2020 Summer Throwback: Randonautica

A look back at the “quantumly generated” app, and the controversies around it.

By: KJ Inskeep

An app that leads a group of teenagers to a suitcase containing human remains sounds a lot like the plot of a young adult novel or a Netflix series, but it was all too real in the summer of 2020. The app Randonautica became an internet sensation in the midst of the pandemic, in part because it encouraged people to go outside and explore the area around them, often leading people to previously unknown trails and greenspaces. I myself used the app that summer, and it took me to a paved trail near my work that I hadn’t known about before, despite having searched for the best places to hike and walk nearby. People were fascinated by the app because it seemed to show you what you wanted to find; Randonautica encourages users to set intentions when generating points, and many reported seeing things that related to their intentions as they explored. 

Every app, however, has a dark side. The app had its fair share of problems. On the less severe side of things, the app often led people to private property, with some users deciding to trespass instead of just exploring elsewhere. Unfortunately, it gets worse. Late last summer, a group of teenagers on the West Coast were using the app to explore near a pier, during which the app led them to a spot near an abandoned suitcase. Upon opening the suitcase the teenagers were met with the bodies of two murder victims. This is now what Randonautica is known for, and the popularity of the app quickly died out after this unfortunate incident. 

Randonautica is still available on the app store and is actually much more user friendly now than it was a year and a half ago. All of the controversies and general disapproval from the public has not stopped the developers from continuing to improve the app, and with the new improvements and the fact that the pandemic is still ongoing, I wouldn’t be surprised if it made a comeback in the near future.