Show HN: Time Portal – Get dropped into history, guess where you landed

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall Reception and Concept

  • Many commenters found the game “addictive,” “brilliant,” and likened the feeling to first playing GeoGuessr or TimeGuessr, with praise for the polished UI/UX.
  • Several see it as a fresh, compelling use of AI video, a fun history-focused alternative to word/geo quiz games and a potential party/Jackbox-style game.
  • Some parents and teachers report kids and classes loving it and see clear educational potential if content and accuracy improve.

Scoring System Feedback

  • Widespread view that scoring is too harsh: being within tens of years and ~100–200 km often yields only ~70–75% of possible points, which feels demotivating.
  • Multiple requests for:
    • Transparent explanation of the scoring formula.
    • Non-linear/logarithmic time scoring (more tolerance for older events).
    • Country-aware or “nearby but same country” bonuses, and softer distance penalties.
    • Small dead zone around the true location where distance doesn’t significantly hurt.
  • Some defend the difficulty as necessary to allow a high skill ceiling but still think clarity and tuning are needed.

AI Video Accuracy and Anachronisms

  • Major thread: AI imagery is often temporally and geographically wrong or “cinematic,” making hints feel like red herrings.
    • Examples: wrong architecture, generic “Asian warriors,” modern smokestacks in medieval China, mixups of Alaska vs DC, Vatican vs “Rome,” Towton/War of the Roses visuals, Aksum monuments, Nika riots in the Colosseum, weapons/armor errors.
  • History enthusiasts and professionals find this frustrating or “disturbing,” arguing it can miseducate and turns the game into “guess the prompt” rather than history recognition.
  • Others are more forgiving, treating the videos as imaginative “vibes” that still spark curiosity, and the first AI video use that feels genuinely fun.
  • Suggestions include using real photos/paintings, AI augmentations of authentic artifacts, img2vid from historical images, or era/location-specific fine-tuning (e.g., LoRAs).

Ethical / Epistemic Concerns

  • Some commenters are strongly opposed to AI-generated history at all, calling it “slop” and “anti-learning” that risks cementing false mental images.
  • Others argue it’s acceptable if clearly labeled as imaginative and paired with links or resources for deeper, accurate learning.

UI, Gameplay, and Feature Suggestions

  • Confusion about initial interaction (the main “Place your guess” button not obvious), and several browser/platform bugs (blank videos, disappearing date button, back-gesture conflicts).
  • Timeline slider is hard to use precisely; people propose faster step controls, era markers (Bronze Age, etc.), and/or a logarithmic scale.
  • Map could better reflect historical borders and allow more precise or continent-level hints.
  • Requests for PG/less-violent mode, classroom-friendly settings, more explanation of events post-round, and animated, more rewarding score summaries.

Monetization and Product Direction

  • Creator explains a pivot from an AI video-creation tool to building consumer apps using AI video, with Time Portal currently free on web and iOS.
  • One commenter frames this as a smart move: competing at the application layer rather than as a foundation model, with encouragement to keep iterating on games and distribution.