Mini Motorways Is Helping Me Get Through The Year

The past six months have been nothing short of wild. From finally being able to travel to friends, trying to relearn how to talk to people due to broken social skills from the pandemic, to just bad news dropping one by one like some sick domino effect. But finding a little game to help me was unexpected.

I’ve been more fortunate than others having a full-time job, grabbing new opportunities, and still being able to connect to a core of friends online. However, my personal life weighed heavier than the good happening, and it took a toll. Not being able to attend funerals to see your loved ones one more time, gaining 40+ pounds and dealing with everyone’s negative attitude towards weight gain during the pandemic, physical health declining, taking care of family from another state, and a bunch of other stuff kept piling up. It’s been hard focusing and taking care of work, myself, and the others around me.

Trying to be active and funny on socials to keep up with the circles I’m in became more exhausting. I’ve noticed I’ve been responding to less folks everyday, my texts went from 20 unread messages to 246, hitting decline on calls; just your average “I’m rejecting everything because it all feels too much right now” feelings coming out of the woodwork. I don’t know how to respond to everything happening all at once, it’s been something I’ve been asking myself everyday before I go to bed since December. I still don’t have an answer, and I hope to find it soon. 

In between trying to detangle whatever metaphorical mess I’m in, I’ve been forcing myself to find a game to sink my time into. I wanted to give into hours of gameplay during the day to feel some sort of relief. League of Legends was a strong contender. Nier: Automata offers a lot of shockers that woke me up. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne seemed like the perfect mindless game to mess around in. But time and time again, I still fell off after a few hours. In my head, these games felt “too much,” and with such a heavy personal life to try and navigate, I wanted a game that was easy on the brain. Games didn’t feel the same, the one thing I could count on to help, wasn’t helping.

Sleeping sort of became an escape for a bit, it gave me relief; it did not require any effort, and I was able to nap in my warm bed with my stinky dog beside me. I scrolled along my phone and was deleting apps in hopes of it feeling less busy (constant theme here) and found Mini Motorways tucked behind numerous junk apps I don’t remember downloading. 

Mini Motorways is a game on Apple Arcade that I played for a bit for an episode of Indie Mixtape. Developed and published by Dinosaur Polo Club in 2019 on iOS, and making its PC debut on Steam July 21st 2021, this strategy game involves the player making roads, highways, bridges, and tunnels in a traffic system to get everyone where they need to go as clean and fast as possible. If things get too chaotic and messy (thinking emoji here), and the little cars on your screen aren’t getting to where they need to be, the game shuts down, and you have to start from square one. The sound effects are gentle, the visuals are not harsh on the eyes, and though you are trying your best to keep the disorganization from getting out of hand, Mini Motorways doesn’t make me feel bad for failing if it comes to it; something I really haven’t felt in a while.

With daily and weekly challenges, and maps inspired by bustling cities around the world, Mini Motorways pulled me in to try and see if I could do better than the last time I played. Trying out new techniques, testing myself to see if I could go on longer than what I JUST played beforehand, starting to feel out what maps I felt inclined to playing depending on how I was feeling. If I wanted an easier day, Los Angeles was my go-to, if I really wanted to stretch those brain muscles, the Manila and Zürich maps I would love to replay over and over. I didn’t realize at the time, but it was helping me get through my week, time after time.

I would play on the train to my appointments, on trips going over to my mom’s house, before I would go to bed, after a failed attempt of trying to play another beloved game a friend likes, or when I was feeling anxious. Mini Motorways became the little escape I needed to feel better, reminding me that even after all the chaos and mess, I can still start over. Bringing that thinking over to real life, I was able to map out the future of really difficult decisions I was avoiding thinking about for months. While still currently going through it, Mini Motorways is giving me relief and the feeling of being able to re-start when I’m stuck. Feeling like I can’t concentrate? Let’s play a quick game, and I’ll feel able to tackle anything! Anxious and stuck? Let me get my hands on that weekly challenge, my mind will be clearer after.

With half a year left, and knowing the wild things that are coming, I can say now I feel more confident in being able to handle it while completing my daily challenges on Mini Motorways every morning.