This MBTA Anagram Game Will Keep You From Getting Any Work Done

photo By Olga Khvan

James Offer lives all the way in London, but in his quest to create games for commuters and transit admirers to enjoy, he decided to bring the MBTA into the mix for his latest project.

Offer’s “love to transform words and data into meaningful and engaging experiences” is what convinced him that an anagram game that jumbles the names of T stops and stations would be an ideal way for passengers to pass the time while they make their way to work or home.

Offer recently uploaded the MBTA’s station data to his website, Codehesive.com, after tweaking it in a spreadsheet and converting it into code, to create a game that he calls “Boston Flummox.” The way it works is, players have to race against the clock and unscramble as many MBTA station anagrams as possible, strictly based on their knowledge of all the different areas of the underground system.

Here’s the template:

“I created a London Underground game that shuffled up letters of stations. People seemed to enjoy it, so I started doing a few other places,” Offer told Boston. “What I find particularly interesting about these sorts of games is you really need to know the transport system like a local to enjoy it. In fact it’s virtually impenetrable if you don’t know the system. I barely scored more than a few for Boston.”

So far, offer said he has made similar mind-benders for Chicago, Toronto, Manchester, Sydney, and Perth, Australia, based on relevant transportation information.

He said New York is a “really obvious one” to create, but there are so many numbered streets that it’s probably not much fun. Boston is his latest online project. “The best cities are ones with nice wordy station names. London is perfect, and Boston works nicely too,” said Offer.

Go ahead, test your MBTA knowledge!