The Indie Informer

Yesterday was a hard day. Like many video game enthusiasts, when things in the real world take a turn, I retreat to the virtual one. And there is no better retreat than Minami Lane.

The cozy community builder is less a strategic strain that a comforting puzzler. Its objectives and in-mission activities stave off any boredom, while never taking away from the meditative good vibes. Every building is crafted with care, and the visuals are calculated to charm. I didn’t stop playing until the early morning hours, having been lulled by the gentle push to build ever-better spaces for my little residents.

The tutorial is folded in so neatly that it’s easy to miss you are playing one. However, the first few missions of Minami Lane had me figuring out the basics of balancing my need for funds with my neighborhood’s desire for, say, the perfect bowl of ramen. Each level unveils fresh objectives with varying criteria, so each new community challenges me slightly differently.

Sometimes, I have to keep an eye on the calendar to be sure of hitting the goals before a certain number of days pass. Other times, I need to ensure my tiny townsfolk stay happy without going over a set amount of buildings. And my favorite mission so far required me to live up to the standards of a gaggle of feline friends — with the easily completed side objective to pet as many as I could.

The action plays out in short days, lasting about a minute each though I could slow down and speed up time depending on my mood. Before every day begins, I have the chance to build a new structure, but these cost money. Buildings range from residential housing to convenience stores to book shops. Each come with their own set of variables to manage.

Do I want to upgrade housing to be more beautiful or to hold more people? Do I want to stock my shelves with fantasy novels or travel guides? Whatever I choose, the residents will let me know what they think about the offerings, price, attractiveness, and so on as they walk through my street. It’s my job to catch what they are saying and adjust accordingly to increase their satisfaction.

It’s a loop that has me constantly seeking perfection. Often, I managed to tick off every one of the current mission’s to-do boxes but still finding myself unable to move on to the next level until I filled my shops with the perfect set of items or made that one last upgrade.

Of course, as I finished more levels the missions got more complex. Suddenly, I had to manage different resident types who shared little in the way of taste with their neighbors. I was also granted a larger array of building types, some which gave me the option to hire a cleaning crew to sweep up my street or investigators to record everyone’s opinion on the amenities so I know exactly what to tweak. These services cost money, of course, so it became one more pull on my purse strings.

No matter how much more I had to take on, however, Minami Lane smartly continued to offer tools to lighten my load, preserving its relaxing-but-engaging nature. If you’re looking to take a gentle stroll through a virtual neighborhood, you can’t do much better.