01 — Foundation
What is GeoGuessr?
GeoGuessr is a geography game where you are dropped into a random location in Google Street View and must guess where in the world you are by placing a pin on a map.
The Game
Each round gives you 5 minutes to explore the environment, look for clues, and place your guess. The closer your guess to the actual location, the more points you earn — a perfect guess scores 5,000 points.
Why Play?
GeoGuessr combines geography learning, visual puzzle-solving, and competitive play. Players develop skills in recognizing landscapes, languages, road signs, vegetation, and architectural styles from around the world.
Getting Started
Create an account at geoguessr.com. A free account gives limited rounds per day; a Pro subscription unlocks unlimited play, custom maps, and competitive modes.
02 — The basics
Game Mechanics
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Controls | WASD or arrow keys to move; mouse to look around; scroll to zoom |
| The Compass | Shows your heading; use sun position with time of day to determine hemisphere |
| The Minimap | Click to place your guess; scroll to zoom the minimap in or out |
| Scoring | Distance-based: 5,000 = perfect guess; score decreases with distance |
- Afghanistan — No Street View Coverage
- Albania — Has Street View
- Algeria — No Street View Coverage
- American Samoa — Has Street View
- Andorra — Has Street View
- Angola — No Street View Coverage
- Anguilla — Has Street View
- Antigua and Barbuda — Has Street View
- Argentina — Has Street View
- Armenia — Has Street View
- Aruba — Has Street View
- Ascension Island — No Street View Coverage
- Australia — Has Street View
- Austria — Has Street View
- Azerbaijan — Has Street View
- Bahamas — Has Street View
- Bahrain — Has Street View
- Bangladesh — Has Street View
- Barbados — Has Street View
- Belarus — Has Street View
- Belgium — Has Street View
- Belize — Has Street View
- Benin — No Street View Coverage
- Bermuda — Has Street View
- Bhutan — Has Street View
- Bolivia — Has Street View
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba — Has Street View
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — Has Street View
- Botswana — Has Street View
- Bouvet Island — No Street View Coverage
- Brazil — Has Street View
- British Indian Ocean Territory — Has Street View
- British Virgin Islands — Has Street View
- Brunei — Has Street View
- Bulgaria — Has Street View
- Burkina Faso — No Street View Coverage
- Burundi — No Street View Coverage
- Cambodia — Has Street View
- Cameroon — No Street View Coverage
- Canada — Has Street View
- Cape Verde — Has Street View
- Cayman Islands — Has Street View
- Central African Republic — No Street View Coverage
- Chad — No Street View Coverage
- Chile — Has Street View
- China — Has Street View
- Christmas Island — Has Street View
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands — Has Street View
- Colombia — Has Street View
- Comoros — No Street View Coverage
- Congo — No Street View Coverage
- Cook Islands — Has Street View
- Costa Rica — Has Street View
- Croatia — Has Street View
- Cuba — No Street View Coverage
- Curaçao — Has Street View
- Cyprus — Has Street View
- Czech Republic — Has Street View
- Côte d'Ivoire — Has Street View
- Democratic Republic of the Congo — No Street View Coverage
- Denmark — Has Street View
- Djibouti — No Street View Coverage
- Dominica — Has Street View
- Dominican Republic — Has Street View
- Ecuador — Has Street View
- Egypt — Has Street View
- El Salvador — Has Street View
- Equatorial Guinea — No Street View Coverage
- Eritrea — No Street View Coverage
- Estonia — Has Street View
- Eswatini — Has Street View
- Ethiopia — No Street View Coverage
- Falkland Islands — Has Street View
- Faroe Islands — Has Street View
- Fiji — Has Street View
- Finland — Has Street View
- France — Has Street View
- French Guiana — Has Street View
- French Polynesia — Has Street View
- French Southern Territories — No Street View Coverage
- Gabon — No Street View Coverage
- Gambia — Has Street View
- Georgia — Has Street View
- Germany — Has Street View
- Ghana — Has Street View
- Gibraltar — Has Street View
- Greece — Has Street View
- Greenland — Has Street View
- Grenada — Has Street View
- Guadeloupe — Has Street View
- Guam — Has Street View
- Guatemala — Has Street View
- Guernsey — Has Street View
- Guinea — No Street View Coverage
- Guinea-Bissau — No Street View Coverage
- Guyana — Has Street View
- Haiti — No Street View Coverage
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands — No Street View Coverage
- Honduras — Has Street View
- Hong Kong — Has Street View
- Hungary — Has Street View
- Iceland — Has Street View
- India — Has Street View
- Indonesia — Has Street View
- Iran — No Street View Coverage
- Iraq — Has Street View
- Ireland — Has Street View
- Isle of Man — Has Street View
- Israel — Has Street View
- Italy — Has Street View
- Jamaica — Has Street View
- Japan — Has Street View
- Jersey — Has Street View
- Jordan — Has Street View
