Lost in Call of Duty maps - interview with CodGuessr co-creator

In the years since Wordle exploded onto the scene, we've seen hundreds of niche puzzle games rise to tease brains on the daily. Gamers have enjoyed the likes of Guess the Game for well over a year, but Call of Duty experts are finally able to test their knowledge with CodGuessr.

The premise is simple, but addictive. Players have six chances to correctly guess a map based on the screenshots and hints provided. Correct guesses are rewarded with a triumphant "target neutralized", while failures hear a devastating "mission failed - we'll get 'em next time."

Zombies fans aren't left for dead - maps from the various undead modes can appear in the line-up alongside their multiplayer counterparts. Archives of previous days' puzzles are also available for anyone looking to go on a guessing spree.

Credit: CodGuessr

We spoke to CodGuessr co-creator Ellis Foot on all things Call of Duty, the inspirations and challenges that paved the way to CodGuessr, and what, if anything, is planned for the future.

He begins by sharing the pair's storied history with Call of Duty. "My friend and I have played COD for years; myself since Call of Duty 4 in 2007, and my friend since World at War", he tells us. "We've loved it ever since, and play multiplayer, Zombies, or Warzone together most nights."

It's clear that CodGuessr stands on the shoulders of puzzle game giants, with Foot mentioning Framed and GeoGuessr as specific inspirations. "We thought CodGuessr would be a fun game for the [Call of Duty] community to play. We'd never built a website before, so our plans for the future are to keep making improvements with feedback from players." A CodGuessr twitter account is in the works, but for now, players can give feedback via Reddit DMs.

The creative process is full of challenges, whether it be making a triple-A video game or websites like CodGuessr. We asked what the biggest challenges were, and the first-time creator shared that it was as simple as being adaptable. "Quite a few times, we thought [a feature] would be a really good idea, but [the result] was nothing like what we had in our heads and had to be changed."

Anyone who's tried to make a website can empathize with how difficult it can be. CodGuessr's archive of the previous day's challenges proved to be an obstacle; Foot recalls that it was "tough [to get working]". He stresses that the pair is "still learning, so there are more features that we want to add and improve on, like the drop-down menu and social sharing functions."

Foot's advice to anyone inspired by CodGuessr is to "keep it simple, don't try to be too fancy." It's a lesson that he learned the hard way, sharing "One of the changes we had to make from the first prototype [involved] the buttons that took you to the archive or explained the game. We stupidly put these features behind really obscure icons that looked cool, but unsurprisingly no one found or clicked on them, so we had to make it more user-friendly".

Being a fan of a series like Call of Duty for 15 years can have its highs and lows. Describing himself as an "old-school Zombies fan", we asked if there's anything Foot would like to see the series bring back from its earlier days. "I'd love them to bring back the classic round-based games. Mob of the Dead was my all-time favourite, and Prop Hunt was also an absolute blast to play with friends. In fact, party games in general like Gun Fight and One In The Chamber are always fun in private lobbies with mates".

Digging up old map screenshots is sure to bring on the nostalgia, which Foot confirmed, "going through the old games and selecting the photos for CodGuessr has been a lot of fun, and definitely brought back old memories of running home to jump on after school".

We learned that CodGuessr is prepared for the future, with "over 500 maps ready to drop, one per day. We are thinking of doing an easier mode - maybe something that gives a [binary] choice of what map it could be. We drop a hint on guess 6 to help, but some of these maps might not have been played by people in 10 years, so it's not always easy to remember all the names."

While CodGuessr has a map stockpile representing Zombies and Call of Duty games from as far back as 2011, we wanted to know if the 2003 original or any spinoffs would appear. "We will definitely look to bring in CoD 1-3 at some point. A lot less people will know those maps as they haven't been remastered in the newer games, but we think we might include one a month as a bonus round for those die hard fans."

Finally, we learned that Call of Duty may just be the beginning. "We'd like to create a community outside the site [with] custom games, tournaments and more. We also hope to apply the game's framework to other games we love like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Grand Theft Auto in the future."

We've been hard at work writing all kinds of Modern Warfare 3 guides, and while the mainline series may be stagnating, it's great to see fans get creative and give back to the communities they love with projects like CodGuessr.