Lifelong Londoners, people who have just moved here, and those who visit every other weekend just love to say with their chest that they have an unrivalled knowledge of the London Underground. Well, guess what, liars? It’s time to put your chat to a true money-where-your-mouth-is task and be absolutely humbled by an online game that tasks you with naming every single bloody Tube station in this godforsaken city.
The Tube station guessing game is called London Metro Memory, and you can challenge your friends to score the highest number across 14 lines, which include the London Overground and Elizabeth Lines (yes, Reading is an answer in this game).
Easy, I boldly assumed… right up until I started flagging at around the 45% mark. This game is hard, as it turns out. As I now sit on around 60%, it’s safe to say that this Tube guessing game breaks your brain. Going about your life and having “WARREN STREET” and “THEYDON BOIS” and “BECKTON” (you’re welcome for these ones, by the way) pop into your head like a flashing lightbulb is some trip; one that undoubtedly not let up until the meter ticks into 100%.
It’ll also help you realise that living in certain parts of London has certain advantages when it comes to the Tube guessing game. Growing up where I did has given me the key knowledge that about 22 London Tube stations have Ealing or Acton in their name. If your eyes go walkabout to the end of the Central Line map, you also might have noticed that there are a frankly absurd amount of Ruislips.
Who do we have to thank for this creation? Benjamin Tran Dinh. He’s the software engineer that crafted the game and set it free into the wild to bewilder and frustrate you—and he sure as sh*t hasn’t failed in that department. Since it dropped last Friday (October 20), it’s amassed hundreds of thousands of keen players; all likely going in with optimism before hitting the end of the line early on.
If you would like to play for the purposes of London bragging rights/personal pride/procrastination/smashing your phone against a wall then you can do so at the London Metro Memory Game site here.
Side note: I also really like the search toolbar recognition functionality. You know on some online quizzes where it makes you spell every word out exactly how it’s written or else it won’t give you a point? No. This one will let you make a slip-up on the number of double letters in Picadilly Circus and still recognise where you’re coming from, which really helps when you’re frantically typing in the stations at breakneck speed.