Matthew Lee
Staff Writer

Have you wanted to travel the world someday? I’m pretty sure many people have had the dream of flying across continents, hiking the mountains of the Himalayas, trekking the amazon jungle or simply experiencing the nightlife of Tokyo. Well, there’s a way to fly all across the globe from the comfort of your computer screen and have a little fun playing a game at the same time! Geoguessr is an ingenious web browser game that allows players to explore a random place in the world and try to guess where exactly in the world they are.

Geoguessr puts you in a random location in the world with the ability to use Google Street View to see around your current location. Accompanied by the map is a compass, as well as zoom in/out buttons to widen or narrow your field of view. Additionally, you are able to navigate distances around the area to look for clues that might help you determine your precise location. Key elements to look out for are street signs, people, landmarks and buildings. With each of these things, one should be able to determine the language, type of people and style of architecture, crucial elements which will aid your quest for the correct answer.

The game has two modes, single player and challenge. In single player mode, you can go solo and Geoguess your location for a chance to obtain the high score in the leaderboard. In the challenge mode, you are able to set a time limit and play Geoguessr with a group of friends to see who is the most geographically aware person in your friend group. It’s a great game to share with friends and it’s nice to go head-to-head and earn bragging rights on being the most likely to survive if stranded in random areas around the world.

If the whole-wide world is too much of a stretch, Geoguessr also has modes where you are only dropped in designated locations such as within certain continents, countries, states, cities, or famous landmarks. One of my favorite modes was New York City, as I got to see a few of the Big Apple’s popular attractions such as Times Square and the World Trade Center.

Geoguessr is a free-to-play game, but it also has a pro mode, where paid users are able to create their own custom Geoguessr games with locations of their choosing such as “European Stadiums” or “US Capital Cities”. It does require payment to create these special Geoguessr games, but it does not require any money to play them.

The game was a great experience for myself; I spent quite a bit of time traveling the world and even learning new countries and cities I’d never heard of. Playing this simple yet interesting game really blew my mind because it really showcases how far technology has come to provide pinpoint maps of places around the world in real time using a global positioning device. Usually, GPS’s are used for navigating automobiles and ships, but it’s unique that someone converted a useful device of technology to a fun pastime that anyone can play.

Overall, Geoguessr is a really unique idea that is conveniently easy and free-to-play. It is an educational game which can inform players about the locations around the world and even build survival skills which can help people identify coordinates when they are lost, especially if traveling abroad somewhere. Spend the time to explore more of the world and sharpen survival skills. But be warned, Geoguessr has been known to be addictive.