Developer: Dinosaur Polo Club
Publisher: Dinosaur Polo Club
Rrp: £6.99 (Steam), £7.49 (Gog.com), £6.99 (Humblebundle)
Released: 6th November 2015
Available on: Steam, Gog.com and Humblebundle
Played Using: A Mouse
Approximate game length: 6 Hours
Inner city train systems, they’re loud, smelly, overcrowded and generally and unpleasant to experience. They’re also a vital necessity to for the operation of a cities economy, but have you ever found yourself thinking “I could’ve planned this system better.”? This may be your chance then.
Mini Metro is a simulation game in which you get to design the layout of various metro systems across the world. The game is played entirely using the mouse and nothing else, click and drag for pretty much everything.
WARNING – THIS GAME IS ENTRANCING, IF YOU START PLAYING YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF UP UNTIL DAYLIGHT WITHOUT REALISING IT.
When you first start playing there are only four maps are available; London, Paris, New York City and Berlin. More become unlocked as you achieve goals on particular maps (for example Melbourne is unlocked once you’ve transported two hundred people on the Berlin map).
Each map has its own quirks, on some the trains are replaced with trams which are slower than the standard locomotives, on another you have the option for one faster train or two standard locomotives, there are more quirks but I don’t wish to spoil it.
Each station is represented by a basic geometric shape, you start with three (being square, triangle and circle) and more appear as you continue to play making your routes longer and more complex.
The game has three modes (discounting the daily challenges); normal, endless and extreme. In normal mode your metro will close when a station becomes overcrowded. Endless removes that lose condition allowing you to well…. play endlessly. Finally there is extreme mode, in extreme mode all tracks that you lay down are permanent.
In the normal and extreme modes you receive a reward of a new locomotive at the end of each week you’re also given a choice between two additional bonuses. So… do you take the ability to build two bridges or tunnels? Or does another train line sound more useful? Perhaps you need to add a second carriage instead? Decisions, decisions.
In endless mode, the reward is activated once you reach a certain number of people being transported at once.
You have the ability to pause or speed up the game which I found to be extremely helpful because it allowed me to re-plan my tracks and re-position my locomotives.
I like the fact that the tutorial explains how to play without using words for the most part. In fact the only time words appear at all during the game is when you choose a level and when you gain your weekly reward. What I find is that although you are given a brief tutorial when you first start playing if you wanted to go back through it you have to find the tutorial which is hidden within the options menu for some reason.
So what do I think of Mini Metro? Well I like it, its both very simple to understand and very hard to master. I feel the price of it is a little on the high side for what it is, if it were perhaps a two pound cheaper that would be a different story.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Train Valley
Ticket to Ride
Lyne
