Mini Metro

This game has fairly simple goals, interface and mechanics.... and is Exceptionally Good at all of them. In short, you are to keep your city's metro system active and efficient, delivering people in a timely manner to their locations, designated by symbols. Each map starts easy then ramps up in difficulty fairly quickly. Throwing spanners in to the works are the random choices in between weeks as to what upgrades you may utilise in the future, as well as some of the locations changing their symbol (changing up your network's bottlenecks). This game definitely has the "Just One More Go" factor. By far, the most addictive game I have played this year. The minimialist interface and audio truly work well for the game too. Highly Recommended, particularly if you are a fan of constructive and/or puzzle games.

I haven't read the book and I don't know a great deal about it's lore, but even still, Metro 2033 and this game could not be more different. This game is set either before or significantly after 2033. There are no mutants yet but who knows whether they come in the form of a DLC? While Metro 2033 is a standout among the survival horror games, Mini Metro is more relaxed in its depiction of man vs. it's environment. It is still an immersive title - that is certainly a similarity - but don't expect any weapon customisation, gruelling cut scenes, or difficult tactical encounters. What I admire most about Mini Metro is it's ability to create an entire game with as few pieces as possible. Every aspect of this game is slimmed down and the end result looks clean. The main difference between Mini Metro and transport sims is the scoring system. If your transport system is inefficient, customers get angry and you lose. Keep trains running on time and the game continues to grow. In that way it's a bit similar to Tetris. Much like the human's struggle in Metro 2033, it always feel like you're moments from the end. Overall, much like its predecessor, Mini Metro makes for an unusual, engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable experience. 5 stars from me.

Easy to learn, hard to master. It literally takes just seconds to get the hang of the controls and after about a minute you think, 'Yeah okay, I've got this... I can score 2000 with my eyes closed', but then you realize you're a bridge/tunnel short, that one of your lines is getting overcrowded or that the last station you've connected makes one of the lines too short, causing delays... And by the time you've fixed that problem, there are two more just waiting around the corner. You can play the same city fifty times over and it will come out looking different each time. With three types of gameplay and an endless replayability, you'll never get bored. The graphics aren't stunning as perhaps in other simulators, but it works for this game! Conclusion: excellent, fun game at an unbeatable price!

Metro sort of took me by surprise. I am not someone who needs a fantastic gui if the game does not need it and Metro shows how a game, when done properly, does not need flashy graphics and amazing sound. What do I like about it? I like the simplicity of the game. That said though, this is not a simple game to master I don't think. A real brain test, planning vital, you have limited locomotives, lines, bridges, tunnels etc that you have to very careful with your use. The games starts nice and slowly, connect 2 stations together. Then, slowly other stations appear. Sounds easy eh? But it is not a case of people getting from 1 place to another. They want to get to a certain type of station, identified by a symbol. So, suddenly you need to make sure you have connected the right type of station with sensible lines. All in all a winner I think! I got it in the sale and I initially thought the price might be a bit high at full price. However I think that I was wrong, it will be giving me hours of gameplay so I would have been OK paying full price!