The geographical diversity of our world is just amazing. Each spot in our planet is in and of itself a geographical wonder and the more we learn about the geography of our world the more appreciative of our diversity we become. That said, geography learning is notoriously known for being boring. It does not have to be like that at all!One way to make geography learning fun and engaging is through the use of interactive games and quizzes.
The purpose of this post is to share with you a collection of some of the best online geography games to use with your students and kids to help them learn about the world around them in fun and engaging ways. These geography games include map-based quizzes, interactive map games, geography quizzes, trivia games, multiple choice questions, and many more.
Using these geography games, students will learn about things such as continents, the locations of different countries on the map, capital cities, countries flags,oceans, seas, major lakes and rivers, and many more.
Why Learning Geography ?
Geography learning is key to students’ overall development as independent life-long learners. As students learn about the different parts of the world and explore differences and similarities, they get to uncover new ways of living and being and thus develop a heightened sense of cultural awareness.
Geography learning helps students become more appreciative of world cultural heritage and biodiversity. It also enables them to develop an objective lens whereby they filter world news and events around them. Needless to mention the various analytic and navigational skills students develop through geography learning which ultimately help them navigate the world in a more safe and responsible way.
Best geography games for students
1. Geoguessr
Geoguessr is a geography based game where players are randomly placed somewhere in the world on Google Street View and they need to use their navigational and search skills to find where they are. The closer a player gets to the location the more points they accumulate. The game is highly competitive and can be played in both single and multiple modes. Geoguessr allows you to travel the world, discover different cultures, and learn about world geography.
2. City Guesser
City Guesser is a geography based quiz game designed to test users geography knowledge. The way City Guesser works is simple: you are provided with a short video footage of a specific location and you are to make a guess about the name of that location using the provided map. City Guesser supports both individual and multiplayer game modes allowing users to compete against friends and players from all around the world.
3. World Geography Games
World Geography Games helps improve your geography knowledge using a wide variety of geography quizzes and games. Geography games are arranged into six main categories: World Games, Africa Games, Americas Games, Europe Games, Australia & Oceania Games, and Asia Games. When you click on any of these categories you will find games that help you learn about the countries of that specific continent, capitals, flags, and many more.
4. Sheppard Software
Sheppard Software’s geography games enable you to learn world continents, countries, oceans, landscapes and capitals. Using interactive maps and audiovisual cues, Sheppard’s games help you navigate and explore the world’s geography in fun and engaging ways. Geography games are arranged into various categories: you will find games on the geography of Europe, Africa, USA, and more. There are also US Lakes games, US river Games, US Oceans games, among others.
5. Seterra Map Quiz Games
Seterra features over 400 free map quiz games to help you learn geography in easy and simple ways. As you play these quizzes, you get to develop geographical knowledge related to countries, capital cities, flags, rivers, lakes and several other geographical data. You can either play map quiz games online, on the app, or use printables to access them offline.
Seterra online offers different game modes and a voice feature that helps you learn how place names are pronounced. Also, map quizzes on Seterra are customizable allowing you to select the locations you want to be quizzed on. You can share your custom map quizzes with your students or friends. Games are available in over 40 languages.
6. PlayGeography
PlayGeography offers online geography map games that help you learn about the geography of any country you want. You will learn about where countries are placed in the map, capital cities of individual countries, their flags and provinces, and many more. Geography map games are arranged into the following sections: The World, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
7. Globle
The Globe features a geography game that invites users to make guesses about a Mystery Country. The key is to make the fewest number of guesses possible. As you type in your guesses, each incorrect guess will appear on the globe with a specific colour showing how close it is to the Mystery Country. “the hooter the colour, the closer you are to the answer”.
Globle is simple but educational. It enables you to learn where each country (your guess) is located. Whether you guess is right or wrong, you get to see where the country you suggested is geographically located.
5. Geography Games by Cool Math Games
Cool Math Games has a geography section featuring a wide range of map-based games. There is the Guess Countries game series, State the State game series, and Snappy Maps game series. These map games cover the geography of Asia, Oceania, USA, Europe, North and South America, Australia, Central America, and Africa.
6. PurposeGames
PurposeGames is a platform where you access and play a wide variety of games. It also allows you to create your own quiz games and share them with others. The site also features a huge collection of geography games and quizzes. Simply type in the word Geography in the search box and browse through the collections.
As of writing these lines, there are over 7900 geography games. You can also use the Groups feature to search for and join groups created by geography nerds.
7. Digipuzzle
Digipuzzle is a website that offers a wide variety of free online educational games for kids. These games target various skill areas from math and geography to science and the human body. I spent some time browsing through and trying a number of these games and found them entertaining and fun.
The Digipuzzle Geography section features games that help students develop their geographicL literacy and broaden their knowledge of the world. Geography games are arranged into the following categories: Geography USA, Geography Canada, Geography Europe, Geography Oceania, and Geography World.
For instance, in Geography USA, there are games that help students learn about states (e.g., USA States Crossword Puzzles, USA States Word Search Puzzle, USA States Hangman, USA States MapPuzzle, etc), state capitals (e.g., State Capitals Link Puzzle, State Capitals Word Search Puzzle, etc) state flags (e.g., State Flags Link Puzzle, Hangman State Flags, etc), state cities (e.g., USA Cities Top Racer), and many more.
8. Flagpedia
Flagpedia offers flag quizzes to help you learn the flags of countries and dependent territories. Besides flags, you will also learn key information about each country including population, GDP per capita, currency, calling code, and many more. Flagpedia features a section where you can learn about flags of international organizations such as NATO, European Union, United Nations, African Union, Nordic Council, and many more.
If you are interested in learning about the flags of US states click on U.S. States tab and browse through the states. Flagpedia also allows you to download country flags for free.
9. Sporcle
Sporcle is an online trivia and quiz platform featuring tons of fun and engaging games. Sporcle quizzes are arranged into various categories including: Geography Quizzes, Music Quizzes, Movies Quizzes, Sports Quizzes, History Quizzes, Literature Quizzes, Science Quizzes, Language Quizzes, and many more.
10. Geography Quizzes, Britannica
Britannica features a wide variety of geography quizzes that you can play for free . Examples of geography quizzes include Name That World Flag, The Country Quiz, Where on Earth is That, U.S. State Flags Quiz, Where in America is That, World Heritage Sites in Italy Quiz, Asian Capitals Quiz, European Capitals Quiz, U.S. State Nicknames Quiz, Can You Match The Famous Building to Its City Quiz, World Cities, Geography of India Quiz, and many more.
11. Geography Quizzes, by JetPunk
JetPunk features over 20.000 free geography quizzes and games that you can play online. You can use the integrated search functionality to search for geography quizzes or click on Random to access random quizzes. Popular geography quizzes on JetPunk include Countries of the World Quiz, US States Quiz, World Capitals Quiz, Middle East Map Quiz, Countries of South America, Countries that Start with N, and many more.
