A location round gives you a question you can act on immediately: where is this? You can start with an obvious feature, make a guess, and compare it with the answer. You do not need to know the place before you can take part.
That structure offers a few plausible reasons to enjoy the game. These are observations about its design, not findings from a study of players' brains.
The moment a feature becomes a clue
A pattern of pale lines might look unremarkable until you recognise it as a dry river network. Then you have something to investigate: the surrounding relief, the size of the channels, perhaps a nearby coast. An image becomes more interesting when you can ask specific questions about it.
The clue can also mislead you. A field grid occurs in many countries. Discovering that your familiar-looking landscape was somewhere else gives you a comparison to carry into another round.
The answer is easy to check
A location reveal makes the difference between your guess and the answer visible. It does not tell you why you were wrong. For that, you have to return to the image and examine the evidence.
Try writing down one observation before guessing. After the reveal, ask whether it actually supported your choice or merely reminded you of a place you knew. This makes a round useful even when the score is low.
Other players notice different things
One person may follow the coast while another studies the shape of the fields. Comparing those routes to an answer is often more interesting than comparing scores. In a group, leave time for someone to explain an incorrect guess as well as the winning one.
A game can be enjoyable without proving that it improves general intelligence, memory, or navigation. If you want to learn particular places, check whether you can recognise unfamiliar views of them later, outside the round you have just practised.