''GeoGuessr'' is a geographical

browser game A browser game or a "flash game" is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Some browser games are also available as mobile apps, PC games, or on c ...

created by Anton Wallén in which players guess locations from street view imagery. It was launched in May 2013. The game features multiple game modes for both singleplayer and

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

competitions. The game has been described as an educational tool for geography; by playing, players can learn location-specific characteristics such as

writing system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...

soil type A soil type is a taxonomic unit in soil science. All soils that share a certain set of well-defined properties form a distinctive soil type. Soil type is a technical term of soil classification, the science that deals with the systematic categoriz ...

s, or

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

Gameplay

Modes

The "classic" ''GeoGuessr'' game mode consists of five rounds, each showing a different street view location. The player scores more points (to a maximum of 5,000) depending on how close to the actual photo location they guess. Games may be user-generated or random. Alternative game modes include ''Battle Royale'', a multiplayer last man standing game; duels, a two-player head-to-head competition; streaks, where players identify countries,

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s, or world cities until they guess incorrectly; and explorer mode, a single-player game where medals are awarded for accuracy in individual countries. In 2022, ''GeoGuessr'' acquired the geography quiz site

Seterra Seterra is a website and app with quizzes on geography and science. It is a part of GeoGuessr. About 1 million games are played every day. 4 million new users each month play the game. Gameplay In Seterra, the player can choose a map quiz, a ...

, and implemented a quiz mode combining standard street view gameplay with trivia questions.

Interface

The game's

HUD Hud or HUD may refer to: Entertainment * ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman * ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film * ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program Places * Hud, Fa ...

primarily features the Google Street View imagery, as well as a compass. Users can control the movement, panning, and zooming of the image, although ''GeoGuessr'' allows any of these features to be disabled for harder gameplay. An inset map, using

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

's standard overlay, allows players to place a pin to make their guess.

Strategy

Users may interpret their location from the photographs by reading

road signage Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...

, finding the relative

position of the Sun The position of the Sun in the sky is a function of both the time and the geographic location of observation on Earth's surface. As Earth orbits the Sun over the course of a year, the Sun appears to move with respect to the fixed stars on the cel ...

, identifying

and

s, and learning

diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...

s specific to particular

s. Players can also make use of Street View

metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

to ascertain their location – for example, the Street View vehicle that captured imagery in

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...

was unique in that it was green and had white

roof rack A roof rack is a set of bars secured to the roof of a motor car. It is used to carry bulky items such as luggage, bicycles, canoes, kayaks, skis, or various carriers and containers. They allow users of an automobile to transport objects on ...

Distribution

''GeoGuessr'' has both free and paid (

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

) memberships. The free mode restricts users to 5 minutes' game play every 15 minutes. Paid memberships are 2.99 per month.

Development

The game was designed by Swedish

IT consultant In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) is a field of activity which focuses on advising or ...

Anton Wallén in 2013. Wallen loved to visit faraway locations on

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...

, and initially designed a

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Progra ...

to generate a random location in Street View before deciding to add a competitive element. The game's development took approximately 2 weeks' work, and uses the

Backbone.js Backbone.js is a JavaScript rich-client web app framework based on the model–view–controller design paradigm, intended to connect to an API over a RESTful JSON interface. Backbone is known for being lightweight, as its only hard dependency i ...

JavaScript library A JavaScript library is a library of pre-written JavaScript code that allows for easier development of JavaScript-based applications, especially for AJAX and other web-centric technologies. Libraries With the expanded demands for JavaScript, an ea ...

and the

Google Maps API Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View) ...

for games using Google Street View. Wallén posted the completed game to

Google Chrome Experiments Google Chrome Experiments is an online showroom of web browser based experiments, interactive programs, and artistic projects. Launched on March 1, 2009, Google Chrome Experiments is an official Google website that was originally meant to test t ...

on 10 May 2013. As well as English, the game is available in eight other languages: Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

s for ''GeoGuessr'' are available on the Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

platforms.

Reception

The launch of the game in May 2013 was described as successful, with the game instantly going viral. Upon its release, the game was described as "insanely addictive." The start of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

triggered a renewed interest in the game and it also had a second peak in March 2021. Interest in the game has been propagated on platforms such as

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

, where notable users such as Ludwig, Georainbolt, and

GeoWizard Thomas George Davies (born ) better known online as GeoWizard, is a British YouTuber and adventurer known for his skill in playing the internet geography game ''GeoGuessr'' and his "straight line mission" adventures. Career Growing up in Aldrid ...

have recorded or streamed themselves playing the game. The game has been cited as an educational tool by helping users to "develop critical skills to analyze

geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

and

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...

s", and it has been suggested that the game could enhance geographical education within the classroom. ''GeoGuessr'' users have criticised some of the photographic coverage used in the game. Locations such as

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

used third-party and unofficial imagery, and ''GeoGuessr'' players have described some of this media as grainy, blurry, and over- or under-

exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

. World Travel in 360, the organisation that led the programme to supply coverage of Zanzibar, stated that "

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

mapping is better than nothing".

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Official, www.geoguessr.com 2013 video games Android (operating system) games Browser games Geography educational video games Google Street View IOS games Multiplayer video games Battle royale games Video games developed in Sweden Video games with customizable avatars