I was a very casual GeoGuessr player for a few months — and I found it pretty remarkable how quickly (and without a lot of dedicated study time) you could learn a lot of tells of specific regions — and get reasonably good (certainly not pro good or anything, but good enough to the hit right country ~80% of the time).
Another thing is how many areas of the world have surprisingly distinct looks. In one of my early games, before I knew much about anything, I was dropped a trail in the woods. I’ve spent a fair amount of time hiking in Northern New England — and I could just tell immediately that’s where I was just from vibes (i.e. the look of the trees and the rocks) — not something I would have guessed I would have been able to recognize.
I went to watch the Minecraft movie, and when the scene where they arrive outside their new house came on I was like... that feels so much like New Zealand. Then a few weeks later I went to visit my mum in Huntly, and she was like "oh yeah, they filmed part of it in Huntly!".
Another thing is how many areas of the world have surprisingly distinct looks. In one of my early games, before I knew much about anything, I was dropped a trail in the woods. I’ve spent a fair amount of time hiking in Northern New England — and I could just tell immediately that’s where I was just from vibes (i.e. the look of the trees and the rocks) — not something I would have guessed I would have been able to recognize.