Why I Built Globle USA

I get asked this question sometimes — why make a geography game? There are already so many games out there, right? Well, I want to share the real story because it's not some grand plan. It started way simpler than that.

How It All Started

So back in early 2025, I was really into Wordle. Like, embarrassingly into it. I'd wake up and the first thing I did was open Wordle before even checking my messages. One night I was playing and I thought — what if instead of guessing words, you guessed places on a map? I knew about the original Globle game for countries, but I noticed there wasn't really a good one specifically for US states.

And honestly? I wasn't great at US geography myself. I could name maybe 30 states off the top of my head, and placing them on a map? Forget it. I kept mixing up all those rectangular states in the middle. Is that Wyoming or is that Colorado? I genuinely could not tell you at the time.

So the idea was simple: build a game that helps people (including me) actually learn where the 50 states are. Make it fun, make it daily, make it competitive. How hard could it be?

The First Version Was... Not Great

Really not great. The first thing I had to figure out was the SVG map. If you've never worked with SVG maps before, let me tell you — it's a headache. Each state is a separate shape with hundreds of coordinate points, and getting them all to display correctly, with the right colors, at the right size... I spent probably two full weeks just on the map alone.

The color system was another nightmare. My first attempt had like 10 different shades and nobody could tell the difference between "kind of close" and "sort of close." I simplified it down to the current system — red means far, green means you got it, and the shades in between tell you if you're getting warmer. Much cleaner.

The distance calculation was actually the fun part. I had to find the geographic center of each state (not as simple as you'd think — some states are weird shapes) and then calculate the distance between them. When I first ran the code, it was telling me that California was 200 miles from Maine. Turned out I had mixed up latitude and longitude. Classic mistake.

What Building This Game Taught Me

Here's the funny thing — I built this game to help people learn geography, and the person who learned the most was me. Before this project, I had no idea that:

• Michigan has two separate pieces (the Upper Peninsula is basically a different state)
• Virginia and West Virginia used to be the same state until the Civil War split them
• Rhode Island is so small you can drive across it in like 45 minutes
• Alaska is absolutely massive — bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined

Every time I had to write content or check data for a state, I fell down a rabbit hole of interesting facts. I'd start working on the Florida page and 2 hours later I'm reading about alligator migration patterns. Not exactly productive, but I regret nothing.

The Things I Still Get Wrong

I'll be completely honest — even after building this game, I still mess things up. The New England states trip me up constantly. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine — they're all crammed into that top-right corner and I have to really concentrate to get them right.

And don't get me started on the Great Plains. Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota — on the map they all look like rectangles sitting on top of each other. I literally had to create a mnemonic device for myself: Never Kick Sand North. (Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, from south to north.) It's dumb, but it works.

Where We're Going Next

I have a bunch of ideas I want to add. A proper leaderboard where you can see how you compare to other players would be great. I also want to add more game modes — maybe one where you have to identify states by their outline alone, or a speed round where you have 60 seconds to name as many states as you can.

The Connections game we added recently has been really popular too, so I might expand on that with more geography-themed puzzles.

But honestly, the core game — guess the daily state — is what I'm most proud of. It's simple, it's addictive, and it actually teaches you something. That's all I ever wanted it to be.

Thank You

If you're reading this, you're probably one of the people who plays the game regularly. Thank you. Seriously. Every time I check the analytics and see the numbers going up, it reminds me why I keep pushing on this project. Geography is one of those subjects that most people forget after school, but it doesn't have to be that way. If my weird little game in the corner of the internet helps even one person finally remember where Idaho is, then I call that a win.

Now go play today's puzzle. And if you get it in under 5 guesses, you're officially better than me.