Have you ever played GeoGuessr? The game drops you at a random location on Google Maps, and you have to look around and figure out where you are. Then you place a pin on the map, and the game shows you how close your guess was.
Now imagine the same concept, but instead of street views, you see works of art: an ancient vessel, an Iranian portrait, a drum, a ceramic llama, or a Chinese bell. The challenge is the same: guess where the object comes from and how old it is. The game is called Anthropeum, and it is based on the collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
What Is Anthropeum?
Anthropeum is a free browser-based game that features ten objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection every day. Players have to guess the object’s place of origin and the period in which it was created.
Once all the guesses are in, the game calculates your score. Players around the world get the same set of objects each day, so comparing scores has quickly become popular online.
Another nice feature is that after finishing a round, you can click on any object to learn more about its history on The Met’s website.
Despite what many bloggers have claimed, the game was not created by the museum itself. Its developer is Matthew Chu, a 21-year-old University of Washington student studying accounting and data science.
The selection of objects is not random. Chu deliberately gave greater weight to non-European art because the Met’s collection is heavily skewed toward Europe. Without this adjustment, the game would be dominated by 17th-century Dutch paintings. This approach lets players explore several continents in a single round.
What Objects Can You Find in Anthropeum?
The range is enormous: from ancient Andean cultures to Chinese dynasties and Persian miniatures, and from musical instruments to clothing and jewelry. The timeline begins around 3000 BC, so the game features everything from objects that are roughly 5,000 years old to items from the 19th century.
The selection changes every day, but examples give you an idea of its variety. In one round, we came across:
- an ancient vessel;
- a watercolor portrait of an Iranian prince;
- a drum;
- a ceramic llama;
- a Chinese bell;
- a bronze portrait bust;
- a gold buckle;
- a perfume bottle.
Other players and reviewers have mentioned a Japanese netsuke depicting an owl on a branch (19th century), Peruvian earrings featuring winged messengers (400–700 AD), and an Iranian Garden Gathering (1640–1650).
Practical Information
Play the game: anthropeum.com
Free to play. New rounds are available every day.
