How to Hide Location on MapCrunch

MapCrunch was launched in September 2010. The site uses the Street View service provided by Google Maps to virtually teleport you to a random location in the world. Thanks to the extensive imaging provided by Google’s fleet of camera-equipped cars, combined with the photos shared by members of the public, you can be transported to a dizzying array of potential places.

From a café in a small town in Tuscany, to a jungle road in Thailand, to a highway in the middle of the Nevada desert, you never know where you might end up.

The MapCrunch Game

In February 2012, users of the anonymous image board /v/ on 4chan created the MapCrunch game. Using a certain set of rules, the new game challenged players to imagine that they had woken up in an unknown place. To win, the player had to make their way from the starting point to the nearest airport.

It’s not as easy as it might sound, and the game soon became renowned for how challenging and frustrating it can be. Even so, it saw a huge boost in popularity when Tumblr users found out about it, and started documenting their experiences as they tried to make their way to the nearest airport.

Since the original, city-based version of the game grew in popularity, a number of different voluntary difficulty options were developed by players. The easiest version allows you to start in your own country, and to leave the location setting on. But most of them require you to do away with such hints, meaning you’d have to turn off the location information.

Stealth Mode Engaged

To play the majority of the game modes suggested by the community, you’ll need to ensure that the information your starting point has been hidden from view. This very increases the challenge significantly, as you could start out thinking you’re in a run-down part of the UK only to discover that you’ve actually been stumbling around a town in the middle of Ukraine for the last half-hour.

To switch off the location information, you’ll need to take these simple steps:

1. Click on the Options button at the top left of the MapCrunch page.
2. The Options window will appear to the left side of the screen. Tick the box next to the word Stealth.

The location information just above the Options window should disappear.

Difficulty Modes

There are a number of different difficulties that you can attempt. They range from the easiest or Wussy Mode, all the way up to the highly challenging S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mode named after the classic series of computer games.  The hardest proposed version, Stranded mode, no longer seems to be supported by MapCrunch. It relies on checking the ‘Islands’ box which is not available any more.

Here’s the list of all the different difficulties you can try out:

Wussy Mode: Click on your own country, check the Urban only tick box, and hit N to start.

Casual Mode: Select your country, and hit N.

Explorer Mode (Recommended): Select your country, check both Stealth and Urban only, then hit N.

Adventurer Mode: Select your country, check Stealth, and hit N.

/V/eteran Mode: Check Stealth and Urban only, then hit N.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Mode: Check Stealth, and hit N.

Different Playstyles

There are also various ways of playing the game that can change both your end goal, and how you can get to it. Here are the rule sets suggested by the community:

Easy: Find an airport or seaport, and you can fly or sail home from there.

Normal (Recommended): Find an airport, and you can fly home.

Hardcore: Make your way to an airport, fly to another airport, and carry on until you get home.

Legendary: No airports allowed. You have to walk all the way home.

It’s worth noting that both Hardcore and Legendary modes can potentially be impossible. Both rely on your street having been visited by a Google Street View car, and Legendary relies on you not having an ocean between you and your destination.

What Language Is That?!

If you have some time to kill, and feel like having a fun/frustrating time while exploring the world, why not give the MapCrunch game a go? If you’ve had any noteworthy adventures, or found some incredible sights, go ahead and share them with us in the comments section below.