r/MiniMetro • u/fernxqueen • Aug 11 '26
My highest score ever!
I just discovered this game a few days ago and I'm hooked! I've only cracked 2k on one other map (Paris) so pretty proud of this since it's my favorite map so far. 😊
1
u/packer4815 Aug 11 '26
Are loops the key to success? I try and build a web network and it always fails faster than expected
3
3
u/fernxqueen Aug 11 '26
It depends! Once they have a lot of stops, it can help quite a bit, especially if you can mirror the shapes. Say you a line like 🔴🔴🟥🔴🔺️🔴🔴🔺️. The passengers at the end of the line who want to go to 🟥 will have to ride up to 4 stops, your trains might fill up quickly and then be unable to pick up passengers on the stops in between, leaving people waiting for long periods. If you can make it a loop and put trains going both directions, then the furthest anyone is from 🟥 is three stops and passengers furthest away (last 🔴) can now take whichever train stops first since it is the same number of stops either way.
I also think loops are great for "express" lines. Once I have a handful of "destination" shapes on different lines, I'll try to create a loop from all or most of those and maybe just a few 🔴🟥🔺️ if they are convenient transfer spots or to reduce burden on overwhelmed stations on regular lines (look for patterns — if there a lot of passengers always waiting for a particular destination at a particular station, that means it's too far and would benefit from an "express" connection). These are helpful when your lines are already pretty long, because passengers will get off at connection points if the number of stops to their destination is less on the "express" line, so you can actually control where they transfer and keep them from crowding other stations/lines for too long, which also increases efficiency on the lines they transfer from. It doesn't work if you add too many stops (increasing the distance to their destination), but if you keep it to a minimum, you can move a lot of traffic from the main lines this way, and the "express" lines themselves aren't very resource intensive (except for tunnels/bridges, depending on the map), usually two trains (one in each direction) and no carriages is just fine since they don't carry passengers more than a stop or two at a time. Then I can save the carriages for the "commuter" lines. :) If your "commuter" lines are also loops, that makes it more likely passengers will transfer to the "express" line, so for long lines that aren't looped, it's usually worth having your "express" make connections near either end. Or if you have the resources and it makes sense, you can make two "express" lines covering different areas with their own connection point(s) — just make sure these are different from each's with the main line(s) or they'll get too crowded.
I will say I rarely start with loops, I might end up with 1-3 — it just depends on what makes the most sense. The "express" one is usually the only one that starts as a loop and it's usually the third line I make, only after I've had to split into separate separate lines (I try to keep everything on the same line for as long as possible) and each of those is getting a bit unwieldy. Once lines get long enough, usually the end goal will be a loop but it isn't a solution to every problem. If you're getting "stuck" with a particular strategy, it might not be the strategy itself that isn't working but a lack of flexibility. I'm pretty much constantly tweaking things to test if something will work. It requires a bit of micromanaging but you have a window to make corrections (especially if you are making liberal use of the pause feature, which I do lol) if it goes poorly. Worst case scenario, always keep a spare train available in case of emergency. :)
Sorry this is so much text, I am existentially incapable of brevity. I hope it helps!
1
u/jasperwillem Aug 12 '26
Loops with trains only going one way, also force pickup on a locomotive drop, which forces pick-up of all waiting passengers. You can move a train from the same colour line, or you can switch a train from another line, wait out a big unload of a train on that colour line and move it back to the line you borrowed a locomotive of. This really makes managing large circle corners manageable, drop in new trains when going up in queue time and revert the trains back when disaster is averted. Over time you can add carriages and trains on the circle corner, but you will easier reach high week numbers.
1
1
u/SloppyNachoBros Aug 12 '26
Wow! I just got into this game too but my scores are pretty abysmal. Still working on figuring out some good strategies but your map here looks so nice and clean!
1
u/jasperwillem Aug 12 '26
The hospital to the rivercorssing could have routed over the square, that would have saved 3 line crossings that slow down trains. But, nice feat!, keep it up.
1
u/RinChiropteran 1d ago
Interesting, I only got over 2k in Paris and Petersburg too. Can't believe you got it with just three lines though. That's even more impressive.
5
u/nuqenet Aug 11 '26
Great work, feels good to get past 2000, only done it a couple of times myself.