Simitci

Simitci is a street runner about the simitçi, the Istanbul seller who carries a wooden tray of fresh simit on his head. Every shift starts at dawn outside Karaköy Fırını with forty simit stacked on the tray, and the whole city is uphill from there. Swipe to change lanes around the tram, the porters with fridges on their backs, street cats and tourists. Tap to hop curbs and the stair edges of the Kamondo Stairs. Tilt the phone to keep the tray level, and swipe up or down to hurry or steady your pace. Hurry and you reach the ferry crew before the 8:10 to Kadıköy; hurry on the cobbles and simit slide off. Good shifts earn ferry tickets that open the next part of the city, and the regulars remember you. Features: • Four real routes: Beyoğlu, Eminönü, Balat and the Kadıköy side, street by street • Twelve regulars with habits: Hasan the barber always takes two, Ayşe pays extra while the batch is warm, Remzi's tea steadies the tray • Tray balance that reacts to your pace, the cobbles, hops and lane changes • Today's Istanbul weather and sunrise: rain makes the cobbles slippery • Ferry tickets to unlock routes, best takings per route and a dawn streak • Your own seller's permit with a photo from your camera or gallery • Optional daily reminder when the first batch is out of the oven • Steady-hands assist for devices without a tilt sensor The tray is full and still steaming. Off you go.