- Kazakhstan — Has Street View
- Kenya — Has Street View
- Kiribati — No Street View Coverage
- Kosovo — Has Street View
- Kuwait — Has Street View
- Kyrgyzstan — Has Street View
- Laos — Has Street View
- Latvia — Has Street View
- Lebanon — Has Street View
- Lesotho — Has Street View
- Liberia — No Street View Coverage
- Libya — No Street View Coverage
- Liechtenstein — Has Street View
- Lithuania — Has Street View
- Luxembourg — Has Street View
- Macao — Has Street View
- Madagascar — Has Street View
- Malawi — Has Street View
- Malaysia — Has Street View
- Maldives — Has Street View
- Mali — Has Street View
- Malta — Has Street View
- Marshall Islands — No Street View Coverage
- Martinique — Has Street View
- Mauritania — No Street View Coverage
- Mauritius — Has Street View
- Mayotte — Has Street View
- Mexico — Has Street View
- Micronesia — No Street View Coverage
- Moldova — Has Street View
- Monaco — Has Street View
- Mongolia — Has Street View
- Montenegro — Has Street View
- Montserrat — Has Street View
- Morocco — Has Street View
- Mozambique — Has Street View
- Myanmar — No Street View Coverage
- Namibia — Has Street View
- Nauru — No Street View Coverage
- Nepal — Has Street View
- Netherlands — Has Street View
- New Zealand — Has Street View
- Nicaragua — Has Street View
- Niger — No Street View Coverage
- Nigeria — Has Street View
- North Korea — No Street View Coverage
- North Macedonia — Has Street View
- Northern Mariana Islands — Has Street View
- Norway — Has Street View
- Oman — Has Street View
- Pakistan — Has Street View
- Palau — No Street View Coverage
- Palestine — Has Street View
- Panama — Has Street View
- Papua New Guinea — No Street View Coverage
- Paraguay — Has Street View
- Peru — Has Street View
- Philippines — Has Street View
- Pitcairn Islands — Has Street View
- Poland — Has Street View
- Portugal — Has Street View
- Puerto Rico — Has Street View
- Qatar — Has Street View
- Romania — Has Street View
- Russia — Has Street View
- Rwanda — Has Street View
- Réunion — Has Street View
- Saint Barthélemy — Has Street View
- Saint Helena — Has Street View
- Saint Kitts and Nevis — Has Street View
- Saint Lucia — Has Street View
- Saint Martin — Has Street View
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon — Has Street View
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — Has Street View
- Samoa — Has Street View
- San Marino — Has Street View
- Saudi Arabia — Has Street View
- Senegal — Has Street View
- Serbia — Has Street View
- Seychelles — Has Street View
- Sierra Leone — No Street View Coverage
- Singapore — Has Street View
- Sint Maarten — Has Street View
- Slovakia — Has Street View
- Slovenia — Has Street View
- Solomon Islands — Has Street View
- Somalia — No Street View Coverage
- South Africa — Has Street View
- South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands — Has Street View
- South Korea — Has Street View
- South Sudan — No Street View Coverage
- Spain — Has Street View
- Sri Lanka — Has Street View
- Sudan — No Street View Coverage
- Suriname — Has Street View
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen — Has Street View
- Sweden — Has Street View
- Switzerland — Has Street View
- Syria — No Street View Coverage
- São Tomé and Príncipe — Has Street View
- Taiwan — Has Street View
- Tajikistan — No Street View Coverage
- Tanzania — Has Street View
- Thailand — Has Street View
- Timor-Leste — Has Street View
- Togo — No Street View Coverage
- Tokelau — No Street View Coverage
- Tonga — Has Street View
- Trinidad and Tobago — Has Street View
- Tunisia — Has Street View
- Turkey — Has Street View
- Turkmenistan — No Street View Coverage
- Turks and Caicos Islands — Has Street View
- U.S. Virgin Islands — Has Street View
- Uganda — Has Street View
- Ukraine — Has Street View
- United Arab Emirates — Has Street View
- United Kingdom — Has Street View
- United States — Has Street View
- United States Minor Outlying Islands — Has Street View
- Uruguay — Has Street View
- Uzbekistan — Has Street View
- Vanuatu — Has Street View
- Vatican City — Has Street View
- Venezuela — Has Street View
- Vietnam — Has Street View
- Wallis and Futuna — No Street View Coverage
- Western Sahara — No Street View Coverage
- Yemen — No Street View Coverage
- Zambia — Has Street View
- Zimbabwe — Has Street View
- Åland Islands — Has Street View
03 — Pick your format
Game Modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Single Player | Classic mode — 5 rounds, choose from moving, no-move, or NMPZ (No Move, Pan, Zoom) variants |
| Duels | 1v1 competitive — health bars decrease with worse guesses; rounds continue until one player is eliminated |
| Battle Royale | Multiplayer elimination — last player standing wins; available in Countries and Distance modes |
| Streaks | Guess consecutive correct countries; lose your streak on a wrong guess |
| Explorer | Casual mode — unlimited time, no competitive pressure, great for learning |
04 — Reading the panorama
What to Look For
What is Meta?
