Does Rainbolt Cheat at Geoguessr?

In today's video, I'm going to be analysing whether or not Rainbolt, the professional Geoguessr player, is a cheater or not. I'm going to look at all forms of content and numerous game modes to come to my conclusion. I hope you all enjoy this analysis!
0.1s IRL video with Rainbolt: • 0.1 Second Geoguessr w...
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[@rujon288]

Oscar when he fails the geo rainbolt daily challenge:

[@CollectorsTree-ge6zy]

Lmaooo 😂😂😂

[@Tocinos]

Vladimir Kramnik picks up geoguessr:

[@palmtreegal3]

Lmaoo

[@clutchedtwice5485]

Square 1 nice

[@johndoty3279]

😭

[@Rangsk]

I think of it like watching a magic show. The reason the audience can believe that it's magic is because they can't put into perspective the insane amount of hours the magician spent on that one trick they just saw over a few seconds.

[@SurroundedByContent]

Yes sir

[@zi8gzag]

an apt analogy

[@Leaferr]

really good analogy

[@Khann_2102]

This is one of the greatest analogies I have ever read

[@kryspy5160]

oh wassup rangsk i love your vids

[@luva5933]

Please get a 25k for your 25,000th game!

[@shakeweller]

Yeeeeessss❤

[@taylorm1396]

He deserves it

[@notmeowth]

zi8gzag is the first and only youtuber that i know of to have a warning for youtube’s addictive algorithm in the description. 🙏

[@goatpepperherbaltea7895]

That’s wild I’ve never seen that😂 is that some Australian shit

[@doggyw00f18]

​@@goatpepperherbaltea7895 No he adds it himself. Just looking out for us all!

[@prismatic-bl8qf]

that's so caring man..

[@petrinatost3974]

only un austrasia 😭💀

[@DoiInthanon1897]

Ikr, he’s had that statement written in the description of every video he’s posted since I subscribed to him 2 years ago. Huge respect

[@werdwerdus]

i think it really cannot be overstated that his clips are just that, clips. these aren't just random games he posts. he's playing over and over again until he gets a good seed that is worthy to post.

[@AD-tj6uu]

To be fair you do realize they’re also continuous games where he’s clicking through rounds unedited. It doesn’t take away from how impressive it is to do 5 accurate 0.1 second guesses in rapid succession. It’s impressive again because most people don’t have the knowledge to pinpoint any place in the world with one photo regardless, unless it had the eiffel tower or something. It might be explained with knowing context clues such as camera generation, the shape of the sign, the redness of the dirt, the coverage, etc., but simply knowing all of that and being able to put it together to know the exact location will always be impressive to anyone. I guess the shocker is that most people don’t play geoguessr, and even fewer people are part of the hardcofe niche of it.

[@werdwerdus]

@@AD-tj6uu my point is just that these aren't just one-offs, he's recording many many games and of course he's only posting the best ones. he isn't posting all of the other ones that were bad scores .

[@werdwerdus]

@@AD-tj6uu he's not going to be able to get those scores consistently if he sat down and just played 1 game. it takes grinding to get the really good scores.

[@werdwerdus]

and Oscar showed this in the video, especially the game he played with the round 1 wrong continent. if he was going for a good score to post on tick tock, he would have reset after that guess.

[@AkilZodiac]

@@werdwerdus absolutely, but then i'd also say, so? does that matter. pointing out that a montage is of someone's best clips seems redundant, what's the real point behind even bringing that up?

[@LightningEthan]

In short, any average person would obviously think it’s cheating, but once you learn you simply get the vibe by seeing the landscape, how the road looks, road lines, trees, grass, camera generation, colors etc all at the same time

[@Ezz_Fr]

I don't like when youtuber put the title "does ---------------?" Like bro just state the conclusion I don't want to enter your video just to find a dull answer.

[@jackr888]

@@Ezz_Fryou can google it if you want to find the answer lmao. plus this is literally his job and this is what makes the money

[@Mehdss]

@@Ezz_Fr Yeah that could've been perfect for a KZbin short

[@h4nv]

I personally never played Geoguesser, and one day I just got recommended these videos on youtube, but regardless of that it was always self-evident for me that Rainbolt isn't cheating, as I just understood pretty much instantly how it works. But regardless of my own understanding, I'll find those videos of this game very stunning and I personally probably would never gain a similar level of experience on this game - so I'll admire everyone who does!

