GeoRando is a sort of progression-based randomizer I came up with for GeoGuessr, while writing code for the logic and nothing else. Aside from what's already on the GeoGuessr website, the rules of the game are mostly of the form, the computer tells me that I can or must do something, and I do it.
To get extra features in GeoGuessr that I can toggle on or off, I use the GeoGuessr Unity Script. (This is not about the Unity game development platform; it's a Tampermonkey script that unifies several other scripts).
Like most randomizers, there are unlocks that make more features of the game available. In particular, there's a pool of maps (sets of locations) I can play, chosen from maps that I consider well-designed with enough locations to not be repetitive, or a few of them from official GeoGuessr maps with enough locations. I start out with two of them.
An "unlock" is when I pass a certain score threshold, like 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, or (when applicable) a 5-country streak, when playing a map. An unlock could open up another map, or a feature of the game.
The game of GeoRando starts out with the extremely restrictive ruleset NCNCNMPZ (no car, no compass, no moving, panning, or zooming). You get a still image of where you are, with the Google car blocked out, and that's it.
The unlocks that can appear in GeoRando, besides new maps, are:
- Progressive Pan/Zoom/Move -- the first time I get this, I gain the ability to pan the camera. The second time, I can zoom, and the third time, I can move (which makes perfect scores possible on many maps).
- Progressive Compass/Car -- first reveals the compass showing what direction the picture is facing, then un-censors the car.
- More Time -- I start with 20 seconds on the timer, and each time I gain More Time adds 20 more, up to the maximum of 10 minutes.
- Map Score +5000 -- I apply it to one of the maps I have unlocked, presumably a difficult one, to add 5000 to the scores I get on it. However, upgrading 20k+ this way does not count as a perfect 25k.
- Map Score +1000 - similar.
- +1 Point - adds 1 point to my score, once, but does count toward 25k. For use when I miss a perfect 5k location by a few meters.
- Terrain Map View - allows me to see the Terrain view of Google Maps when choosing my location, making the locations of hills and mountains clear.
- Satellite Map View - allows me to see the Google Maps satellite view.
- OpenStreetMap View - allows me to see OpenStreetMap instead of Google Maps.
- Time Machine - allows me to switch to images of the same location taken at different times, if they exist.
- 20 Second Timer Trap - the next round, I have to set the timer to 20 seconds.
- Mosaic Trap - I have to use "Mosaic Mode" where the image is static and covered by an opaque 5x5 grid, where you click grid cells to reveal them. This applies over a whole 5-location round, and I can reveal at most 25 grid cells in all (1/5 of the total).
- Watercolor Map Trap - I have to choose the next location on a nice-looking but not-very-detailed custom Mapbox map called "Watercolor".
- Death Metal Map Trap - I have to use a metal-themed Mapbox map (called "Fire" in the script) where everything is either very dark or on fire.
- Mega Plonk Trap - I have to click the next location while zoomed all the way out on the map.
- Space Plonk Trap - I have to click the next location while zoomed all the way out and using the NASA Night Lights map view.
The goal is to get a perfect score (25k) on some number of maps. (Recently I've been going with just 1, it's time-consuming enough already). That's the game!
Oh, and I usually make it part of an Archipelago multiworld randomizer, though I've done it once as a solo game. Archipelago is how I implement all this in the first place -- there's a branch of it where your game can be "Manual", where you say "here's the logic, don't worry about the game rules, I will implement them myself."
So usually when I'm playing GeoRando, its checks are mixed up with 10-20 games that friends are playing. I might find someone's Master Sword in "A Diverse Canada" which someone else found on planet Zebes. It's fun!
I'm not playing GeoRando in a multiworld this week, but instead, today I'm trying a solo run of it to see if the progression is balanced right.