Where’s Waldo? Find him and earn a new badge!

[MaxNYC]

Like you, Waldo loves exploring new places, and he’s off on another adventure with friends Wenda, Woof, and Wizard Whitebeard in Google Maps and you’re invited — even that pesky Odlaw’s tagging along.

Join Waldo and friends for a global scavenger hunt on Google Maps and earn new badges along the way. Waldo is sharing his location on Maps and it’s up to you to search that location to find him and his friends among the crowds. It might even earn you a new badge!

To play, open Google Maps for Android, iOS, or desktop. You may need to update your app, but you’ll know Waldo is ready for an adventure when you see him waving on the side of your screen. Press “Play” and let the journey begin! Share your Waldo search on social with the hashtag #WaldoMaps or #WallyMaps

[Sariga]

Fun at April , GOOD exercise for eye

Enjoy the fun in the new Financial year start

[Sariga]

Fun at April , GOOD exercise for eyeHappy to get the new badge 

[KarenVChin]

@VBenedict, that was drawn, whether by hand or by graphic design. There was no machine learning in my opinion.  I noticed were fake mini Waldos and Wendas blended in and rolled up red and white striped towels (that kinda look like Tail).

Cheers,

Karen

---

@VBenedict wrote:

@KarenVChin  Oh yeah Waldo was mostly a cinch 90% of the times. The girlfriend Wenda well! she was a pain in the Olympics confusion but I finally got her.

The tail was easy most everytime because it was the odd on the scene and I always looked for it peeping out of some confusion or other.  Remember, Wizzard Whitebeard was holding a wand with similar stripes as the tail.

That is not to say that I didn't have to keep changing my probability equation in order to find them all.  

Do you think that each level was created through "machine learning" like or was it hand painted by an artist.  So I kept going back and forth...

I did 3.8 passes before completion.  I almost gave up on those pesky tomatoes looking for Wizzard Whitebeard. 

But then I  realized I could not let you guys down 🙃

---

[zafahim]

@KarenVChin haha... Yes it was.

For me the hardest part was to find the tail in Spain. 

[sojha91]

True...Its a fun game to play and enjoy... 

[VBenedict]

@KarenVChin  yeaih I saw those rolled ups.  They were way too obvious and out of pattern.  The give away was Wizard Whitebeard in the ski scene. 

Perhaps we, the players, were the learning machines?  

I wondered as I was playing what was going on behind the scenes as we played. What kinds of results or stats were generated and what does it say about humans in this random sample.

Do you by any chance get the impression that there might have been a design pattern or do you suppose that the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level?

I looked for the probability of patterns or some sort of rationalization within the chaos.

Or was the pattern the chaos portrayed within each level.

In any event...

[Akababa]

Amazing

[NepaliGuide]

@zafahim haha same here bro. It took alot of time to find tail

[BishowvijayaP]

Oh! I forgot to share but I also earned the badge in the same day as it launched. 😄

[zafahim]

@NepaliGuide 🙂

Really it was so funny.. 

[Hyderali]

Hai...iam  a Waldo master

[eqal]

Ciao! I played the first two levels yesterday and wanted to continue playing today, but Waldo does not appear anymore (neither mobile or desktop). Does anybody have a link to re-join the game? Thanks!

[Haseeb]

Hello @eqal

This game on maps was for a very short time. starting from 1st april till yesterday, As seen on my latest updated version of google maps.

Further details can be found here Where-s-Waldo-Find-him

Regards

[eqal]

Thanks @Haseeb. Yesterday I read an article indicating that it will be available until 5th April so I thought it is enough time to finish it today. Maybe this article (in German) did not have enough information. Thanks for clarification :).

[GIREIPAIN]

Was super easy ....it was fun though 😇 

[eqal]

Yes, it was easy and fun @GIREIPAIN, but I was without internet until yesterday and lack of time and so I wanted to finish it today... bad luck for me that I did not finish ;).

[GIREIPAIN]

@eqal Maybe next time .best wishes. 

[-1s]

Did you find it?

