Review by Jenny Bristol, Common Sense Education | Updated October 2019
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Geoguessr

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"Just one more turn" gameplay jazzes up geography

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
4–12
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (8 Reviews)
Privacy rating (How we rate)
40%| Warning
Price:  Free, Free to try, Paid The optional $2.99 per month (or $23.88 per year) Pro version removes ads and allows players to create their own maps; there's a 10-day free trial. Group plans are available: $39.99 per month for 15 members, $69.99 per month for 30 members, and $200 per month for 100 members.
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

12 images
Choose from themed maps of many areas of the world.
Click on a map to play it or learn more.
Explore a street scene, finding details that give away its location.
Sometimes your guess ends up being thousands of miles off.
Often there are clues such as signs.
These clues can help you narrow down the location.
Occasionally the clues will make challenges a bit too easy.
After doing a round of five images, you see your summary.
Earn badges as you play.
Pit yourself against others in the Daily Challenge.
Pro members can save maps they create.
Design your map around a theme, or none at all.

Pros: Colorful, well-organized interface, easy controls, and addictive gameplay make geography appealing.

Cons: Favors players with some travel experience or background knowledge in geography; must subscribe to Pro version for many of the features.

Bottom Line: It's not a typical educational game, but Geoguessr inspires students to explore the world and encourages them to think critically about what defines a place, including culture and geography.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Teachers can use Geoguessr as an extension activity in geography or world cultures classrooms or as a media literacy and critical thinking exercise in any content area. It can serve as a prompt for teaching and learning both online and print-based research skills and techniques, or as inspiration for student-designed games using free online resources like photo collections. With dedicated play and more in-depth small-group or whole-class discussion, teachers can use Geoguessr to build students' background knowledge about geography and places that are new to the students (or even to the teacher). Teachers can also connect with classrooms in their schools or from around the world to share challenges and build relationships among students.

If your school has the Pro account, encourage students to make their own map challenges once they're familiar with how Geoguessr works. Have them create maps that have personal meaning or are based around a theme that you're studying in class. Groups or individuals solving the same map can compete against each other. If there's no room in the budget for a subscription, your classroom can still play a different map daily, along with the Daily Challenge, and do the free world one whenever they like.

For struggling students, give them tips such as: Pay attention to the side of the road cars are driving on, the color of the road stripes, the maker of the map (Google Maps versus Mapillary), the tree species, the sky and surrounding landforms, the people and clothing, and, of course, any signs or symbols they see.

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Put this tool into practice:
Standards:

Geoguessr is an addictive puzzler (with a version on the web as well as Android and iOS apps) that tasks students with guessing the location of Google Street View and Mapillary images from around the world. By investigating the image area, scouring it for clues, and thinking critically about what they see, students work to narrow down where in the world it might be. When they're ready to guess, they drop a pin on the map next to the picture. They can zoom into the map to place it more precisely, if necessary. See a road sign? What language is it? Don't know? Google it. Can you describe the environment? Is it tropical? Snowy? Very, very flat? Search online or in an atlas for a matching region. Been there before? Drop a pin on it. At the end of each of five rounds, the game shows players how close their guesses are to the actual location and awards points based on proximity. After the five rounds, a summary is shown, adding up points. Players can share particularly fun games with their friends, challenging them to match their high scores.

The site includes maps created by the Geoguessr folks as well as maps submitted by players, and a Daily Challenge. Students with free accounts can do the Daily Challenge and one map per day, along with the original free world map as often as they'd like. Students with Pro accounts can also make and save their own maps, play as many maps as they like, compete with friends, create leagues, and have no ads waiting between rounds. For all accounts, player profiles keep track of stats like best round, average score, number of games played, and recent activity. Students also earn badges for achieving various milestones.

Geoguessr is less straight instruction and more a platform for cultivating 21st-century skills. It can be a great -- addictive, even -- motivator for thinking about geography and culture, and for building reasoning and critical thinking skills in self-directed, small-group, or whole-class settings. When solving a puzzle or trying to beat a friend's high score, students have an opportunity to learn a lot about the world, its regional differences, its ecosystems, and its inhabitants, in both urban and rural settings. They'll need to look closely at signs, landmarks, architecture, trees and other plants, clothing, the date the image was taken (pointing to the season and perhaps the hemisphere), and more. Some images allow students to explore extensively, while others allow them to see only what's in the immediate area.

While they'll certainly develop some strategies of their own, students will benefit from some guidance and help to encourage thoughtful play. In this way, Geoguessr can go well with units on visual analysis, finding and using evidence, geographical and cultural differences, and research skills. Then, by creating their own maps, students can bring their geographic study down to the local level, anywhere in the world.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Intuitive, addicting, and with a stylish interface and cool concept, Geoguessr will compel kids to explore the world. Students will want to keep testing their knowledge and investigative skills.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

By putting students in the position of explorer and investigator, it encourages them to observe and draw conclusions from geographical differences, think critically, take risks, research, self-assess, and try again.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Simple instructions and familiar online map street view controls make this easy to jump into. Feedback after every turn and at the end of the game makes it easy to self-monitor and set goals for improvement.

Common Sense Reviewer
Jenny Bristol Other
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Reading History/Social Studies

  • RH.6-8.7

    Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

  • RH.9-10.1

    Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

  • RH.11-12.1

    Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

  • RH.11-12.7

    Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 8 reviews) (8 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Kary A. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Freeman Elementary-Adams
Adams, United States
Exploring the World through Google Maps! Guess where you are by studying your surroundings!
I think this is a great website that allows students to explore locations on a map. Instead of just seeing the location on a map, it allows them to view the landscape, people and environment. Some of them found the arrows and scrolling a little difficult to maneuver, but overall they caught on quite easily. Since it is a website, there was no sign-up or account required, which is really nice. I also appreciate that they can play or practice this skill anywhere. Many of my students have accessed it ...
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Data Safety
How safe is this product?
Unclear whether this product supports interactions between trusted users and/or students.
Unclear whether this product displays personal information publicly.
Unclear whether user-created content is filtered for personal information before being made publicly visible.
Data Rights
What rights do I have to the data?
Unclear whether users can create or upload content.
Processes to access and review user data are available.
Unclear whether this product provides processes to modify inaccurate data.
Ads & Tracking
Are there advertisements or tracking?
Data are not shared for third-party advertising and/or marketing.
Traditional or contextual advertisements are displayed.
Unclear whether this product displays behavioral or targeted advertising.
Continue reading about this tool's privacy practices, including data collection, sharing, and security.
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