GeoGuessr was launched almost ten years ago, a revolutionary game at the time it was a wonderful idea to integrate the google streetcar and to make a game out of basic life skills like figuring out where you are. GeoGuessr takes the player out of their comfort zone and forces them out into a random place into the world to figure out their exact location. With possible locations spanning the entire globe, it can be a initially daunting task and playing can feel frustrating as one could spin hours clicking exploring and driving down forest roads attempting to find any kind of clue to their location. But if you can tough out the initial first couple hours of confusing exploration players can begin to pick up certain tips and tricks that help them along the way. Like looking for specific types of license plates or seeing which way the cars are driving can help lead you to the correct location. But this is just the tip of the iceberg for GeoGuessr. Most people log on to Geoguessr for a causal game or two then log off. But to the surprise of many, there is a robust speed running community for the game. Speed Running, for those unfamiliar, includes running through a game or type of game category as fast as possible and times are kept through official speed running websites that document the fastest in the world. Much like a 100-meter race, in speed running seconds and milliseconds are crucial in when it comes to competing against your peers in competition. Two of the top Geoguessr speed runners and players that players can watch in order to improve their own skills are RainBolt and Geo-Wizard.
RainBolt
If you are on Tiktok or really any other social media platform at this point you should be aware of a man who goes by Rainbolt. If this is not ringing any bells, RainBolt is the speed runner who quickly runs through multiple maps of geoguessr, seeing the smallest of context clues or hints then immediately guesses and gets it correct. There are tons of Tiktoks that he has made that have gone viral including the most famous “Have you ever gotten a snap chat from a girl, no this looks like South Africa”. Maybe writing out his jokes in blog form does not due them the correct justice but he greatly weaves comedy into his more impressive GeoGeussr gameplay. Rainbolt has exploded on to the mainstream of Twitch and other social media websites getting thousands of followers. The secret to his social media success is none other than his high level of skill at the Geoguessr game. At first glance it might seem as if there would not be an overly large audience for a game like Geoguessr which is centered around geography skills. But what make Geoguesr so universally transferable is how simple it is for everyone to understand. At one point or another we have all been lost In a town or place where you did not know where you were. This mainly applies to when we travel and end up in foreign countries where you don’t speak the language so getting around requires taking in context clues and using “street smart” skills. Geoguessr as a game, directly relies on this common feeling felt throughout the world. It’s a Universally marketable game because the actual content of the game reflects somethings everyone has had to do. This is not even mentioning the other Universal past time of aimlessly wondering around google maps that I’m sure all of us have gone through at some point. All of this culminates to explain why RainBolt has had such an unprecedented rise using a seemingly mundane game like Geoguessr. It really does not take a lot to understand how the game works and functions making it understandable to a large audience. Rainbolt has taken advantage of this fact to grow a large-scale audience on many platforms that he can now monetize for the rest of his life. His GeoGuessr ability directly translates to a monetizable way of life.
Geo-Wizard
Geo-Wizard, or Tom, is a personal longtime favorite Youtuber of mine. I discovered him from a viral series he did where he crosses countries in a completely straight line regardless of the terrain he must continue in a straight line until he crosses the country. He has done a couple of these series crossing Wales, Scotland, and Norway in a completely straight line. These essentially become hiking, climbing and exploring vlogs and a very interesting and a personal favorite underappreciated Youtube nugget for me. But Tom’s main line of videos he creates centers around making Geoguessr content. It is how he naturally grew his channel until the straight-line videos went viral and brought in a large-scale audience. What makes Tom so special is his depth of knowledge on the entire game. He has been making GeoGuessr content for many years at this point and he has all sorts of educational tips and tricks videos that players can use if they want to get better at the game. I would go as far to say that his channel is sort of like the unofficial Geoguessr tutorial channel. Anyone who wants to stop by and watch a twenty-minute video of him explaining all sorts of strategies and ways to figure out where you are. Some of my favorite include looking for yellow and black license plates to know you’re in England or the Netherlands, a rift in the sky to tell you that you are in Senegal, and a snorkel on the Google streetcar for Kenya. These are just a couple tricks that I have learned from watching Tom play geoguessr that I can remember of the top of my head. Any player who wants to come to grips with the game needs to stop by the Geo-Wizard channel.
