Geoguessr Tips Every Player Should Know

Guest Contributor: Tim K

What began as a lowkey, casual game with a small (but loyal) fanbase in the pre-2020s exploded in just a few short years to become one of the most popular titles out there. GeoGuessr feels like a celebration of our planet that you can take as seriously or as lightheartedly as you want.

Despite its popularity, many people still haven’t tried their hand at this addictive game. Even for those of you who have, there’s always room to improve. With both groups in mind, here’s a quick yet complete guide filled with tips for GeoGuessr that will have you nailing that perfect score in no time.

The premise of this game is straightforward: guess where you are. Specifically, each turn of GeoGuessr requires you to guess the geographical location of a Google Street View result.

For example, you may find yourself peering down a stretch of highway, “parked” on a suburban street or even stuck in the middle of nowhere. These are all real places that you can really visit. Take a look around using Google Street View’s features (more on this below), gather clues, and prepare to make your guess.

When you’re ready to guess, you will zoom in on a map of the entire Earth and pinpoint where you think the image is, geographically speaking. You will then be awarded up to 5,000 points based on how close you were to the mark. Miss by just a few miles, and you’re in the high 4k range. Miss by a whole hemisphere, and not so much.

GeoGuessr may masquerade as a geography game, but really, it’s a detective game. It gets its addictive nature from the constant sniffing out of clues, getting closer and closer with each guess. Plus, did you know that learning new things releases dopamine in the brain? It’s no wonder this game is hooking more and more casual players and pros alike!

If you’ve never played GeoGuessr or used Google Street View before, it will take just a couple of minutes of poking around to familiarize yourself with the display and the controls.

Clicking the arrows located near the middle of the screen will allow you to move short distances. This is especially helpful when you’re trying to read street signs, storefronts, billboards, and so on.

You can zoom in or out, place pins as checkpoints while you “travel,” and use the compass to see which direction you’re facing in.

As far as the gameplay, it’s about as simple as it gets. The way we do it at Arkadium is that you get three guesses per day when you play GeoGuessr daily and a bonus guess afterward. Look around, gather clues, and make sure you guess before the time limit is up.

Of course, anyone can learn the basics in just a few minutes and play for fun. If you want to be as great as the incomparable Rainbolt, however, you’ll need to have incredible attention to detail and plenty of geography knowledge.

You never know what that next image will be when playing GeoGuessr. As such, you need to be able to recognize even the most obscure clues, from road signs and symbols to foliage and more.

You don’t have to be a polyglot by any means to recognize certain linguistic patterns and characters in GeoGuessr, which can at least place you within the right region of the world.

For example, if you’re able to find a street sign that contains word endings like “-oix” and “-ieux,” you’re probably in a French-speaking country. Or, if you see word endings like “-ado” or “-ero,” you may be in a Spanish-speaking country.

If you can recognize the general features of Spanish, French, Slavic, German, African, and Asian languages, among others, this is one of the best GeoGuessr tips to help you tighten your guess radius and score big.

Did you know that speed signs in New Zealand are usually circular? Or that Spanish pedestrian crossing signs depict the highest number of stripes in all of Europe? Every country incorporates a number of distinct features into their road signs, which can be a dead giveaway to those in the know. This is one of the best GeoGuessr tips and tricks for beginners and pros alike.

For those not tapped into gaming lingo, “meta” refers to a particular item or strategy players widely adopt to gain a significant advantage. One of the most powerful tips for GeoGuessr players, the “Google Car Meta,” refers to using the street car’s appearance to determine which country the image comes from.

For example, Google Street cars in Panama use a very unique-looking antenna, and the typical Google Street car in Kenya has a snorkel riser. Recognize these sneaky little clues, and you can guarantee your guess will be in the correct country.

Just because you may be unable to make out any street signs, major landmarks, or even the street car itself doesn’t mean you can’t take full advantage of the terrain, plants, and other features.

Knowing your tree species is high on the list of GeoGuessr tips and tricks. Some trees are very distinctive in their appearance and are only grown in small regions. Elevation changes (flat or mountainous?), soil types, the position of the sun, rock formations, and other natural features can all speak volumes to the one who is versed in their languages.

We could spout off hack after hack and meta after meta, and the right GeoGuessr strategies are, in fact, helpful, but learning how to get good at GeoGuessr really boils down to practice. Making your guesses every day is the foundation, but make sure to build on it by absorbing as much information as you can about the street signs, language, vehicles, vegetation, and other elements that point you toward specific parts of the world.

When you’ve officially become a GeoGuessr pro, we’ve got two requests. First, never forget who showed you the ropes; come back to say hello and drop some of your hard-earned wisdom in our comments.

Next, let’s see how your skills translate to our strategy games, addicting games, racing games and more. Only once you’ve mastered our entire collection (good luck with that) have you truly conquered the gaming world!