Under Stockholm

About the game

Under Stockholm is a free browser game where you walk around a stylized Stockholm metro. The whole network is there: the blue, red and green lines, seven routes and 100 stations out to Akalla, Hjulsta, Norsborg, Fruängen, Mörby centrum, Ropsten, Hässelby strand, Skarpnäck, Farsta strand and Hagsätra. You change lines at T-Centralen, Gamla stan, Slussen and Fridhemsplan, and in the suburbs the trains run in the open air.

The stations

Every station is built from data and has its own painted look: blue vines on the rock at T-Centralen, terracotta at Rådhuset, terrazzo and classical fragments at Kungsträdgården, Stadion’s rainbow and Skarpnäck’s red ceiling. Between T-Centralen and Slussen the red and green lines cross Riddarfjärden, with Gamla stan, Riddarholmen’s church and the City Hall’s three crowns outside the window. Every station has escalators, ticket gates, clocks showing the right time and amber departure boards, and behind a gate at the far end of the platform the staff corridors begin. All of it is interpreted in the game’s own style, not copied exactly.

Stockholm, right now

The game’s clock is Stockholm’s clock. Everyone playing meets the same trains in the same places, rush hour comes in the morning and on weeknights the service stops between one and five. The weather at the exits follows the real weather, and when SL reports an escalator out of order it stands still in the game too. Turn on real trains in the pause menu and SL’s own trains run all three lines, with the same departure times as on the real platforms. The year shows: a Christmas tree through advent, a Lucia procession on 13 December, students singing in the carriages in June and cinnamon bun bags on 4 October.

Life in the metro

People stand on the right of the escalator and walk on the left, and whoever stands in the wrong lane hears about it. A saxophonist plays in Kungsträdgården’s ticket hall, an accordion player in the passage at T-Centralen, and at rush hour hundreds of commuters crowd the City passage. Pigeons peck by the doors, a rat runs along the track when the rails start to sing, and at the kiosk you can buy coffee and a bun and carry the steaming cup with you. Inspectors board now and then, so tap your card at the gates.

Things to find

• Drive a practice train from the cab and try to stop at the stop sign.
• Find the staff corridors, the shelter under Rådhuset, Kymlinge and Silverpilen.
• Travel back to 1975 with the time machine and fill the book of discoveries.

Menus and help are in English. Signs and announcements stay in Swedish, as in the real metro. No account needed, and added to your home screen the game opens full screen.