Earlier this week at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, the State Department showed a map of Africa with six countries highlighted. Each country was identified incorrectly along with the funding amounts. Reuters suggested it was created with OpenAI tools; the State Department took “full responsibility” and blamed a “team member.” At least, in this day and age of alternative facts, they didn’t insist they were correct.

As someone who has been trying to learn geography in general and the countries of Africa specifically, I can attest to the fact that it is challenging. There are a lot of countries, many with similar names, some located within the boundaries of others, and some offshore. I have been using an app recommended by a former student who taught history and geography: Seterra.

Seterra is part of GeoGuessr, which used to be a very entertaining and free geography game based on Google Maps. Now it appears to require a subscription, but Seterra is free! You can use it to learn countries, flags, and capitals of the world either online or via the app. Since geography would be my weakest Jeopardy category, I have always wanted to get better at it. (No, I am not applying for Jeopardy. I might know the answers, but my response time is probably too slow. Plus, and here’s the important point, I have no interest in being on Jeopardy.)

Fortunately, there is a free, unlimited version of a GeoGuessr game called OpenGuessr, developed by PaulPlay. You get dropped somewhere in the world and use the clues to guess your location. The closer you get, the higher your score.

I can recommend both games as entertaining and educational and wholesome alternatives to doom scrolling where we are reminded yet again of the kakistocracy in which we live.