A game on addictinggames.com called 50 States asks you to place the states on a blank outline of the US (including Alaska and Hawai’i, which I guess helps weed out the hopelessly map-blind.)
On the first try, I scored 94% after 228 seconds, with an average error of 7 miles.
Try #2 was 94% after 163 seconds, with an average error of 8 miles.
Only mistakes were the first 2 states given, New Mexico and Utah, big square states with no natural borders, both of which I placed 70-80 mi off center. What else was I to do?
The relatively slow time was because I was a little too careful about placing the other states.
But I’ve played before - and I got very lucky in the states it gave me first. I was sure I was going to screw up Missouri, because I got it early, but I happened to hit the right spot. From there, I just got them in the order that I never really had to think about where they went.
If you want a real challenge, go to SheppardSoftware.com/geography and play the “cartographer” version. You have to drag, rotate, and resize each state and place it on the map.
Score on this depends so much on which states you get first. When your first state is Colorado, you’re pretty much screwed. Still, 90% in 207 seconds, with a 14 mile average error isn’t bad considering I’m not even an American.
I had to start over after about 15 states because Delaware disappeared when I dropped it outside the window. On the second attempt I got 92% 21 miles and 536 seconds.
88%, 14 miles, 317 seconds. The first few were the most difficult since I wasn’t sure where precisely to position the states, which were in the middle of the continent. Once the other states were in place it was easier to see exactly where the others went.
90%, avg. error 10 miles, I think the time was 248 sec. I got a lot of big perimeter states to start with (I think my first four were Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon), which made it easier. The only state I placed just plain wrong was Delaware.
Iowa was my starting point, it’s where I live, and I was still off by a few miles.
I always reverse Alabama and Mississippi, and the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states have always been a mystery to me. I aced everything west of the Mississippi though!
I got 41 out of 50 (what’s that, about 80%?) with an average error of 33 miles. Pretty sucky.