[@Gruwg2024]

@@Ezz_Frhe pretty much give his answer by 5 minutes in the video. Maybe its the lower attention span people have

[@DuckOfRubber]

5:51 For all the talk about banning TikTok, its true crime was the normalization of portrait video.

[@Heyght]

True

[@Dogappel]

Yes omg this is the most truest thing ever. And it inspired youtube shorts.💀💀

[@michaelwisniewski6047]

TikTok users will bump into you in the streets as they can no longer see laterally.

[@Heyght]

@@michaelwisniewski6047 Sorry! I couldn't see your gyaat. On God skibidi Ohio

[@odduro8751]

The editing is really good, great editor and great zi8gzaG

[@PoisonedArrowGR]

Thank you🫡

[@Theospins]

WELP I'd imagine the short answer is, no 😆great editing btw!

[@WillyWoxy]

The Vivaldi remix in the intro is a thing of beauty

[@mejsn]

bro just put the hardest classical drill remix in the intro for no reason at all

[@lightninghuff]

I replied that Rainbolt is NOT cheating and a guy claimed I "must not understand the scale [of Earth]." Bro thinks Google is omniscient and mapped Somalia or North Korea.

[@janzwendelaar907]

Also, given that some Pro Players know certain roads, I'm guessing Geoguessr doesn't pick from all possible locations, but only a select few

[@fren_gor]

@@janzwendelaar907 Every map contains different locations + some countries only has major roads on street view, so it's possible to learn them

[@michaelwisniewski6047]

As well as all the oceans (70% of the Earth), Antarctica…

[@liamday453]

@@fren_gorplus a lot of the most popular maps are like made by specific community members its not like youre getting a completely random never before seen location every time. obviously repeats are still very rare

[@flosamuu]

The google car isn't some all-terrain car that goes through mountains, just some select roads lol. Add that to the fact that Rainbolt spends an ungodly amount of time studying road signs, google maps, cars signs, and whatnot and I'd say that it's possible. But a little unbelievable, yes.

[@QStikki]

Ok now explain his black and white, inverted, scrambled, blurred, blindfolded, no monitor, sitting in the other room, across the world, whilst holding his breath under water tik toks

[@Saugatgg]

Same thing

[@ken3243]

its the same thing but it probably just takes longer to get 5 perfect scores

[@Haha-if9qf]

Well i think he just pick the one where he gets lucky but also with a little bit of skill so being lucky Will be easier and he probably has 1000 games and he just pick the one where he had good guesses even the good guesses are not that close like 3000 points

[@normika.]

Theyre for the funnies

[@oleksandrsolonskyi2198]

That is some great editing! Keep going

[@kiyzoom]

Love to see how your channel has grown lately. Good for us, cos you'll be motivated enough to create new content=)

[@FED.TK02]

the editing in this is BONKERS

[@historyofpeople]

Great video, great editing! Very entertaining!

[@Canadagraphs]

I actually forget, that when people are watching it on tiktok, they just see 30% of what he sees because of the sites design. Seems even more insane to those who dont realize hes looking at it on a full desktop computer screen, and not a 3X1 inch screen

[@leandrusguy144]

Nice editing for this video dude

[@MrOoYT]

Poisoned went hard af on this one

[@Tvngsten]

The black tape is actually present in réunion too, but it's on the back of the car.

[@owenfv]

W zigzag aura intro (also the rainbolt trap music was fire 🔥)

[@houmreu]

Minecraft background music 🔥🔥

[@theoneechanman]

zigzag got that Rainbolt haircut.

[@tobbex7372]

The beard then?

[@palikliment9814]

Thank you zig8zag, great video and great editing as well! :)

[@End1essGa1axy69]

You are defiantly an underrated youtuber man, keep up the mad content, love from a fellow Australian

[@Onesert]

5:55 cracked screen protector spotted.

