MINI METRO
DEVELOPER DINOSAUR POLO CLUB PRICE $ 10 dinopoloclub.com/minimetro
So there’s a circle, a square and a triangle. The triangle is generating little squares and circles that want to go to the squares and circles. The square is doing the same, only triangles and circles, not squares. You can connect them with one line, or two, or three I guess, then all the little shapes start moving to where they want to go by way of rectangles, six on each. Then another shape pops up, probably a circle, and you should connect that, too, otherwise the little triangles and squares will start hopping up and down impatiently. Then, more appear.
On Sundays, you get maybe a new line, or a new engine, or some bridges in case there’s a river between shapes. Some of the basic shapes will become pluses, or gems, or diamonds. Then there will be a footy game, one of Mini Metro’s little crises, and things will start to fall apart. All the ovals are jumping up and down, alongside angry triangles and squares. You can’t get a train there in time because your lines aren’t diverse enough. This has started to happen in five other places, too, and the game is over. I can’t stop playing new games. Please organise an intervention.
Apparently this has been released for several months and no-one told me. I think I’ve explained the experience pretty well so far, but this is the elevator pitch designer/ programmers Robert and Peter Curry gave me; “Mini Metro is a minimalist, subway-planning game in which you have to build a network for an ever-expanding city. It does rely on people looking at a screenshot.” The screenshot is basically “the morning after” where you’re trying to get home but you’ve been staring incoherently at the subway map for so long it starts swimming before your eyes.
As the designers say, “Our only real influence was the map of the London Underground itself.” This was in response to me insisting that they must have based it on the original Railroad Tycoon. (You can hear this discussion if you listen to the audio of the interview on PC Powerplay’s website.) Interestingly, although Mini Metro is distinctly its own thing, it tapped into a nostalgic train building part of me, too. It’s like all of the good things I remember about Railroad Tycoon, without the sometimes cumbersome real world detail.
The designers explain: “We wanted to have all the information available to the player at once, so you didn’t have to click to see where individual passengers were going. We wanted to show each rule, get you to demonstrate you understand it and then move on. We never really show you that you can remove a station, though, or a train from one line to another. We wanted to keep an element of mystery so people could experiment and that, if they wanted to do something, it might work.”
Certainly, my kids enjoyed just messing around with what is possible. They’ve played it for more hours than me. My non-gamer husband, who has prioritised Mini Metro over sleep this week, is intrigued by how it represents urban planning and design. Incredibly, the designers mentioned, “We’ve had people who express empathy for their transport planners and have more respect if the bus is five minutes late.” With a map editor on the way, if you missed this like I did, now is certainly time to climb aboard, whether you are circle, triangle or square.