2015.11.06
What can only be the most relaxing crisis simulator ever.
If you've ever visited Japan, you understand this country's affinity for trains. They run the length of the island and beyond, are convenient, fast and unbelievably punctual. You might be stunned that a train set to arrive at 10:15 will be there on the dot, and, should you be delayed by more than a minute, a station attendant will hand out paper slips excusing your tardiness to your boss or teacher. Many people don't drive, own cars or even have a license. It's a great experience, but one is often left wondering how on earth do they do it?
Mini Metro is an exercise in recreating just that. As an omniscient railway designer, your job is to help make sure all your train lines run smoothly. Starting out with just two points, very soon the need for additional stations will cause you to re-think and re-adjust your plans as you coordinate and position rails all over the maps. Add additional trains where you can, bridge water for maximum accessibility, and, when necessary, rip up the whole thing and try to start again before a crowded station causes your ultimate collapse.
What's great is there is never a sense of stress, even with the urgency. Mini Metro creates an ambient atmosphere through relaxing music that gradually becomes more insistent, but never "intense." Even as my grid was overcrowding, I still just enjoyed trying to find a solution for all my little people. Best of all, the game is ever expanding. The maps of Mini Metro are based off of some of the more famous cities for public transit: London, Paris, New York and many more. There's even one for PLAYISM's home base, Osaka. Each city invites a new twist on design, from intersecting rivers to a lack of trains and more. If you want to ease off the difficulty, there is an endless mode that allows each stage to be played without the risk of overcrowding. Or, for the true station master, try the extreme difficulty mode and find that every single track placement is permanent. And the daily challenge mode lets you compete with other conductors the world over to see who can maintain the best system for that day.
If you ever want to show off exactly how you kept afloat so long (or to sheepishly review where you went wrong), Mini Metro has a replay feature that shows the entirety of your game in real time or sped up, and you can export the entire thing as a gif to post wherever you may. We love using gifs on our Twitter and Tumblr, so expect to see plenty of failed rail maps in the near future.
Mini Metro is coming out of Early Access on Steam and launching on PLAYISM today, DRM-free with bonus Steam key! We're celebrating with a 10% discount for a week, bringing the price down to $8.99. So bust out your suspenders and clear your schedule: it's time to build a better tomorrow!
Buy Mini Metro now
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