Now available on the App Store

Every Place Has a Story.
Terratales Tells It.

Tap anywhere on the map and hear the hidden history, forgotten folklore, and untold stories of the world around you. Start with 15 free stories — no subscription required.

Download on the App StoreSee How It Works

Free on iPhone & iPad · Mac Catalyst · 15 stories included

Tap. Listen. Discover.

Watch Terratales narrate a location with real-time karaoke-style word highlighting.

Tap the speaker icon to hear the story come alive

Three taps to a story

No tour bookings, no research, no planning. Just open the app and explore.

1

Open the Map

Terratales shows you an interactive 3D map wherever you are. Pan, zoom, tilt, and explore anywhere on the planet — from the street you’re standing on to a village across the world.

2

Tap a Location

Tap any spot on the map. Terratales uses AI to research the location and generate a story tailored to that exact place, scale, and your chosen storytelling style.

3

Listen & Learn

A professional-quality voice narrates the story while you follow along with a karaoke-style transcript. Explore on foot or from the couch — every place has a story.

Nine voices. One storyteller.

Terratales automatically selects the perfect narrative voice for each story based on your subject and fantasy level — blending styles for variety and depth.

Cultural Historian

Grounded and human-centered. Connects place to people and time, explaining why a location matters — not just what happened there.

Observational Naturalist

Precise, quietly curious. Builds understanding step-by-step with specific details — species, materials, geological systems.

Folklore Weaver

Mysterious and suggestive. Blends reality with legend, leaving some ambiguity — because not every story should be fully explained.

Campfire Storyteller

Conversational and engaging. Speaks directly to you with narrative hooks, light embellishment, and the occasional twist.

Plus five more: Adventure Narrator, Lyrical Reflective, Scientific Interpreter, Design & Structure Lens, and Everyday Human Moment.

Four ways to experience a place

Slide the fantasy dial and change how Terratales tells the story.

Cartographic Historian

Strict facts. Real events, real dates, real people. Like having a history professor narrate your walk.

Narrative Storyteller

Real places, dramatized scenes. The facts are true, but you’ll feel like you’re there when it happened.

Mythological Storyteller

Real geography woven with folklore, legends, and the myths locals have passed down for generations.

Fantasy Storyteller

The landscape inspires a fully original tale. Dragons in the mountains, ancient empires beneath the streets.

Built for the curious

Everything you need to turn any journey into a story-rich adventure.

Works Anywhere on Earth

Every location has a story. Terratales draws on history, geography, culture, ecology, architecture, and folklore to craft stories for any place — from major cities to remote trails.

Voice-Narrated Stories

Every story is read aloud by a natural-sounding AI voice. Follow along with a live transcript that highlights each word in sync — perfect for walks, hikes, or hands-free listening.

Zoom-Aware Intelligence

Stories adapt to your zoom level. Zoomed in on a street corner? Get hyper-local details. Zoomed out to a region? Get sweeping narratives that connect the bigger picture.

Ask Questions by Voice

Long-press the story button and ask anything: “What happened here during the Gold Rush?” or “Tell me about the wildlife in this area.” Terratales listens, understands, and responds.

3D Terrain

Tilt, rotate, and exaggerate terrain to see the landscape in dramatic relief. Mountains, valleys, and coastlines rendered in three dimensions.

Real-Time Streaming

Stories start playing in seconds, not minutes. Terratales streams text and audio simultaneously with gapless double-buffered playback — no waiting for the full story to generate.

Every kind of explorer

Whether you’re on foot, on wheels, or on the couch — Terratales makes every place fascinating.

Road Trips & Train Rides

Passing through unfamiliar territory? Let Terratales narrate the story of the landscape around you. Turn any train ride, layover, or cross-country trip into an audio documentary.

Hiking & Nature Walks

Found an old farmhouse, an abandoned mine, or a strange rock formation on the trail? Tap it on the map. Terratales will tell you what happened there — the geology, the history, the legends the locals tell.

Travel & Tourism

Skip the generic tour guide. Terratales is a personal storyteller for every city and village you visit. Explore neighborhoods, landmarks, and hidden gems with narrated stories that go deeper than any guidebook.

Armchair Exploration

Curious about a place you’ve never been? Pan the map to the Sahara, the Scottish Highlands, or a tiny island in the Pacific. Tap. Listen. Discover stories you never knew existed — all from your couch.

Frequently asked questions

What is Terratales?

Terratales is an AI-powered cartographic storyteller. It’s an app that transforms any location on Earth into a rich, narrated story. Tap anywhere on the map — a street corner, a mountain trail, a coastal village — and Terratales generates and narrates a story about that place, drawing on history, folklore, culture, and geography.

How does it generate stories?

Terratales uses advanced AI language models combined with geographic and contextual data to produce stories specific to each location. The app considers your zoom level, storytelling mode, subject focus, and any voice questions you ask. Nine distinct narrative voices are automatically blended based on your settings to create a unique experience every time.

Is Terratales free?

Terratales is free to download and includes 15 stories to explore right away — no subscription required. Because stories are generated by AI, which requires real computational resources, ongoing use is supported through an affordable $4.99/month subscription (50 stories) or one-time story packs.

What platforms is Terratales available on?

Terratales is available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac (via Mac Catalyst) on the App Store. A progressive web app (PWA) that runs on any device with a web browser is on our roadmap.

Can I use it while hiking or traveling?

Absolutely. Terratales was designed for exactly this. Stories are narrated aloud so you can listen hands-free. When you come across something interesting — an old bridge, ruins, a scenic overlook — just tap the map or long-press and ask a question. Terratales tells you the story.

Does it work without an internet connection?

Terratales requires an internet connection to generate stories, since stories are created on demand by AI. The map itself can display cached tiles if you’ve viewed an area recently. The app handles spotty connections gracefully with automatic retries and reconnection.

How is Terratales different from a regular tour guide app?

Traditional tour guide apps have a fixed database of landmarks with pre-written descriptions. Terratales generates original, unique stories for any location on Earth — including places no tour guide has ever covered. You can adjust the storytelling style from strict history to full fantasy, choose from six subject areas, and ask follow-up questions by voice.

Start exploring today

Download Terratales and hear the stories the world has been keeping. 15 free stories included — no subscription required.

Free on iPhone, iPad & Mac