Mini Motorways Impressions

I imply no disrespect to Apple Arcade subscribers right here, however there’s a rising development the place superb video games seem on the service, are extensively ignored by the bulk who aren’t part of it, then get to be loved like model new video games for the primary time by everybody else after they lastly land on different platforms.

I wrote about one among these final month, Lego: Builder’s Journey, and at this time I’m writing about one other one, Mini Motorways. The sequel of kinds to Mini Metro, a recreation I’m aghast to seek out is now seven years previous, Mini Motorways first got here out in 2019 on Apple’s subscription service, however has now additionally dropped on Steam, that means I’m attending to play it and having fun with each second of it.

Gita wrote concerning the recreation again in 2019 when she performed it on the cellphone, and whereas all the pieces she stated about how horrible automobiles are remains to be very a lot true, I’m nonetheless in love with this recreation for many of the identical causes I fell in love with Mini Metro.

Identical to Mini Metro wasn’t actually about trains, Mini Motorways isn’t actually about automobiles both. Certain, there are cursory nods to how roads work, but it surely takes round 4 seconds taking part in this to know that this isn’t a critical simulation of city planning.

The theme is the excuse to hit us with what this sequence does finest: elegantly escalating puzzle challenges that in most circumstances would rapidly turn into infuriating had been they not draped in essentially the most chill visuals and interface possible.

Simply have a look at this trailer. Anybody who has lived in a car-driven metropolis will know that main motorway development is hell on Earth, and anybody who has ever needed to drive to work is aware of that being caught in visitors can be hell on Earth, simply in a smaller place.

Right here, although, the truth of what’s being simulated is stripped away to the purpose the place enormous intersections bristling with visitors are represented by superbly minimal visitors lights, and motorways are dropped at life just by dragging them throughout a map.

There’s nonetheless stress to be felt right here, as each recreation of Mini Motorways is about constructing the suitable roads quick sufficient to satisfy growing demand—for those who don’t, it’s recreation over—however each time I’ve failed I’ve merely stated ‘ah, oh effectively, that was beautiful, let’s try this once more”.

The sport’s challenges by no means really feel unfair although, or tense, they’re simply there in the best way that you already know this can be a recreation that will get barely tougher the longer you play it, and that there’ll inevitably turn into a degree the place this all turns into an excessive amount of and it’s recreation over, irrespective of how effectively your planning and development velocity has gone.

And when it does, that’s cool, you possibly can simply slide over to a special metropolis—there are hundreds to select from, every with regional color palettes and a tough approximation of their setting—and take a look at it over again.

Mini Motorways is out now on Steam, and can be coming to Nintendo Change in 2022.