[@h4nv]

When I bought my current phone in 2019, I dropped it to concrete floor within few days, which caused my screen protector cracking from multiple places, long cracks going across the protector. I was so annoyed that I just didn't care and I continued using my phone with this cracked Screen Protector. I removed this cracked Screen Protector only now about half year ago as it had recently started to cause some touching problems. It lasted surprisingly long without any kind of problems regardless of cracks.

[@Nooticus]

The way you structured and ‘marketed’ this entire video is SO fucking clever. What a genius 👏 legend

[@pinkdragon4830]

That Vivaldi remix was a banger

[@alf4152]

love the new style of editing

[@tarantuIas]

Great editing in this one :)

[@Lili-ws3tg]

that edit is fire wth

[@zephyan]

this editing is fire

[@DownDance]

GREAT choice of background music!

[@fatsnailsavethesnail2588]

based vivaldi drill enjoyer

[@seito9078]

Any recommendations for guides to getting better at Geoguessr? Ones that will give you very particular information like you did - for example, the black tape on the end of the roof rack being unique to only Ghana. That's all so fascinating to me. Do you all figure it out individually by trial and error and just a huge amount of exposure through playing games, or is there a database of clues that can be learned right away? Great video.

[@zi8gzag]

Plonkit.net is the best site that has tips for improving. Otherwise watching KZbin is very good for learning too!

[@benmulvey8742]

Edit is fire, music is fire, video is fire. This should end up being a top 5 viewed video on the channel

[@TheLibermania]

2:25 You have Yellow City signs in Germany as well.

[@mapriego]

nice editing oscar! you're insane

[@rajajinnah6749]

Editing is done by poison arrow

[@adamofnotrades]

Dude, nice work on the editing here. Did you edit this yourself? From one KZbin video editor to another, major props. 🙌

[@lundgamingxd5387]

Amazing music choices!

[@scottycheesecake]

here before the title makes the video blow up

[@thebean3612]

Ur daily uploads are a blessing

[@Elias4247Bodiiin]

Great Video! i think you deserve way more views and subscribes!

[@JohSmith]

Man your teeth are so perfect. Not sure what you gonna do with this information but I had to say it. Anyway I love when your breakdown other persons guess like this video, very informative.

[@tenns]

australians are good looking and i don't know what it is.

[@michaelwisniewski6047]

Damn, you are either a dentist or someone who always wanted to be a dentist… 😂

[@YourAntiCheat]

The fact that you played together while sitting next to each other is enough evidence that he does not cheat tbh.

[@zwatotem]

It is not that simple. There are numerous examples of top players proving their skills with live scrutiny, but still cheating in the "offline" scenario in the rush for next level insane goals. Even at the highest level the frustration or grind and wasted opportunities can drag you to the dark side.

[@Zyect]

great video, I just think you should change the thumbnail to say "cheater?" with a question mark. plain "cheater" sounds like an accusation

[@Shantytune]

Commented this on an older video, but thought it might be more useful on your newest one: I dig the style you're doing with these videos. Maybe just a wee tip, you might want to mimic the style Wirtual uses with his main channel (would definitely take more editing but it will grow your audience exponentially, and I'm all for that)

[@nilsp9426]

I think this questioning of .1 second gameplay is typical for a broader problem. Many people (I guess myself included, at times) try to explain away things they do not think they can achieve themselves. Be it saying that Usain Bolt or Magnus Carlsen are superhuman or that .1 second Geoguessr is likely cheated. The huge problem I have with that is that it completely discredits the hard work and dedication of others. Be it the tough training routine (including intense work on your own mental) by Bolt or Carlsen, or the 100k games played by Rainbolt. Give these people some actual respect for what they do! Of course, your video wonderfully demonstrates how to properly question outlandish achievements: trying to understand and emulate them.

[@harstar12345]

I always find it hard to explain to people how it's impressive what geoguessr players do, but that it's not the same as if you just dropped them in a genuinely random location, and how there are lots of photo metas, location metas, and vibes based on likelihood of a location. This is a good video to explain it, great job 😊

[@reubenmiller-rosenfeld8004]

Bro cooked with the intro.

