holiday home.

Hmmmm. I landed on a road with a sign helpfully saying "Zurich" right in front of me. Reasoning that I'd rather be heading away from the city, I turned around, and found a sign to the airport.

I'll try again.

Ahhh, that's more of a challenge. The symbols are Asian, but I don't recognise them as Chinese. Might be Korea. I'm going to see if I can find a car that looks as if it knows where it's going and follow it.

I'm heading for the mythical town of Borås. It seems to have better roads...

I think I need Milla's help. I'm fairly sure I've got a party of angry Swedish farmers hot on my tail now...

Oooh! I've stumbled upon a truck full of felled timber. He'll be on his way to a port or somewhere industrial.

Lots of military personnel about. Oh, there's a south Korean flag! And a sign to Seoul station!