[GeishaSan]

Hola, alguien en españa que lo haya encontrado? He actualizado la app en móvil, borrado datos y caché, la tengo abierta por escritorio también...y nada

Gracias!

[nidhipunj7]

Hello Sir, 

I need to know about local guides program on Google map.

Is there any way of earning through these batches and yeah do These levels and batches benenefit in any way or it's just for fun.

Can you please clearify everything. ☺️

[TedMall]

@nidhipunj7

Apparently you are on level 6 on Google Guides program working your way by posting reviews, photos, answering questions and discovering new items. As you continue working through and the amount of your responses increases your badge level goes up together with your level. If you have not used Google maps begore, go to it and look up your profile. There it will show you your status as well as how many postings have been credited to you. Longer reviews (over 200 characters) accrue greater points. Photos get you five points each.

Additionally, Google connect badges are received based on your activity on this forum.

Best of luck. Feel free to contact again.

@tedmall

[GeishaSan]

Hola! sí, claro que estoy acostumbrada a usarlo, es sólo que ahora me aparecen palabras en negrita y no entiendo por qué?

[vjollcad]

Are you Waldo a friend of local guides?

[TedMall]

@nidhipunj7

It looks like you are doing well on Google maps but have just started on Local Guides Connect. This is a way to interact with the local guides community. Just like I am interacting with you. As you post items, give or receive kudos, provide solutions etc, you gain additional badges in the community. A good step in the beginning is to introduce yourself by telling a few things. Please dontd fivulge personal secrets but in general tell us something. You can do that in the  "introduce yourself" area. 

As far as the benefits go, it is simply being part of a worldwide community as the self satisfaction that comes from that. Over time, you may even make friends with many in the community.

Enjoy.

[Ranjana]

Did you find all 24 waldos?

[TedMall]

It took a great effort on some of the levels, but I found them all. Unfortunately, the game has now ended.

[ayann]

@Ranjana

I have found all of them​ 😂but it's really blast my eyes 

[Ranjana]

Me too. I had lost my sleep for one night 🙂

[Ranjana]

It will be funny if google map will introduce such games frequently.

[Bernalds73]

I'm Level 6 already. But is it Charlie or Waldo?

[MagdaG]

@Bernalds73

 Both. ☺️

[sojha91]

Ho many of you actually found   Waldo and his other traveller cpmpanions..??

I must say, this game is really fun to play 🤗

[GIREIPAIN]

@sojha91 It was easy I got all of them at all location .Wbu? 

[sojha91]

Yeah.. it was fun searching them all.. I found them all.. I kept revisiting the sites aven after I found all the travekltr companions.. 😀

[GIREIPAIN]

Yes I made my friends to play that too they were scratching their heads and asking Me for help. ...😜 it's good 2 of my friends  joined community just because of that game. ..i got travel companion now 😇hopefully. 

[KarenVChin]

Where's Waldo?  existed before machine learning @VBenedict and it definitely gives your brain a workout! Found this on wikipedia.

Definitely, there were patterns and I believe as you move up each level, it should get harder and harder to find Waldo and his friends.  But that Level 4 World of Fruits by far was the hardest (at least for me) because the overall colors were very similar and blended. There was no color contrasts or just a small batch of color in a sea of blue like the Hollywood scene.

I'm sure we were being timed on how long it took to find each character at each level, and on what device you were using (phone, tablet, or desktop).  I found it interesting that I completed successfully on 6 levels on my phone and when I went to use my iPad the next day (Monday), Google Maps app did not recognize that I already completed the Waldo Challenge on my phone. So, I played it again on my iPad - that darn Tail was still hard to find on a bigger screen!  

I believe the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level. 

Cheers,

Karen

---

@VBenedict wrote:

@KarenVChin  yeaih I saw those rolled ups.  They were way too obvious and out of pattern.  The give away was Wizard Whitebeard in the ski scene. 

Perhaps we, the players, were the learning machines?  

I wondered as I was playing what was going on behind the scenes as we played. What kinds of results or stats were generated and what does it say about humans in this random sample.

