Small symbols pop up. I connect them with colored lines and immediately the first train with passengers commutes back and forth between them. While other stations are automatically added, I study the travel behaviour for new routes and possible changes to existing connections. Basically, it’s all about getting passengers to their destination quickly.
However, I always find myself wanting to design visually appealing line plans – something that people can grasp at a glance. They should look at the growing, pulsating structure and not be frightened – like when they see the subway plan of London or Paris. This is real madness! I, on the other hand, strive for orderly harmony like in Berlin or Munich. You look at the plan and think: I have no idea where I am, but this structure and order gives me the security and confidence I will need on my journey.
It is more of an obstacle to achieve the goal of the game while dealing with questions of aesthetic order. For the virtual passengers it does not matter anyway whether a route is particularly straight through the city or whether the route plan is clear. I’m pretty sure they don’t even know the word route map. Nor do they mind if several lines do not enter and leave a station exactly parallel to each other. It makes me aggressive. And they are not interested in the poetic symmetry of two similarly running circular lines. I can’t understand why they don’t care. Probably tourists.*
There are such moments when I feel it – deep inside of me: You think you are creative, but you are just a real German. You confuse order with design and let yourself be enchanted by a bit of colour. Please be true to yourself – buy the shitty Birkenstock sandals in shining “Scuba Blue” and feel complete.
± Without tourists a city could not afford the same diversity. Most people are visiting cities because they are interested in this place. They behave strangely because they don’t know the city’s DNA yet. Imagine, they are inquisitive children – you should help them and always treat them with respect, too.
Mini Metro is a strategy puzzler from the developer Dinosaur Polo Club. The game content, the planning of the most efficient subway routes, can even create identity.
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