Think you know TriMet? A new daily guessing game puts riders to the test.

Published 4:00 am Friday, March 6, 2026

German-based developer River Honer brings the daily transit guessing game to Portland after launching Routle for San Francisco’s Muni

Think you know TriMet?

How about its routes and what they look like on a map?

Routle, a daily transit guessing game, challenges public transit nerds to geek out and guess routes based on their shapes.

It works similarly to the game Wordle, but instead of giving players six chances to spell a five-letter word, Routle offers up a TriMet transit line against a plain white background. You have five chances to guess which route it is as the game reveals a new section with each guess.

River Honer, 32, developed the game in just a couple of days and launched it in December 2024, with the first round of routes based in San Francisco — where she completed an urban planning degree. It’s where she became a huge fan of Muni, also known as the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which the game was originally designed for.

“I love that it gets shared in families and friend groups and builds civic pride. Transit funding is sometimes a struggle for cities to prioritize,” Honer said, emphasizing the impact of the current political climate.

Timing of the game release is opportune as TriMet grapples with a severe budget deficit that have resulted in position and service cuts, layoffs in recent months, and the potential for fare increases depending on its recovery.

While studying at San Francisco State University, Honer spent time in Portland during the summers, mostly visiting the Montavilla and Alberta neighborhoods. She would take the Amtrak to Portland and then ride the bus, MAX trains and Portland Streetcar around the city.

“TriMet is a great network and it was awesome to be able to travel to a city by train and then get around with transit. Living in Europe now people have a stereotype of the USA as a place where you can’t do that, but I lived in a way which was pretty similar to how I live in Europe,” Honer said. “Amtrak was unreliable and slow but the city transit networks were always great.”

The addition of TriMet to Routle is because its networks work well for the game, according to Honer.

Plus, she said the city is home to many public transit fans and users.

“It is important to build community and excitement over public institutions, which hopefully maintain the political mandate for public transit,” Honer said.

She explained that TriMet’s grid system allows for routes to be narrowed down well by players making guesses. For example, guessing a route on the eastside would easily help slim down a player’s options. Though, Honer said that Portland has a large grid on the eastside, and a tilted grid in downtown, so while it’s easy to orient yourself on a larger scale, it’s harder to narrow down from there.

Now, transit junkies in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland can indulge and put their skills to the test.

But, despite the urge to spread love to public transit in other cities, Honer said that Muni is, and will always be, her favorite transit network.

Find the TriMet version of Routle online.