Do you by any chance get the impression that there might have been a design pattern or do you suppose that the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level?

I looked for the probability of patterns or some sort of rationalization within the chaos.

Or was the pattern the chaos portrayed within each level.

In any event...

---

[VBenedict]

I knew that these genre of puzzles existed and I have played them on may occasions growing up. Especially when I was given aptitudinal tests but I don't remember Where's Waldo?

Thanks for pointing out his history.

Yes, it is interesting that the system did not recognize you IP . Perhaps it thought it might be another member in the household.

Was it easier the second time?

[VBenedict]

Good Morning @BruceDM  How is your week coming along?

Please review the following reports a tell me if they make any sense to you.  To me they seem to be contradicting each other:

1.

Maps

 2.

Maps

3. =>

Connect

3. =>

What is the "recent contributions" time frame?

[VBenedict]

My beautiful @KarenVChin  Machine Learning has been around since time and memorial.  The following image only depicts recent times:

History & timeline of "Machine Learning"

 Perhaps "Where's Waldo" may have been conceived analogue but the data derived from its metadata is digital.

I assure you that one way or another "Where's Waldo" is being used for  Machine Learning.  Perhaps the drawings has analogue roots, as you stated.

And what an outstanding exercise with such a random large sample.

I recommend you will love the subject since you love Math and more specifically the branch of "Probability & Statistics (Random => Where's Waldo?)

It behooves us all to understand.

---

@KarenVChinwrote:

Where's Waldo?  existed before machine learning @VBenedict and it definitely gives your brain a workout! Found this on wikipedia.

Definitely, there were patterns and I believe as you move up each level, it should get harder and harder to find Waldo and his friends.  But that Level 4 World of Fruits by far was the hardest (at least for me) because the overall colors were very similar and blended. There was no color contrasts or just a small batch of color in a sea of blue like the Hollywood scene.

I'm sure we were being timed on how long it took to find each character at each level, and on what device you were using (phone, tablet, or desktop).  I found it interesting that I completed successfully on 6 levels on my phone and when I went to use my iPad the next day (Monday), Google Maps app did not recognize that I already completed the Waldo Challenge on my phone. So, I played it again on my iPad - that darn Tail was still hard to find on a bigger screen!  

I believe the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level. 

Cheers,

Karen

---

@VBenedictwrote:

@KarenVChin  yeaih I saw those rolled ups.  They were way too obvious and out of pattern.  The give away was Wizard Whitebeard in the ski scene. 

Perhaps we, the players, were the learning machines?  

I wondered as I was playing what was going on behind the scenes as we played. What kinds of results or stats were generated and what does it say about humans in this random sample.

Do you by any chance get the impression that there might have been a design pattern or do you suppose that the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level?

I looked for the probability of patterns or some sort of rationalization within the chaos.

Or was the pattern the chaos portrayed within each level.

In any event...

---

---

[BruceDM]

Hi @VBenedict,

That is actually displaying as intended 🙂

 - A review is counted when you write copy of any place

- A rating is counted for when you add a star rating to a place (you'll get points combined if you do both rating and a review at the same time)

- The likes represent how many total likes you have aggregated across every review you've written. People have the option to like any review - but the like feature doesn't appear for items that are only ratings.

- And then the views are the total views of your ratings by anybody who is reading reviews of a place you visited!

If you like, you can get more details about how all the points work here.

[ArjunMathkar]

Please tell me how to unlock the where's waldos badge .I'm unable to find a way to do it. @

[ayann]

Hello @ArjunMathkar vai that game and badge is over that is no longer available you're slightly late better luck for next time 

[MarinSt]

Hey, @ArjunMathkar, please check out the main post about the Waldo game. Probably the answer of your question is already there.

Please note that I'm merging your post to the thread.

Cheers, 

Marin

[VBenedict]

Thank you for the link @BruceDM  before I contacted you about this topic, I had gone around and read the help pages.

Thus the questions I posed.

[KarenVChin]

If every device has a different IP address and Google is not looking at previous history from my account, then, yes, Google did not recognize that I had already played this game the day before.

