What kind of game is this?
Next Stop, My Seat is a game about a crowded subway car: you read the riders' tells, figure out who's getting off at the next stop, and stand in front of them so you can take the seat they leave behind. One ride is five stops and takes about a minute. Hold your phone upright and play with one hand. This page covers the controls, how to read the tells, how scoring works, and some tips for landing a seat.
Reading the screen
- Station display (top): the name of the next stop, how many stops are left to the end of the line, and how many seconds until the train arrives. Right before the stop it switches to "Now arriving: ..."
- The row of seats: six riders are sitting down. When one of them does something, a speech bubble (❗💼👀📱🧥⌚ and so on) pops up above their head
- The standing riders: the one with the red backpack and the "▲YOU" tag is you. The two in dark suits are your rivals, and they're after an empty seat just like you
Controls
Tap a seat (or the area just below it) to move in front of that seat. You can also step one seat at a time with the ◀ ▶ buttons at the bottom of the screen, or the ← → keys on a computer. The car is packed, so moving one seat takes about 0.4 seconds. Going from one end to the other (five seats) takes about 2 seconds. You can't move while the train is stopped at a station.
How each stop plays out
- After leaving a station, the train runs for 9 seconds to the next one. During that time, the seated riders do all sorts of things
- When you spot someone who looks like they're getting off, move in front of them and wait
- When the train stops, the doors open and the riders getting off stand up. Each empty seat goes to whoever was standing in front of it first
- If you get a seat, you win the ride. If not, it's on to the next stop
You can sit at stops 1 through 4. Stop 5 is the end of the line, so if you haven't found a seat by then, the ride ends with "Stood to the last stop."
Tells of riders who are getting off
As the train nears the station, a rider who's getting off shows tells in order: weak, then medium, then strong. Anyone who shows a strong tell always gets off. But about 40% of the riders getting off never go past medium.
| Strength | Tell | When it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Weak | 🧥 Buttons up coat / ⌚ Checks watch | 1 to 3 seconds after leaving the station |
| Medium | 👀 Looks up at the station sign / 📱 Puts phone away | Around 4 to 6 seconds |
| Strong | ❗ Starts to stand, then sits back down / 💼 Puts bag on lap and grips the handles | 6 to 7 seconds |
Usually one rider gets off at each stop (sometimes two). The more tells the same rider shows, the more likely they are to get off.
Riders who stay put (fake-outs)
Some riders look like they're getting off but aren't. Watch until the end and you can tell them apart.
- 💼→📖 Puts their bag on their lap, then pulls a book out of it and starts reading
- 👀→💤 Looks up at the station sign, then closes their eyes again
- ⌚→💨 Checks their watch and sighs: not there yet
- 💤 Fast asleep. They're going to miss their stop, so they won't get off
Also, riders who aren't getting off sometimes button up their coat 🧥 too (maybe they're just cold). Don't make up your mind from a weak tell alone.
How your rivals move
Your two rivals watch for tells as well, but they notice them about 1 to 2 seconds after they appear. Once they've seen enough to think someone is getting off, they move in front of that seat. They can fall for fake-outs, too. Rivals won't come to a seat you're already standing in front of. On the other hand, if the rider in front of a rival gets off, the rival sits down. Whenever a rival takes a seat, a new rival boards at that stop.
Scoring and titles
| Stop where you sat | Points |
|---|---|
| Stop 1 | 1000 pts |
| Stop 2 | 800 pts |
| Stop 3 | 600 pts |
| Stop 4 | 400 pts |
| No seat by the last stop | 0 pts |
On top of that you get a Waiting bonus: the number of seconds you were standing in front of that seat before the train arrived × 25 points (in steps of 10), up to 200 points.
Example: you sit at stop 3 and had been standing in front of the seat for 4 seconds before arriving, so you get 600 + 100 = 700 points.
Your title depends on your total score: 1000 or more is "Seat Prophet," 700 or more is "Commute Master," 1 or more is "Pole Pal," and 0 is "Standing Room Only."
Today's Line and Practice
- Today's Line: changes once a day, based on the date in Japan (UTC+9). For that day, every player gets the same riders and the same tells, no matter which language they play in. Your rivals move the same way too, so the same moves get the same result. Share your result on X and see how your friends do
- Practice: different riders every time
Saving your scores
Your personal best for each day's Today's Line and your personal best in Practice are saved in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server. Progress in the middle of a ride isn't saved, so if you close the page you start over.
Tips for landing a seat
- Move on a medium tell: if you wait for a strong tell, a rival often gets there first. When you see 👀 or 📱, head for that seat
- The earlier you stand, the bigger the bonus: be in front of the seat 8 seconds before arriving and you get the full 200-point bonus
- Skip riders with 💤: fast asleep means they're not getting off
- Keep watching after 💼: if they pull out a book after setting the bag on their lap, it's a fake-out. If they keep gripping the handles, they're getting off
- Don't move too much: while you're moving, you don't count as standing in front of any seat. If you're still moving when the train stops, you lose your claim to that seat