"Meta" refers to recognizable patterns — visual clues that help identify a location without knowing it directly. Learning meta is the key to improving your scores.
| Category | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Language | Script type (Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Asian), specific characters and diacritics |
| Signs | Road sign shapes, colors, bollard styles, speed limit formats |
| Cars | Google Street View car generation, camera rig style, car models visible |
| Landscape | Vegetation type, terrain, architecture style, climate indicators |
| Coverage | Image quality, generation (Gen 2/3/4), trekker vs car coverage |
Driving Side
Approximately 35% of countries drive on the left. Knowing which side of the road is used narrows down your options significantly.
- Afghanistan — Drives on Right
- Albania — Drives on Right
- Algeria — Drives on Right
- American Samoa — Drives on Right
- Andorra — Drives on Right
- Angola — Drives on Right
- Anguilla — Drives on Left
- Antigua and Barbuda — Drives on Left
- Argentina — Drives on Right
- Armenia — Drives on Right
- Aruba — Drives on Right
- Ascension Island — Drives on Left
- Australia — Drives on Left
- Austria — Drives on Right
- Azerbaijan — Drives on Right
- Bahamas — Drives on Left
- Bahrain — Drives on Right
- Bangladesh — Drives on Left
- Barbados — Drives on Left
- Belarus — Drives on Right
- Belgium — Drives on Right
- Belize — Drives on Right
- Benin — Drives on Right
- Bermuda — Drives on Left
- Bhutan — Drives on Left
- Bolivia — Drives on Right
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba — Drives on Right
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — Drives on Right
- Botswana — Drives on Left
- Bouvet Island — Drives on Right
- Brazil — Drives on Right
- British Indian Ocean Territory — Drives on Left
- British Virgin Islands — Drives on Left
- Brunei — Drives on Left
- Bulgaria — Drives on Right
- Burkina Faso — Drives on Right
- Burundi — Drives on Right
- Cambodia — Drives on Right
- Cameroon — Drives on Right
- Canada — Drives on Right
- Cape Verde — Drives on Right
- Cayman Islands — Drives on Left
- Central African Republic — Drives on Right
- Chad — Drives on Right
- Chile — Drives on Right
- China — Drives on Right
- Christmas Island — Drives on Left
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands — Drives on Left
- Colombia — Drives on Right
- Comoros — Drives on Right
- Congo — Drives on Right
- Cook Islands — Drives on Left
- Costa Rica — Drives on Right
- Croatia — Drives on Right
- Cuba — Drives on Right
- Curaçao — Drives on Right
- Cyprus — Drives on Left
- Czech Republic — Drives on Right
- Côte d'Ivoire — Drives on Right
- Democratic Republic of the Congo — Drives on Right
- Denmark — Drives on Right
- Djibouti — Drives on Right
- Dominica — Drives on Left
- Dominican Republic — Drives on Right
- Ecuador — Drives on Right
- Egypt — Drives on Right
- El Salvador — Drives on Right
- Equatorial Guinea — Drives on Right
- Eritrea — Drives on Right
- Estonia — Drives on Right
- Eswatini — Drives on Left
- Ethiopia — Drives on Right
- Falkland Islands — Drives on Left
- Faroe Islands — Drives on Right
- Fiji — Drives on Left
- Finland — Drives on Right
- France — Drives on Right
- French Guiana — Drives on Right
- French Polynesia — Drives on Right
- French Southern Territories — Drives on Right
- Gabon — Drives on Right
- Gambia — Drives on Right
- Georgia — Drives on Right
- Germany — Drives on Right
- Ghana — Drives on Right
- Gibraltar — Drives on Right
- Greece — Drives on Right
- Greenland — Drives on Right
- Grenada — Drives on Left
- Guadeloupe — Drives on Right
- Guam — Drives on Right
- Guatemala — Drives on Right
- Guernsey — Drives on Left
- Guinea — Drives on Right
- Guinea-Bissau — Drives on Right
- Guyana — Drives on Left
- Haiti — Drives on Right
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands — Drives on Left
- Honduras — Drives on Right
- Hong Kong — Drives on Left
- Hungary — Drives on Right
- Iceland — Drives on Right
- India — Drives on Left
- Indonesia — Drives on Left
- Iran — Drives on Right
- Iraq — Drives on Right
- Ireland — Drives on Left
- Isle of Man — Drives on Left
- Israel — Drives on Right
- Italy — Drives on Right
- Jamaica — Drives on Left
- Japan — Drives on Left
- Jersey — Drives on Left
- Jordan — Drives on Right
- Kazakhstan — Drives on Right
