The Man Who Left the Tourist Traps Off His Map

Mats Stafseng Einarsen spent years building the machinery that funnels millions of travelers toward the same handful of cities. Then he built a game that does the opposite.

Trailmarks, published by his studio Trailmarks HQ, is a travel and trivia adventure that spans 1,000 real-world cities. Yet some of the most famous names in tourism are missing on purpose. Venice, Barcelona, Kyoto, Santorini, and Amsterdam never appear. The reason traces directly back to the man who put them on the map in the first place.

From Recommendation Engines to a Different Kind of Journey

Before Trailmarks, Einarsen founded Booking.com's data science team and built the company's original destination recommendation system. That engine decided which destinations millions of travelers saw on the front page and in their inboxes. He later served as Senior Director of Product at KAYAK and co-authored peer-reviewed research on travel recommendation, including a 2015 paper titled "Where to Go on Your Next Trip?"

In other words, he understands exactly how the world ends up crowding into twenty cities. He helped make it happen.

"I did not just watch this machinery from a distance. I built Booking.com's first destination recommender and published the first research behind it," Einarsen said. "I know exactly how the whole world ends up in the same twenty cities, because I helped make it happen. Venice doesn't need another visitor, and it definitely doesn't need a pin on my map."

That conviction shaped the design of Trailmarks from day one. The exclusions are not about fame. Capital cities remain, because in the game, as in real travel, they serve as a country's front door. Paris, London, Lisbon, and Tokyo are all present. The cut list is reserved for destinations where tourism itself has overwhelmed local life.

Amsterdam, notably, is the only capital that did not survive the cut. A quirk of Dutch governance made the omission possible: the Netherlands is represented instead by The Hague, its seat of government. It is a small detail, but it captures the philosophy behind the whole project. Trailmarks celebrate the places that most maps overlook.

For players tired of the same predictable destinations, the appeal is clear. This is a game that invites exploration beyond the obvious, tests what you know, and surfaces corners of the world you might never have considered. It is travel as it was meant to be experienced: unexpected, personal, and full of discovery.

A Calm, Open World for Curious Minds

In Trailmarks, players circumnavigate the planet as a penniless fact-checker for a travel guide. They earn their way from city to city by answering trivia drawn from a pool of more than 100,000 questions. The subjects range from Los Angeles taco truck culture to Soviet-era metro architecture.

Travel happens by bus, boat, train, or plane, and the smartest route rarely runs through the famous destinations. A chain of bus rides through unfamiliar towns often beats the direct flight. Coastal boat routes open trading opportunities the guidebooks never mention. Along the way, players collect and trade regional souvenirs for money or mood boosts, managing morale as the journey unfolds.

The result is a game that feels calm rather than frantic. There are no reflex tests, no ticking clocks pressuring your every move. Instead, knowledge and reasoning decide how far you can go. It is low-stress exploration built for people who enjoy thinking.

Not Your Average Trivia Game

Trailmarks occupy a space that few games attempt to fill. It draws comparisons to world-spanning travel classics like Carmen Sandiego and 80 Days, yet it plays differently. Where those titles lean on scripted stories, Trailmarks behaves more like a sandbox or open world. Players chart their own course across the globe, free to wander where curiosity leads.

The contrast with typical trivia games is even sharper. Most trivia experiences are quick quizzes measured by player-versus-player scores or leaderboards. Trailmarks offers something richer: a campaign-driven adventure that gives quiz lovers a real structure for their knowledge. There are competitive elements, but the heart of the game is the journey itself. Your knowledge determines how far you travel and how well you thrive.

This blend of open-world freedom and knowledge-based progression sets Trailmarks apart. It rewards curiosity rather than speed, and it treats learning as an adventure rather than a test.

Built for the World, One City at a Time

Trailmarks launched on Steam in March 2026 and is fully localized in nine languages: Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Norwegian, Simplified Chinese, and English. It is available for both Windows and macOS at US$8.99, which makes it an easy entry point for players who want a thoughtful experience without a heavy commitment.

The game reflects the sensibilities of its creator. Einarsen built Trailmarks as an independent studio based in Manly, Australia, drawing on years of experience in travel technology and academic research. That background shows in the detail woven through every route, every trading decision, and every trivia question.

Discover a World Worth Exploring

For those who love trivia, travel, or the quiet thrill of finding somewhere new, Trailmarks offers a journey unlike anything else on Steam. Visitors are welcome to spin the globe, chart their own route across 1,000 real cities, and let their knowledge carry them further than any algorithm ever would. Visit the Steam store to explore the full map, watch the trailer, and begin a circumnavigation today. The world is waiting, and it is bigger than the twenty cities everyone else keeps visiting.

Explore More About Trailmarks HQ

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