[@funzionedispari4325]

Vivaldi trap remix goes hard fr

[@ukdnbmarsh]

whoa i guessed Iceland too, its quite distinctive :)

[@simonbinet7561]

whaaaaat? you are friends? I just waisted 16 mins of my life hoping for drama! No, fr, keep up the great content and all the best for the WC qualifier! I would really love an explanation for the pixelated black white stuff, especially with things like only looking at the sky. I don't think it is cheated of course, but having played around 400 games, I really cannot fathom how that would work

[@PessiAndPenaldoHunterThomas]

I need that violin bass at the start name

[@das_eisenherz]

Mustachiolo punching the air rn

[@notmeowth]

also insane editing

[@roscommon-]

intro music is heat

[@KingRagnar]

As someone who has streamed Geo. My heart sank slightly when I read the title. I’ve never suspected Rainbolt as I know. If you are that good. You can be that good. I’m so glad this video didn’t go the way I feared. Keep up the great work 💪❤️

[@taylorm1396]

And it's not just tens of thousands of games played, it's also countless hours of studying maps, metas, others' gameplay, and community knowledge, etc. Someone else likened it to to sleight of hand magic: skill, practise and knowing your audience.

[@JustEmilo]

6:20 and Reunion but Reunion have it on the bar facing the back compared to ghana facing the front :)

[@MsH4h4]

All of the pro-player probably have some form of eidetic memory. Furthermore if you look at how they play 0.1sec its almost always by looking at the middle of the screen, its just peripheral vision. The images lingers inside the short term memory for a couple of seconds and its possible for them to remember details without actively looking at them. Anyway I think its great that Oscar is honest about them grinding for hours sometimes to get that highlight. Its not like they get that every single round. Still not sure how blinky is doing that, remembering millions of small details, locations, phonecodes, etc. must be one insanely gifted human. Would be interested to see a video of oscar explaining some of the 25k blinky got.

[@michaelwisniewski6047]

I’m a decent player, but not great. I can definitely get some of those 0.1s rounds at least down to the country. However, I usually watch these on my phone, where my eyes’ peripheral vision takes in 80% that isn’t the GeoGuessr screen - it’s my table, my walls, etc. If I sat at a large screen (and that’s one secret they never tell you: have a high quality, large screen) my entire field of view would be the round. That would make it 5x easier to solve the round than it is on the phone. And, yes, the image lingers in the mind after it’s gone from the screen.

[@chickjenman]

petition to get zigzag to 100k

[@lukecannon]

Get Zigzag’s editor an Oscar ASAP

[@PoisonedArrowGR]

🫡🫡

[@Ethyro]

i see what you did there

[@h4nv]

We _all_ (most of) know that Rainbolt isn't cheating, but we still clicked on video :D

[@FigsyGames]

The video we have all been waiting for

[@casoncloud8755]

this video goes crazy bro 🎉🙏😎

[@seekthuth2817]

Here's how I'd describe it. He really is incredibly good, but there's a lot that makes it seem a lot more impressive than it is if you don't already know about it.

[@ashhorrocks606]

Nice video this, should push you up to 100k subs I reckon

[@CDiPaola04]

I used to immediately assume he was cheating, especially when he was first releasing those shorts where he finds shit in like .2 seconds or used the dumbest tricks. And then he started doing it live, and I finally understood this dude had skills.

[@hazlanmuhammadqodri8469]

more educational content mr zigzag 💪💪

[@onestepback428]

Can anyone link that map coverage at at 3:58

[@AOOA926]

7:30 it is actually west

[@wolfganghaiden5817]

i think the more you play the easier it gets. some countries are ridiculously easy as well though, like iceland. even i got that and i am a noob. thank you for your videos mate

[@laceyjohnson8210]

I already knew the answer was no but you know i clicked the clickbaity title anyway. Glad i did because i actually learned a lot (like I normally do on a zi8gzag video). 👏

[@nexusknight118]

Deserves more love 😢

[@davidiacob276]

We need this 1vs1

[@whitneysmiltank]

With a little bit of knowledge about the game (locations and how maps work), it's very clear he doesn't cheat lol. Good explanations.

[@rogerc7960]

He sometimes displays images with coloured boxes/lines overlayed. That is a military imint ai.