- Kenya — Drives on Left
- Kiribati — Drives on Left
- Kosovo — Drives on Right
- Kuwait — Drives on Right
- Kyrgyzstan — Drives on Right
- Laos — Drives on Right
- Latvia — Drives on Right
- Lebanon — Drives on Right
- Lesotho — Drives on Left
- Liberia — Drives on Right
- Libya — Drives on Right
- Liechtenstein — Drives on Right
- Lithuania — Drives on Right
- Luxembourg — Drives on Right
- Macao — Drives on Left
- Madagascar — Drives on Right
- Malawi — Drives on Left
- Malaysia — Drives on Left
- Maldives — Drives on Left
- Mali — Drives on Right
- Malta — Drives on Left
- Marshall Islands — Drives on Right
- Martinique — Drives on Right
- Mauritania — Drives on Right
- Mauritius — Drives on Left
- Mayotte — Drives on Right
- Mexico — Drives on Right
- Micronesia — Drives on Right
- Moldova — Drives on Right
- Monaco — Drives on Right
- Mongolia — Drives on Right
- Montenegro — Drives on Right
- Montserrat — Drives on Left
- Morocco — Drives on Right
- Mozambique — Drives on Left
- Myanmar — Drives on Right
- Namibia — Drives on Left
- Nauru — Drives on Left
- Nepal — Drives on Left
- Netherlands — Drives on Right
- New Zealand — Drives on Left
- Nicaragua — Drives on Right
- Niger — Drives on Right
- Nigeria — Drives on Right
- North Korea — Drives on Right
- North Macedonia — Drives on Right
- Northern Mariana Islands — Drives on Right
- Norway — Drives on Right
- Oman — Drives on Right
- Pakistan — Drives on Left
- Palau — Drives on Right
- Palestine — Drives on Right
- Panama — Drives on Right
- Papua New Guinea — Drives on Left
- Paraguay — Drives on Right
- Peru — Drives on Right
- Philippines — Drives on Right
- Pitcairn Islands — Drives on Left
- Poland — Drives on Right
- Portugal — Drives on Right
- Puerto Rico — Drives on Right
- Qatar — Drives on Right
- Romania — Drives on Right
- Russia — Drives on Right
- Rwanda — Drives on Right
- Réunion — Drives on Right
- Saint Barthélemy — Drives on Right
- Saint Helena — Drives on Left
- Saint Kitts and Nevis — Drives on Left
- Saint Lucia — Drives on Left
- Saint Martin — Drives on Right
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon — Drives on Right
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — Drives on Left
- Samoa — Drives on Left
- San Marino — Drives on Right
- Saudi Arabia — Drives on Right
- Senegal — Drives on Right
- Serbia — Drives on Right
- Seychelles — Drives on Left
- Sierra Leone — Drives on Right
- Singapore — Drives on Left
- Sint Maarten — Drives on Right
- Slovakia — Drives on Right
- Slovenia — Drives on Right
- Solomon Islands — Drives on Left
- Somalia — Drives on Right
- South Africa — Drives on Left
- South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands — Drives on Left
- South Korea — Drives on Right
- South Sudan — Drives on Right
- Spain — Drives on Right
- Sri Lanka — Drives on Left
- Sudan — Drives on Right
- Suriname — Drives on Left
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen — Drives on Right
- Sweden — Drives on Right
- Switzerland — Drives on Right
- Syria — Drives on Right
- São Tomé and Príncipe — Drives on Right
- Taiwan — Drives on Right
- Tajikistan — Drives on Right
- Tanzania — Drives on Left
- Thailand — Drives on Left
- Timor-Leste — Drives on Left
- Togo — Drives on Right
- Tokelau — Drives on Left
- Tonga — Drives on Left
- Trinidad and Tobago — Drives on Left
- Tunisia — Drives on Right
- Turkey — Drives on Right
- Turkmenistan — Drives on Right
- Turks and Caicos Islands — Drives on Left
- U.S. Virgin Islands — Drives on Left
- Uganda — Drives on Left
- Ukraine — Drives on Right
- United Arab Emirates — Drives on Right
- United Kingdom — Drives on Left
- United States — Drives on Right
- United States Minor Outlying Islands — Drives on Right
- Uruguay — Drives on Right
- Uzbekistan — Drives on Right
- Vanuatu — Drives on Right
- Vatican City — Drives on Right
- Venezuela — Drives on Right
- Vietnam — Drives on Right
- Wallis and Futuna — Drives on Right
- Western Sahara — Drives on Right
- Yemen — Drives on Right
- Zambia — Drives on Left
- Zimbabwe — Drives on Left
- Åland Islands — Drives on Right
Language Clues
Text is one of the most reliable meta clues. Latin script covers most of Europe and the Americas. Cyrillic narrows you to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Arabic, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese scripts each identify specific regions.