As for the second time playing, that Tail was still hard to find! 

It’s also interesting to play the game from a phone then on a tablet. I think it’s harder.

Cheers,

Karen

---

@VBenedict wrote:

I knew that these genre of puzzles existed and I have played them on may occasions growing up. Especially when I was given aptitudinal tests but I don't remember Where's Waldo?

Thanks for pointing out his history.

Yes, it is interesting that the system did not recognize you IP . Perhaps it thought it might be another member in the household.

Was it easier the second time?

---

[KarenVChin]

Thanks for the correction (and education) @VBenedict!

Cheers,

Karen

---

@VBenedict wrote:

My beautiful @KarenVChin  Machine Learning has been around since time and memorial.  The following image only depicts recent times:

History & timeline of "Machine Learning"

 Perhaps "Where's Waldo" may have been conceived analogue but the data derived from its metadata is digital.

I assure you that one way or another "Where's Waldo" is being used for  Machine Learning.  Perhaps the drawings has analogue roots, as you stated.

And what an outstanding exercise with such a random large sample.

I recommend you will love the subject since you love Math and more specifically the branch of "Probability & Statistics (Random => Where's Waldo?)

It behooves us all to understand.

---

@KarenVChinwrote:

Where's Waldo?  existed before machine learning @VBenedict and it definitely gives your brain a workout! Found this on wikipedia.

Definitely, there were patterns and I believe as you move up each level, it should get harder and harder to find Waldo and his friends.  But that Level 4 World of Fruits by far was the hardest (at least for me) because the overall colors were very similar and blended. There was no color contrasts or just a small batch of color in a sea of blue like the Hollywood scene.

I'm sure we were being timed on how long it took to find each character at each level, and on what device you were using (phone, tablet, or desktop).  I found it interesting that I completed successfully on 6 levels on my phone and when I went to use my iPad the next day (Monday), Google Maps app did not recognize that I already completed the Waldo Challenge on my phone. So, I played it again on my iPad - that darn Tail was still hard to find on a bigger screen!  

I believe the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level. 

Cheers,

Karen

---

@VBenedictwrote:

@KarenVChin  yeaih I saw those rolled ups.  They were way too obvious and out of pattern.  The give away was Wizard Whitebeard in the ski scene. 

Perhaps we, the players, were the learning machines?  

I wondered as I was playing what was going on behind the scenes as we played. What kinds of results or stats were generated and what does it say about humans in this random sample.

Do you by any chance get the impression that there might have been a design pattern or do you suppose that the characters' positioning at each level was random and unrelated from level to level?

I looked for the probability of patterns or some sort of rationalization within the chaos.

Or was the pattern the chaos portrayed within each level.

In any event...

---

---

---

[suzQ]

So - I saw Waldo last weekend - but didn't know "what the deal was."

Can I ....report now? what was I supposed to do?

[VBenedict]

Hi @KarenVChin

I am certain that you must be aware that on a "Home Network" every device is assigned a non-routable IP starting with 192.168.1.1 your router.  It is mimicking a subnet and they hang off of your ISP's IPv4 or v6 or both depending on your ISP.

This is likely the reason google was unable to ID you as the same user. i.e., different subnet and of course different MAC addresses per device. 

Assuming that these two devices share one common ISP IP

It the same architecture as your zip code network. The zip code routes first arriving at the PO then the street address, etc.

Did you find the mobile device to be the harder or the Pad? 

Which one did you use first? Or did you switch in the midst?

Why do you suppose the tail was just as difficult to find the second time around?

Did you predispose yourself to forget its locations?

[KarenVChin]

@VBenedict, phone was easier than iPad. Phone was on April 1st. iPad was used the next day.

Finding that darn Tail was hard because it was tiny comparative to the other characters, like find a thread and when I looked for it on a bigger screen for me it was even harder, even looking for it again. 

The iPad screen covers more area so it gives a different perspective than a smaller phone screen if that makes sense.

Cheers,

Karen

[VBenedict]

@KarenVChin. It makes sinse