Inside the London Underground memory game – can you name all the Tube stops?

The London Tube Memory Game has earned a near-cult-like status online – but its origins go back to Paris.

While most of us are just about able to list all 11 Tube lines, remembering each station name is a different beast.

Hundreds of thousands of London Underground fans have tested their knowledge with the Tube Metro memory game that launched in October 2023.

The sleek game interface shows the entire Tube network and its 272 stations dotted on each line. Players then have to type in as many station names as they can remember, with a percentage calculator showing how many they got right – a great way to spend an evening instead of doomscrolling.

The London Metro memory game was created by Benjamin Tran Dinh, from Paris, as a way to honour the iconic Tube network.

The London Tube was once part of Benjamin’s ‘day-to-day life’ when he did an internship in South Kensington.

However, the idea for the game was inspired by another game testing people their San Francisco street name expertise rather than by Benjamin’s stint in London.

He told Metro: ‘I tried to replicate it of Paris and the idea of Metro came quite naturally. Paris Metro stations, just as much as London, are iconic and their names represent the places.’

The dad-of-one said that the London Underground is even more of ‘an integral part of the culture of the city’ than in his home city.

When Benjamin released the game on Twitter, it ‘took off.’

‘It got a lot of views at the time and surprisingly it’s still making the rounds. I’ve had a few requests to make it off the Overground and split it into different colours,’ he explained.

He has since created other memory games, but he keeps the Paris and London Tube games updated – on the rare occasion that new stations are opened.

‘During the Paris Olympics, a lot of stations opened and there were extensions, which doesn’t seem to happen in London that often.’

So far, 600,000 people have played the Tube memory game, making it Benjamin’s ‘most successful project.’

His other projects include Unzoomed, a challenge to recognise cities from Europe or the US on satellite images.

When asked why people appear to love maps so much, Benjamin said it links to a sense of belonging and pride.

‘People are proud of where they live usually. Having acquired that knowledge where the London and Paris stations are proves that you’re really a Londoner. It’s a sense of pride trying to get to 100%,’ he added.

But which city, London or Paris, has the best Underground?

‘I’m going to be patriotic and say the Paris system is one of the best for passengers, especially the RER line A, which has held the record for the number of passengers moved at any one time.’

You can play the free game here.

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