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There are more than a handful of minimalist puzzle games out there. With so many, it can be difficult to tell the difference between one that is ‘minimalist’ because the developer didn’t care and one that is minimalist because it’s part of the overall design and intended aesthetic. Greater still is the gulf between whether they’re worth playing or not. Since you’ve probably seen the “Overwhelmingly Positive” label, I think you already know, this isn’t one of those ‘minimalist’ bargain bin games you get in a bundle and never install. This is good.
Abbreviated Review: https://youtu.be/-NlmXK5qPtY

What you see is all you get

Mini Motorways takes after its predecessor, Mini Metro, in delivering a simplistic set of visuals that convey all of the information necessary and little else. The presentation is similar to that of Google maps without the satellite view. A simple white (or dark gray) background with easily discernible roads and a collection of colorful buildings make up the majority of the maps. The only exceptions are a slightly different shade for the impassable mountains and waterways.
The game’s maps are meant to represent various major cities, but without any knowledge of the most basic geographies of these locations, it’s not really possible to tell. Water features and mountains will often be labeled for their real-life counterparts as well, though that doesn’t do much for me since I don’t know even vague details about the landscape of Munich or Rio de Janeiro. However, this design element is more for the distinction between the various levels rather than to make you say something like “I can see my house from here!” They could just as well be called City 1, City 2, etc.
Yet, even with what would seem like a limitation, the design has a very welcoming appeal. It, of course, runs extremely smoothly on pretty much any PC it can be installed on, but it goes further. The way roads and features snap to the grid to round out corners while still giving you the dexterity to achieve your strategy is nearly flawless. Being able to quickly build, remove, and rebuild roads without being disoriented or overwhelmed by the way information is being presented ends up being a cornerstone of what makes the gameplay work.

Taming the Traffic

The core of Mini Motorways gameplay is getting vehicles to their desired location efficiently and effectively. It’s that simple. “Stores” pop up and produce little icons. Houses pop up with two cars ready to head over there and take one of those icons away. If the store produces too many icons without being picked up, it starts a 30-second timer that, when complete, will end your run. All you have to do is connect the houses and the stores and let the cars do the work.
This works beautifully at first, but soon cars clog the streets and inhibit one another from getting where they need to go. That’s when you have to come in with traffic lights and roundabouts to make intersections less congested and keep cars moving. Motorways are your strongest tool as they are highways that rise above all of the detritus of roads, buildings, and the chaos they perpetuate – plus cars go faster on them. These, along with the obvious bridges and tunnels to get around and through obstacles are the only tools you need (and have) to keep things running smoothly.
However, none of that will carry you very far without the proper strategy. This is where I had some learning to do. At first, I was attempting to build numerous roads and intersections as if everything needed to be interconnected. It wasn’t (too) long before I figured out that you only need to connect similarly colored houses and their corresponding destinations. Even within that, it’s best to avoid connecting extra houses that fit that criteria because it could contribute to extra traffic. Not to mention it may be beneficial to connect those extra houses elsewhere.


High Scores, Low Scores, and Replayability

These concepts along with the randomized nature of building spawns lead to a game that is not only quite deep but very replayable. The result is always going to be a score – whether good or bad. The goal, of course, is to get one as high as possible, but upon reaching 1,000 in each city, you unlock challenges for each. Challenges present the same basic gameplay but put twists in with the nature of traffic, the tools you have available, or the way they work. Each creates just enough variety to make it worth diving back in several times.
Along with the unlocks, scores are also tracked via leaderboards. They’re not only available for each map’s general gameplay mode, but the daily, weekly, and map-specific challenges as well. These are complete with global and friend list boards as well as graphs to drive home where you land in the hierarchy of traffic managers.
Mini Motorways does an exceptional job of delivering a thoroughly interactive and strategic experience within its minimalist design. It’s easy to pick up but has enough depth and mechanics to learn about to keep you playing for hours. Challenges add another layer of difficulty that can be enjoyable, but striving to try and reach the upper echelons of high scores has been plenty of motivation for me thus far. As the developers add more maps, modes, and quality of life features (like an improved colorblind mode), I’ll continue to revisit this game and recommend it to anyone who wants something easy on the eyes but hard on the spatial reasoning portion of the brain.
If you'd like to see more of my reviews, check out my curator page here: Endyo’s Indies, Abbreviated Reviews, and online at BagoGames