Developer: Blibloo, Doot
Platforms: Linux, PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Publisher: Doot
Minami Lane is a small, wholesome management game. This game was developed by Blibloop and Doot and published by Doot. The game is similar to Plantabi: Little Garden and many other Android management games. This review was done on the PC (Windows), but the game is also available for Linux.
Minami Lane is a single-player game where you manage a Japanese-inspired street. The game allows you to manage and create your own street with many different attributes to make sure that everyone is happy. As you build more and increase the happiness of the people on your street, you can unlock and customise buildings, you can complete quests, and make it so that the street is the best out there. Minami Lane is a casual, cosy simulation game with a vibrant atmosphere.
The controls for Minami Lane are quite simple. Everything is mainly done through point-click, and nothing has any delay whatsoever. You can also control the screen using the WASD keys, and everything else is kept to a minimum. I love that about the controls, as it keeps the cosy nature of the game intact. When starting the game, Ema, the Tanuki, does a wonderful job of explaining the mechanics of the game.
The art style of this game is vibrant and aesthetically pleasing. The artwork is so cute, especially with the level of detail, even with a little simplicity. When taking a look at the game, it has a very bubbly nature to it with all the inviting, warm colours. I love the attention to detail added in this game, specifically when it comes to the artwork of the foods, the buildings, and the unique landscapes. Not just those aspects, but the villagers have a chibi-esque aesthetic, which goes so well with the vibe of this game. The visuals are so well tied in with the soundtrack of the game, as the music that plays is a mix of mellow and slightly upbeat instrumentals that seem to feature maracas, triangles, and a piano in admiration of the visuals of this game. The colours and the style are all so inviting for players, making this game truly wholesome to play.
There is a lot about this game that I love. First, the set of achievements and missions are well balanced to have slightly different difficulties. I enjoyed that you can go back and replay missions if ever wanted, which can allow players to try different things than their first run. The missions are my favourite part about this game as each is not like the previous one. A list of the missions was like:
1st mission is to get a boba store with 15 customers with 75% Satisfaction
2nd mission is to get young people into a town with old people
3rd mission was petting cats and getting four cats on your street in a day to get rid of the buildings to make the street more pretty.
4th mission is to get things ready for the music festival
5th mission was to save up enough money, 1000 and more, to get the yokai brooms who are too scared to meet with people.
There also seems to be a tad bit of a sense of humour, which is brought upon through sarcasm, such as, ‘People will drop no trash today, great? In real life, yes, but in this game, no, as the trash, when it’s collected, gives you money! I found this to be a little extra aspect added to the game, which brings players’ attention to the developer’s level of detail in such a simple game. Because the game is Japanese-inspired inspired, I loved that all the items and buildings were styled so well with that theme. I’ll say it multiple times: the way the food is designed, with the onsen buildings and other houses, just adds a level of beauty to this game. The game has a level of tycoon-like abilities, where you can mess around with ingredients and prices for foods being sold and add upgrades to buildings such as beauty or villagers to increase the happiness level of your street. Other small details I really enjoyed about this game would include the feedback you can get from villagers on your streets when interacting with them, having the ability to speed up the day, having a great level of customizability for the buildings and getting a cute summary report on each day your progress through.
The game also features a creative map (sandbox) where you can build your own things with all the different stores and buildings without having to do any objectives/missions or having a cost associated. This is a really good relaxing game that took me about 5 hours to fully accomplish and was definitely worth the play.
Just being brought into the game, I fell in love with the adorable art style, and on top of that, the cosy gameplay made the gaming experience even better. I mean, for the price of this game, it is totally worth it. You can play this when you don’t want a great commitment game and are looking for something wholesome to play without using too much of your attention. Minami Lane is a wonderful short management simulation game that features ease of gameplay, is stress-free and is extremely adorable! If you are looking for a game that you can wind down, then be sure to check out Minami Lane.
Overall: 9/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
