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Comment by fermigier | Hacker News Reader

I have mixed feelings about this.

The "Flash Invaders" app fosters a (friendly) competition among Invaders fans (often, families), so publishing a map is a way of distorting the competition (i.e. "cheating") and so, a bit unfortunate, IMHO.

OTOH, I can appreciate that some people could prefer to enjoy Invader's art in a more systematic way (i.e. planning a stroll with this as an explicit goal).

But for me, discovery and serendipity are part of the game.

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Author here, I agree with this sentiment! Just wanted to note that it's not the first map: there is an unofficial iOS app with a full Paris map and another web map easily findable on Google. I just didn't like any of the existing maps:). More context and making-of of this map -> https://newsletter.pnote.eu/p/mapping-space-invader-mosaics-...

Also: "To accompany his citywide installations, or "Invasions", Invader publishes books and maps as guides to the locations of his mosaics."

AFAIK, they’re extremely difficult to find ( and expensive).

Agreed. My son and I have settled on a hybrid version : prepare the hunt, but don’t use ready made maps.

We use Flickr,Google, Invader spotter, and slowly build a map of a specific area. Some of them we will then find from said map, others we will find while walking around randomly. Preparing properly can take several hours, so it feels like playing.

This, and if I’m honest, my son loves the anticipation that comes with the prep (‘that one’s beautiful, I want to see it for real’), and so do I.

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