Maps of US State Borders Drawn From Memory Reveal Square States Are Hardest to Guess

Map expert Matt Forrest broke down a composite map of players’ guesses from Borderline, a free game by Habibi Code where people redraw US state borders from memory. He found that deceptively simple square states, such as Colorado and North Dakota, were the least accurate, while Illinois and Indiana scored highest.

The best state is Illinois at 96.5 with Indiana right behind it at 94.1. And I think the reason for this is that Illinois is mostly made up of rivers, the Mississippi on one side and the Ohio on the other.

Players hoping to do better might take a cue from former Senator Al Franken, who once drew a map of the US from memory during a radio appearance at the Minnesota State Fair.

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Al Franken Drawing Map of US From Memory
Lori Dorn

Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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