Last checked 4 September 2026. We make one of these, so read this knowing that. We have tried to write the version we would want to read, which means telling you when something else is the better answer.
There are more geography games than there used to be, and they are not really competing with each other. A daily browser puzzle, a Street View esport and a classroom drilling tool solve different problems that happen to share a map. Here is what each one is actually for.
A note on prices: we list the model, not the amount. Prices change, they vary by country, and a page like this goes stale the moment it quotes a number. Check the current price with the maker.
| Game | Where | Model | Ads | Multiplayer | What you actually do |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corto | iPhone, iPad | Free, one-time pack unlocks | No | Turn-based 1v1 | Tap a named place on the map, against a clock |
| GeoGuessr | Web, iOS, Android, Steam | Subscription | Yes, on free | Yes, subscribers only | Work out where a Street View panorama is |
| Seterra | Web, iOS, Android | Free | None in the app | No | Click or tap places to drill and memorize them |
| Globo | iPhone, iPad | Free | None as of Sept 2026 | Real-time | Fast trivia on flags, capitals and landmarks |
| Worldle | Web, iOS, Android | Free, optional subscription | Yes | No | Name the country from its silhouette, six tries |
| Globle | Web only | Free, optional subscription | Yes | Async only | Guess the country, the globe warms as you close in |
| StudyGe | iPhone, iPad | Freemium, many tiers | Yes | Yes | Map quizzes over an atlas of country data |
| TimeGuessr | Web, iOS, Android | Free, optional subscription | Yes | Friends | Guess where and when a photo was taken |
| World Geography Games | Web only | Free | Yes | No | Click-the-map quizzes, including earth science |
GeoGuessr invented this category and still owns it. Real Street View, the largest map library, a competitive ladder and a World Championship. Nothing else comes close on that axis, and Corto is not trying to: Corto never shows you a photograph, only a place name and a map.
Two things to know. Multiplayer sits entirely behind the subscription, so a free account gets the daily challenge and not much else. And GeoGuessr now owns Seterra, so those are one company, not two.
If the job is memorizing where the countries of Africa are before Thursday, Seterra is better than Corto and we would rather you used it. Learn Mode, custom quizzes, graded sessions, printable PDFs, twelve interface languages, offline play, and no ads or purchases in the app.
Seterra is a study tool that keeps score. Corto is a game that happens to teach. If you want the drill, take the drill.
Globo is the closest thing on the App Store to what Corto does, and right now it costs nothing at all: no ads, no in-app purchases, real-time matches and a structured course path. It is well made and updated roughly monthly.
Two honest caveats. It is fast trivia rather than a distance game, so you tap answers rather than tap a location, which is a different skill. And its own reviewers report running into bots in the live matches. Corto's multiplayer runs through Game Center against someone you actually challenged.
Both are free, both take a minute, and both produce a score worth putting in a group chat. Worldle gives you a country silhouette and six guesses. Globle colors the globe hot and cold as you close in, which teaches you what borders what in a way nothing else here does.
They are one puzzle a day by design. Corto is there when you want to keep playing. Different appetites, and plenty of people have both.
StudyGe goes deeper on data than anyone else: historical maps of 1800 and both world wars, seas and rivers and mountain overlays, thirty-odd economic and social indicators per country, side by side comparison. If you want reference material with quizzes attached, this is it.
It carries ads and cross-app tracking, and it runs a lot of price tiers at once. Worth knowing before you start.
TimeGuessr asks where and when a historical photograph was taken. The time axis makes it a genuinely different game from everything else on this page, and it is the one we would most recommend playing alongside Corto rather than instead of it.
Corto names a place and gives you ten seconds to tap it. Not a photograph to decode, not a multiple choice answer. Ten questions, about two minutes, scored on how close you tapped and how fast.
The part that is genuinely hard to find elsewhere is the arrangement rather than any single feature. Of everything above, nothing else combines all four of these:
No ads. Not on a free tier, not anywhere.
No subscription. Packs are one-time unlocks you keep.
Multiplayer that is not paywalled. GeoGuessr puts it behind a subscription. The free apps that have it carry ads and tracking.
Nothing to buy that improves your score. No lives, no energy, no hints, no consumables. Money buys more subjects to play, never a better result.
A pack you buy is playable by whoever you challenge. Invite a friend to a match on a pack you own and they play it without owning it. One purchase, two players.
Add 177 packs, so the subject can be volcanoes or F1 circuits or the streets of Amsterdam rather than countries again, and free learning packs in five languages for the times it does need to be countries again.
Worth saying plainly. Corto is not for you if you want Street View, if you are on Android or want to play in a browser, if you need a structured curriculum with printable worksheets, or if you want to play without a connection. Corto needs the internet because the map comes from Apple Maps, and the map is the game.
Corto is free for iPhone and iPad with World Cities and ten learning packs included, no ads and no subscription. Get it on the App Store.
Everything here was checked against each product's own site or App Store listing on 4 September 2026. If we have something wrong, tell us at support@play-corto.com and we will fix it.