Discover America's Hidden History

QuestGiver turns historical markers, memorials and scenic stops into quests: you earn them by actually being there.

How it works

Open the map, pick a stop, go there. The app checks that you are at the marker, then the rest is yours to keep.

Check in on site

A check-in only counts when your GPS puts you at the marker. The server verifies the distance, and each marker can be completed once.

XP and levels

Every check-in earns XP, with bonuses for stops few people have visited. XP builds levels and a player card you can show.

Achievements

Streaks, firsts, early-morning and late-night stops, and regional milestones collect in an Achievement Book.

"Worth the stop?"

After a check-in you give a quick yes or no. Travelers' votes, not the app, decide how a stop is rated.

Hidden Gem tiers

Quests are colored by how travelers rated them, from Poor and Mixed through Worth the Stop to Highly Recommended. A Hidden Gem is a stop that travelers love and few have found.

  • Not Recommended
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Worth the Stop
  • Highly Recommended
  • Hidden Gem

In the app

Screens from the Android test build.

Quest map of downtown Austin with quest pins and a count of 50 quests nearby
The quest map: stops near you.
Quest card for the First Austin Capitol showing the plaque inscription with an OpenStreetMap credit and link
Read the Plaque: the inscription as recorded, with credit and a link.
Quest card showing a Wikipedia extract with a link and a CC BY-SA 4.0 notice
Source text, credited and linked, with its license.
Quest card with a Field notes list of type, memorial, material and year, and a note that no written history is on file
No source text? Just the facts, and an honest note.
Quest Complete dialog showing 135 XP and three bonuses
Check in on site to earn XP.
Worth the stop? prompt with Worth It and Skip It buttons
"Worth the stop?" Travelers rate each stop.
Achievement Book with earned and locked achievements
The Achievement Book.
Player card showing level, XP and earned badges
The player card.

By the numbers

The live quest database, counted on 19 October 2026.

67,769
quests
34,009
historical markers
50
states

Quests are the markers plus named scenic stops (viewpoints, waterfalls, caves, lighthouses). Locations come from OpenStreetMap.

For historical organizations

QuestGiver sends people to your markers. It is built to do that respectfully.

  • Word for word. Where the app shows a marker's text, it shows it exactly as the source has it. We do not rewrite, summarize or embellish it.
  • Credit and a link. Every marker that uses source text shows where it came from, with the license where there is one, and a link back to the source.
  • Updates or removal on request. If you want text corrected, credited differently or taken down, tell us and it is done.
  • Where there is no text, we say nothing. A stop with no source shows only its facts (type, material, year) and a note that no written history is on file. Nothing is invented to fill the gap.
  • Planned: player reports. Players will be able to report a marker that is missing, damaged or moved, so the people who care for these sites hear about it.

Status

Pre-launch. QuestGiver is in testing on Android and iOS and is not yet in the app stores.

Contact

QuestGiver@c0destuff.com