Walk the real Sydney.
A free browser game on a map that is not made up: every street, park and shopfront from OpenStreetMap, trains and buses running on the real timetable, and someone waiting on the main corner of every suburb. Built for a phone. Unfinished, and looking for testers.
The city is the real one
Nothing here was drawn by hand from imagination. The ground is OpenStreetMap geometry, rasterised at 25 centimetres per pixel: 691 suburbs, 166 stations, every laneway and awning on King Street. It streams in as you walk, about 124 KB at a time, so your phone never holds more than the few blocks around you.
The trains and buses are on the timetable Transport for NSW publishes: 1,078 bus route directions calling at 21,422 stops, seven days a week. Wait at a stop and the bus that comes is the one that is due. Ride inside the carriage; look out of the window and the suburbs going past are the ones that are really there.
What you do
- Walk. One thumb on the nav disc: a round map with a bit of fish-eye, and dragging from the centre is walking.
- Ride. Board a train at any of 166 stations and ride in a double-decker; catch a bus and ring the bell for your stop.
- Meet people. 678 of them, one on the main corner of each suburb, each with a commemorative mug for you. Some of them want something.
- Own a bit of it. Press LOTS, stand on a lot that is for sale, buy it, build a house, plant a tree, furnish it with what you carried home.
- Keep your game. On this device for free; on the server with an account, which is a username and a password and nothing else.
- Say what is wrong. FEEDBACK sits beside the nav disc. Where you were and what the game was doing is attached for you.
It is an alpha, and you would be a tester
The game changes most days and some of it is rough. The QUESTS page lists what just changed and what to try; each thing you try is worth points, and a bug report that turns out to be real is worth more. Points are what the people on the corners are looking for. If you would rather just wander, that is also allowed.
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. It runs in the browser, on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install and no account needed. An account is a username and a password, nothing else, and it keeps your game on the server so you can continue from another device.
Is it really Sydney?
Yes. Every street, footpath, park, shop and building footprint comes from OpenStreetMap, drawn as pixel art at 25 cm per pixel. 691 suburbs and 166 stations are in the world. Trains and buses run on the real Transport for NSW timetable: 1,078 bus route directions and 21,422 stops.
What do you actually do?
Walk. Catch a train and ride inside the carriage, or a bus and ring the bell for your stop. Meet the person standing on the main corner of every suburb (678 of them) and collect their commemorative mug. Buy a lot, build a house, furnish it. Report what looks wrong.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, it is built for one first. Portrait, one thumb on the nav disc to walk, the other on the buttons beside it. On a computer use the arrow keys or WASD.
How much data does it use?
About 14 MB on the first load, which the page starts fetching behind this text before you press play. After that the city streams in about 124 KB at a time as you walk into it, and your browser keeps what it has seen for an hour.
What is an alpha tester?
The game is unfinished and changes most days. Testers earn points for trying the things that just changed, and more for a bug report that turns out to be real. FEEDBACK is one tap away at all times, and the game attaches where you were and what it was doing, so you never have to describe it.