Mad City
Based on the screenshots, Mad City looks a bit like PS1-era Grand Theft Auto (or, if you’re of A CERTAIN AGE, Spy Hunter on the NES). But it’s not really – it’s more a game where you’re just trying to get through a wacky town while simultaneously being very unlucky. Each intersection is a new chance for something to go wrong!
Upon your arrival in this new city, which I’m assuming is named Mad City, you only know that you need to start at the south side of town and get to the north end to escape. Intersections only let you turn certain directions, but you need to keep trying to head in the general direction of “north.” You’ll encounter police checkpoints, where you’ll get fined if your car is breaking down, and you’ll have to stop to fuel up, use the bathroom, or fix your car, all at random intervals. If you’re really unlucky, you might even get mugged. Luckily, a quick stop by the bank and you can refill your wallet. But where’s the bank?
The trick is that the town is randomized and you don’t have a map, so when you start running low on gas, for example, you need to really hope that you run into a gas station soon. Turn the wrong way at an intersection and the cops will fine you. And if you need to find a bathroom, well, you’ll start making random erratic turns until you can find relief. Each intersection is a new opportunity, though. Many won’t have anything of importance, but finding the exact building you need when you need it? That’s the stuff.
This game has been out for quite a while, and the developer also added a taxi mode in a post-launch update, which is great. It’s the same basic game structure, but instead of going to a bank to replenish your cash, you earn it by picking up and dropping off passengers. There’s no escaping the town in this mode; it’s purely a high score chaser. Each mode has its own statistics screen so you can see how you’ve done on each. There’s no Catalog release (yet?), but you can share your scores on the unofficial Playdate Squad Discord to see how you match up with the rest of the world.
It’s not an easy game (I’ve played it many times and haven’t been lucky enough to make it all the way to the north end of town yet), but the random nature of each new intersection makes it really feel like this time could be the one. You can do it – you can escape Mad City! *Immediately gets robbed and then thrown in jail* Well, there’s always another chance.
Each round is just a few minutes long, so it’s a great pick-up-and-play game for your favorite tiny yellow machine. Do you feel lucky, punk? I don’t, but I’m going to have a nice time anyway.
(Released September 30, 2022, on Itch.)