In the previous blog post I talked about Humble Bundle and how it can enlighten you to a range of smaller games you may never have heard of, but are actually super fun to play. I had found Mini Metro on Steam and had it on my wish list but had not played it and to be honest I can't remember where I found it. So when I found it in the Humble Bundle I snapped it up. There are a few more games yet to play as well, but for now I have become addicted!!
The first time I loaded it, it went straight into a game and I had no idea what to do. however if you leave a map there is a tutorial plus a whole load of YouTube videos explaining and reviewing the game.
So the premise is that you are managing a train network to move passengers around. The stations are three basic shapes; circle, square and triangle, that must be connected for people to get around. To start with you have 3 coloured lines but you can choose these at the end of each week (runs Sunday to Sunday).
Some times you get a special shape appear (Star, Oval) and there will be one or two of these on screen as the stations keep appearing. Lines can only cross through stations, and after a while it gets very busy at one station with people waiting for the next train to take them to triangle however on that station people wanting to move to a Star have to transfer and this is where it gets problematic because if a station is too full then you lose.
There is an endless game mode, but at the moment there is a lot of fun in trying to trouble shoot where trains and carriages are and which lines they are most needed on. You do have a finite number of trains per line.
With some maps there are tunnels to cross water which is easy to start with but depending on how many lines you have and how many connections you need gets a real problem very quickly to start getting trains to outlying stations.
The problem with the game is when you fail, you don't want to give up. You think how can I do it better. Where can I improve?
There are a range of cities with their underground systems that offer different challenges and options. After providing a certain level of service (number of people moved) new cities will become available to try and get frustrated with.
It is a beautifully simple game, that looks like an underground tube map and plays perfectly. What I felt worked well is the music was relaxing but would change (or incidental music would happen) when you connected new stations, trains and things got hairy! It feels very fluid and you get lost in what you are trying to manage.
It is produced (from what I understand) by a New Zealand games studio and is a true classic indie game. Now is such a great time for people to find and try small and creative games outside of the main studios. Steam plays a massive part to this in terms of access to games you never knew existed. On my wish list at the moment I have mostly small games (because I have a computer that won't run some of the traditional intensive games) but I like this. I love discovering games like Mini Metro that are quick, fun and easy to pick up and get addicted to. With many of these games also now becoming PS+ and Xbox Live Arcade games.
I would suggest you try this game (and you can for free online here with no installation required). I warn you if you try it, that is it. You won't stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment