4 days ago
Viral fandom map Wplace takes Utah by storm
Welcome to Salt Lake City, where Hilbert charges through Glendale, Raymond the Cat watches over Liberty Park, and a potential sapphic romance blooms in Emigration Canyon between Stardew Valley's Haley and Melina from Elden Ring.
State of play: Utah's gamers and other fandoms are frantically staking out territory on Wplace, a viral new community drawing site where users can make their mark on a world map, one pixel at a time.
As of Wednesday, Salt Lake had acquired the nation's ninth-most pixels since Wplace launched, per the site's regional rankings.
How it works: You can paint anywhere on Earth — and SLC, like most places, is heavily colonized by video game characters.
Film and TV deep cuts are joining the mix, along with memes, local landmarks and sports mascots.
The big picture: The site has become a virtual graffiti wall, with users constantly modifying or replacing existing art.
The intrigue: Artists start with a bank of pixels, which replenishes one every 30 seconds.
That means time is of the essence. Fandoms often rendezvous to overwhelm a place with their chosen images — or complete one so impressive that other fans will guard it from vandals.
Case in point: West Valley City has been consumed by a sprawling, now-viral scene from the game Deltarune.
Plop a zombified piglin on top of it, and expect to be swiftly erased by Dreemurr defenders.
Zoom in: Other elaborate images have appeared at the Salt Lake City Temple, the Delta Center and the Ninth & Ninth Whale.
Zoom out: Fans of the adult furry visual novel " Echo" have decorated the eponymous Summit County hamlet, while Elmo, in Emery County, is home to the "Sesame Street" character.
What they're saying: " Looking at the Wplace map is so weird because it reminds me that cool people that I share interests with actually exist near me??" one user posted on X. "Like ... theres Ultrakill and Deltarune fans in Utah."
Friction point: Some users have drawn battle lines over identity and ideology.
