A Year Later, Google’s Middle-Earth Map is Much Better

A little over a year ago, I called Google’s Middle-Earth Map experiment “mundane“. But now, that is no longer the case. What started as a portion of Middle-Earth featuring three, then six, semi-explorable locations from The Hobbit storyline (except for The Trollshaws and Rivendell, nothing from The Lord of the Rings) has expanded significantly into a full…

Hogwarts Is Here: Take Classes at Hogwarts

All aboard the Hogwarts Express! Finally, you have an opportunity to take classes—yes, real, actual classes—at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Okay, so it’s not actually Hogwarts. But it’s the closest thing to actually attending Hogwarts that we’re going to get. Yes, closer than any video game—even Pottermore. Actually, in my opinion, this is what Pottermore…

A Conversation with Smaug

Three weeks ago, I posted about the Middle-Earth Map Chrome Experiment. At that time, one location was still locked. That location, the Lonely Mountain, has since been opened. Honestly, I think that it features the most interesting interactive content yet—of any of the five previous locations. You enter the Lonely Mountain. Smaug addresses you, as…

A Mundane Middle-Earth Map

When Google announced that they were creating a Middle-Earth map, I was frankly very excited. The best map that I have of Middle-Earth currently resides within the Lord of the Rings Online video game, and even then, it’s a game map, which means that it’s embellished by game features. It’s a very detailed map, and…