eldenele: dolmuş

Pass the fare from hand to hand all the way to the driver, then send the change back. Keep the till square, or the heavies turn up at the door!

Anyone not passed their fare yet?

You're on an Istanbul dolmuş, the shared minibus. Passengers climb in and hold out their fare, but the driver can't leave the wheel and nobody walks to the front. The money travels hand to hand: tap the passenger, then the one next to them, then the one in front… until it reaches the driver. He counts it, you pick the coins from the till, and the change travels back the same way.

Simple? Then add: • Student or full fare? Who paid for how many? • The dozing auntie, the uncle buried in his newspaper, the passenger who forgot to pay. • Passengers who sway round the bends and lurch forward when the driver brakes. • The till must balance before the stop. Come up short and the heavies turn up at the door!

After each run, 25% of the takings is yours. Have tea at the stop, feed the street cat and the gull; make friends and they look out for you. Deck out the minibus from the shop: pine air freshener, amber worry beads, nodding dog, lace doilies, tufted upholstery, neon lights, a "Maşallah" sign, fog lights, a musical horn, two-tone paint. Give your driver a handlebar moustache, sunglasses, a flat cap and a leather jacket. Everything you buy shows up in the cabin, on the minibus and on the driver.

• Routes through Alibeyköy, Eyüp, Eminönü, Aksaray, Topkapı, Taksim and more • Songs on the minibus radio, the diesel's rumble, the hum of the street • One-finger controls, short rides

Play in English or Turkish. No ads, no purchases, no internet needed, no data collected.

oh! oyun havası