[@QCPro]

2:11 is from Slovenia where i live lol :)

[@phantomax]

thank you zigzag for exposing this cheater. i have called the cops on him

[@tungmountain6038]

Very well made video

[@smad66]

You forgot to mention that alot of his clips are on ADW, an easy map. And he also zooms out instantly to make the guess look better than it was.

[@Apple_Beshy]

People just forgot how a lot of people put a lot of effort to study this kind of thing and also memorize and internalize geohints.

[@supernakke4858]

This is gonna be a good video.

[@Erik-mq4uw]

Amazing video again

[@carrot708]

I see Rainbolt not entering competitions or being competetive top Geoguessr player like, those guys who make "throw the ball into the cup" vines with 1000+ takes aren't faking it. There's no sneaky trickery going on, but they're not going to join a live competetive 'accurate ball throwing' competition

[@geoduck180]

This is the most explaining youve done in a long time, and its not even on geoguessr explained...

[@lenged3209]

i mean this video is probably just for ignorant people who comment on rainbolt shorts saying that hes cheating without knowing anything about the game so its not a huge surprise it would explain the guesses like we are 5 year olds

[@RetsamX]

​@@lenged3209honestly I think like 0.01% of these people will see this :(

[@dreadnought8700]

2:15 bro said the first thing he sees are the HOUSES

[@sanj_lh]

Mentioning the bestie bias, iconic

[@blizzerd1792]

using the shadow on this car... XDDD

[@flameguy3416]

100k subs before 2025 🤞

[@deepsingha8045]

Ayo!! Rainbolt making videos about Rainbolt cheating in Geogessr!!!!

[@Evsta]

beat in the intro goes hard i dont care bout nothin else

[@PhatInAHat]

Interesting vid, but it needs a brief intro explaining actually why people think Rainbolt might have cheated and if there are any genuine major accusations against him. From the title and without a proper intro I was expecting this vid to then be news of some recent accusations or controversy that has just appeared and made zi8gzag weighing in with his thoughts necessary. Also, someone viewing this video for the first time without any prior knowledge of who Rainbolt even was would have been completely lost and confused for the first 5 mins of the vid as well as who he is and what he does is given scant mention.

[@alliebooo]

Was not expecting his most viewed video to have 5m views

[@TheCrewdy]

13:38 I think the raw probability is a little better than that. Firstly, the first one of the 5 doesn't really count as you wouldn't play through the game if you got it wrong on the first one you would just start again immediately so it's really just about getting 4 in a row which is something like 1/400,000. Each go would take about 30 seconds so this would take over a year to get if you did it for around 8 hours per day and you had literally no skills whatsoever. It's not hugely relevant however (other than setting a kind of worst case scenario, maximum length of time) as he is not making a random choice as he is actively trying to achieve 5/5 so it depends more on how good can someone get at identifying mud. An analogy: For example, if I had a bag with 96 blue balls and 4 red balls and you could look in the bag, you could easily identify a red ball 5/5 times every time even though the random odds are 1/400000 of getting 5 in a row. This is because you would be able to identify a red ball every time without fail. Seeing a picture of mud is like looking in the bag and it's just a question of how good can you get at identifying the country and the better you get the more massive the changes. If he gets to being right 1/10 times (as opposed to random chance 1/24), that massively improves the overall chance to 1/10000 and the required time to about 10 days (working 8 hours per day). If he gets to being right 1/5 times, it would take about 5 hours. You managed to get 4 in 5 when playing so I think it is very realistic that he did that 5/5 identifying countries by the mud legitimately and I think if you wanted to get 5/5 then you would get it comfortably in under 5 minutes (if you reset after you get the first one wrong).

[@TheCrewdy]

For the record, I'm not saying any random chump could do it in 5 minutes, I'm saying someone at the top level could probably do it in 5 minutes (assuming zi8gzag's 1st try 4/5 is legitimate).

[@treezerik]

Great video

[@7s0x]

Just that two locations are on the same latitude doesnt mean that they have the same climate

[@MessyMasyn]

Obviously not.

[@foxtrot-1294]

5:16 Fun fact: i live in Rome and that place guessed wrong near rome actually looks like a narrow road next to a lake called "Lago di Nemi". Very impressive