Signs & Markings
Bollard styles differ by country — European bollards are typically white with a red reflector band; Asian bollards vary. Road markings differ too: yellow center lines are common in the Americas; white is standard in Europe.
Google Cars
Different countries have different Google Street View camera cars. The antenna on top of the car, the generation of the camera rig, and even the car model itself can indicate a specific country or region. For example, older Gen 2 and Gen 3 cars appear in countries where coverage hasn't been refreshed.
Coverage Types
Gen 2 coverage (pre-2012) is blurry and low-resolution. Gen 3 (2012–2017) is sharper. Gen 4 (2017+) is crisp and high-resolution. Trekker coverage is collected by people carrying Google cameras on foot — common in national parks and pedestrian areas.
05 — Use the platform
How to Use LockIn
Finding Guides
Browse country guides from the Guides page. Use the search bar to find guides by country name, region, or tag. Each guide covers a single country's most useful meta clues.
Reading Guides
Guides are organized into sections and items. Each item describes a specific clue — a bollard style, a language pattern, a road marking. Items include images, maps, and difficulty ratings.
Using Maps
Interactive maps on guide pages show where specific clues appear. Click a region to see example locations. Use map layers to filter by clue type.
Difficulty Levels
Guides are rated Beginner, Intermediate, or Expert. Start with Beginner guides for countries that are easy to identify — large coverage areas with distinctive clues.
Tags
Guides and items are tagged by meta category (language, signs, cars, landscape, coverage). Filter by tag to find related content across multiple countries — for example, the "bollard" tag shows bollard meta from every guide that covers it.
Search
The search function covers guide titles, section headings, and item descriptions. Use it to find specific clues across all guides — for example, searching "bollard" returns every guide with bollard meta.
06 — Power tools
Browser Extension
What the Extension Does
The LockIn browser extension enhances your GeoGuessr experience with streak counters, round timers, path logging, and automatic location saving. It runs alongside the game without interrupting play.
Installation
Install from the Chrome Web Store. Once installed, the extension icon appears in your browser toolbar. Log in with your LockIn account to sync data.
Basic Features
- Streak counter — tracks consecutive correct country guesses
- Round timer — shows time remaining per round
- Settings panel — configure overlays and notifications
Saving Locations
Interesting Street View locations can be saved directly from the game. Saved locations sync with your LockIn account and can be referenced in guides.
LockIn Integration
The extension syncs gameplay data — scores, streaks, saved locations — with your LockIn account. This enables personalized recommendations and practice tracking.
07 — Where to go now
Next Steps
Beginner-Friendly Guides
Start with these countries — they have large Street View coverage and distinctive clues that are easy to learn.
Brazil
Portuguese · right side
France
French · right side
Germany
German · right side
Japan
Japanese · left side
Poland
Polish · right side
United States
English · right side
Practice Recommendations
Start with Explorer mode — no time pressure, unlimited exploration. Once comfortable, move to Single Player with 3-minute rounds. Duels mode is excellent for focused practice once you know a few countries well.
Community
The GeoGuessr community shares tips, maps, and resources on Discord and Reddit. Community-made maps focus on specific countries or clue types — great for targeted practice.
Glossary
New to GeoGuessr terminology? The Glossary defines common meta terms — coverage, bollard, antenna, gen, and more.