Learn the science of the subway in Mini Metro

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Mini Metro (PC, Mac

BY Dinosaur Polo Club

New York City admits now that it made a mistake when first rejecting Massimo Vignelli’s subway map back in 1972. It had a modernist design that favored clarity over the clutter of trying to be geographically correct. This meant a preference for turning the urban sprawl into a series of straight lines and bold colors. This visual design is something we’ve come to expect of subway maps these days. And it’s what Mini Metro, a strategy game about planning the layouts of urban subways, doubles down upon. It’s even cleaner in look than Vignelli’s system maps, leaving only rivers and stations as markers for you to observe. Your task is to draw lines between the stations as railways to create an efficient transport system. It’s elegant, minimalist, and beautiful. Just don’t let any station get overpopulated and you can meditate forever while playing it.

Perfect for:  Train drivers, city dwellers, Massimo Vignelli

Playtime: Between an hour and forever