If you’ve been on the internet in the past few years, you’ve probably heard of the game GeoGuessr. But if you haven’t, are you living under a rock or something? Let me clue you in anyways. GeoGuessr is an online game where you get placed somewhere random in the world using Google Street View and you have to figure out where you are.
GeoGuessr debuted in 2013 as just a simple browser game created by a man named Anton Wallen. But nowadays in 2024, it is much different. The game wasn’t very big from 2013-2020, but it did maintain a decent-sized active community. As GeoGuessr became a bit more popular thanks to creators like Geowizard, a much bigger community was formed. Players all across the world started sharing videos of themselves playing GeoGuessr on YouTube and streaming platforms like Twitch. This allowed other people to showcase their GeoGuessr abilities.
The game got even better when Google Street View updated its coverage. This new coverage allowed for higher quality images, making it easier to see clues and thus figure out where you are in the world. When GeoGuessr was gaining popularity, the developers took notice and decided to add new game modes like country streaks and more multiplayer options, appealing to a more competitive style of play.
A major boost to GeoGuessr’s popularity came from Trevor Rainbolt, who you may know as GeoRainbolt. He was one of the first creators to showcase his incredible skill of identifying a location on GeoGuessr in 0.1 seconds on YouTube and TikTok. His videos dropped many jaws, including mine, showing that GeoGuessr can legitimately be a competitive game. Rainbolt’s videos inspired others to try and master this insane skill and become professional GeoGuessr players. Many people were actually able to successfully do this and professionally compete in GeoGuessr tournaments.
my head hurts pic.twitter.com/PHoAHkNsyS
— rainbolt (@georainbolt) August 1, 2022
With more and more people playing competitively, a professional scene started to form. Many players began studying what made a country unique, whether it be a telephone pole, bollards, or road structure you name it, people were studying it. Different platforms like Twitch and YouTube helped make GeoGuessr widely recognized as a competitive game. The community played a big part in shaping the competitive scene. They started organising tournaments and created various resources to help new players improve at the game.
The developers of GeoGuessr added features like leaderboards and custom game modes to support competitive play. GeoGuessr’s journey from just a simple browser game to a competitive one highlights the power of community and technology. Content creators like GeoRainbolt helped demonstrate the game’s potential, inspiring many others. Today, GeoGuessr continues to grow as a competitive game, engaging players around the world.