Not everyone was built to be a gamer. While I enjoy playing zen games like Stardew Valley and Unpacking, my real obsession is watching speedrunners absolutely obliterate world records.
Speedrunning is the art of finishing a video game as quickly as humanly possible, often by exploiting glitches, skips, and unintended shortcuts. For some, it’s about breaking records; for others, it’s about breaking the game itself. Either way, it’s a thrilling mix of skill, strategy, and just a touch of chaos.
While plenty of speedrunners out there are breaking games in wild new ways—seriously, watch Handman 1’s Super Mario 64 speedrun and the galaxy-brain glitches he pulls off to claim the world record—the most popular game to speedrun is one that still leaves me absolutely dumbfounded when I watch playthroughs.
The Most Popular Game to Speedrun
According to Speedrun.com (which needs no explanation, because it’s exactly what it sounds like), the most popular game across all platforms isn’t some action-packed, glitch-filled romp—it’s Seterra, a geography game, of all things.
But here’s the kicker: It’s the old version—as in, the 1996 version, only accessible through the Wayback Machine—of Seterra that’s been absolutely dominating the speed-running charts.
In 2022, GeoGuessr bought Seterra and implemented a quiz mode with standard sheet view gameplay. Players must click the correct location after receiving the name of a country, state, province, lake, or city.
The game markets itself as an educational tool designed to help players learn about world geography, but if you take a peek at the sidebar, you’ll find a sneaky little link to Speedrun.com. It’s a subtle nod to the competitive side of the game, where educators and speedrunners alike come together to test their geographical prowess under intense pressure.
Speedrunning geography is no small feat. One wrong click or a single misspelled country name can ruin your chances at a record. Precision is key—every second counts, and a single mistake can be the difference between glory and starting over.
So how did this game become a speedrunner’s delight?
How do you even speedrun Seterra?
How to Speedrun Seterra
Speedrunning Seterra is pretty straightforward.
Seterra presents the player with a map and assigns a specific label to a location, requiring the player to click on it correctly. As soon as the player clicks the location, the game assigns another label at random. This process repeats until the player identifies all the locations on the map.
TL;DR: Seterra is a digital flashcard game, and speedrunners are obsessed with it.
While knowing your countries and capitals is key in Seterra, speedrunners are taking it to the next level, pushing their geography knowledge to the limit with lightning-fast clicks and near-perfect precision. It’s less about memorization and more about reflexes and strategy—because in speedrunning, every second counts.
No matter what map you’re speedrunning, Seterra demands quick thinking and even quicker clicking. Repetition is key—the more you play, the faster your reflexes get. Now do that everyday for 10 years and maybe you’ll be able to play in the big leagues.
Why Do Speedrunners Love Seterra?
Speedrunner and YouTuber Adrian Anderstedt, who has made Seterra speedruns his specialty, set the world record for naming all the European countries in a 24 seconds three years ago.
Fast forward to today, and Anderstedt’s world record has been crushed four times, with the current world champion setting a blistering pace of just 21.33 seconds.
Whether you’re racing to label every country in Africa or testing your memory with all the U.N. members, Seterra serves up a smorgasbord of categories for speedrunners to showcase their knowledge and agility—like the X Games of Jeopardy.
Players on type mode—who must type the correct spelling of the location they’ve clicked on—test their typing speed and spelling ability.
There are a ton of fantastic games to speedrun, but Seterra scratches an itch that speedrunners love. You can’t break Settera like you can in other games. Instead, speedrunning the geography quiz game shows off a user’s knowledge and reaction time.
My best time is definitely not going to break any world records—but give me a blank map of Europe and I’ll show you exactly where Macedonia is.
Try me.
Read More: Why Gamers Can’t Get Enough of Stardew Valley
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