Is Localnauts like geocaching? What geocaching with kids is — and what Localnauts does differently

'Oh, like geocaching?' — we get this almost every time we explain Localnauts. It makes sense: both send you outdoors, device in hand, to places that really exist. But they're not the same. Here's a quick explainer of what geocaching actually is, whether it's worth doing with kids — and how Localnauts differs.

What is geocaching, exactly?

Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunt using GPS. Someone hides a small waterproof container — the cache or geocache — usually with a logbook inside. They post the exact GPS coordinates online, classically on geocaching.com. Everyone else uses an app or a GPS device to navigate to that spot, find the container, sign the logbook — and put it back exactly as it was.

Many caches hold small trade items; the rule is 'take something, leave something'. Some caches only reveal their coordinates once you solve a puzzle. The game was invented in 2000, and the company Groundspeak has run geocaching.com ever since. Today there are more than three million active caches worldwide, on every continent. Geocaching is a hobby: free, anytime, with no fixed beginning and no end.

Is geocaching worth it with kids?

Yes — for families it's a lovely, low-cost outdoor hobby. It gets kids moving, builds a sense of direction and patience, and the moment the cache is found is pure joy. To start you just need a smartphone with the Geocaching app and a pen for the logbook. Pick an easy 'traditional cache' near you and bring a few small trade items.

Two things to know: geocaching takes a little prep (app, account, choosing the right cache), and there's no storyline. How good an afternoon gets depends on which cache you pick — sometimes it's a wonderful spot, sometimes just a film canister on a lamppost. It's a hobby, not a ready-planned experience.

So is Localnauts like geocaching?

The GPS part is true: Localnauts also walks you to places that really exist, with that treasure-hunt feeling — the screen does not hold you, it sends you out. That's why so many people ask. But underneath, Localnauts is something else.

What Localnauts does differently

The difference is at the core: you're not looking for a hidden box — you scan what stands in front of you, a statue, an old house, an inscription. You travel back to 1737 as a crew and solve puzzles at ten fixed stations, drawn from the history of the Bohemian Village in Rixdorf. Each puzzle gives you a letter; together they form a solution word.

And there's what a hobby can't offer: every child has a role that rotates along the way — navigator, chronicler, naut. Nobody just tags along, and every voice counts in the team decisions. There's a clear beginning and end, around 90 to 120 minutes, and it all runs in the browser — no download, no account. Every historical fact is backed by a source.

Geocaching is a hobby that leads you to a box. Localnauts is a finished adventure that leads you through a story.

In short

If someone asks: the GPS part is like geocaching — only you're not hunting a hidden box, you're living through a story with puzzles, roles and time travel. Geocaching is an open-ended hobby; Localnauts is a guided adventure with a beginning, an end and a thread running through it.