[h2]Overall: 10/10[/h2]
[h3]Story:[/h3]
I actually like the story's premise of having to pay off a massive debt since it gives the taxi-management gameplay a grounded and believable reason to exist instead of just throwing you into the driver's seat for the sake of it. You're not building up a business simply because "that's the game"; you're trying to dig yourself out of a financial hole that wasn't even your fault. There's a short text-based intro from your uncle explaining that you're the guarantor on the loan he took out to open the taxi business in the first place, but beyond that, the narrative is about as simple as it gets. A full playthrough only lasts around 3-5 hours, and it's pretty clear this game's focus isn't on telling some deep, character-driven story filled with emotional moments or shocking plot twists, but I honestly don't think it needs to be. The premise does exactly what it needs to do by giving your actions context, then it gets out of the way and lets the gameplay take over. That said, I was genuinely surprised to find out that [spoiler]there are multiple endings based on your reputation and the play-style/tactics you used throughout your playthrough. The differences are fairly minor, mostly changing the final text conversation with your uncle along with the ending summary card, but I still appreciated the extra effort. It's a nice little touch that acknowledges how you chose to run your business and gives you another reason to jump back in and see how things play out if you approach the game differently.[/spoiler]
[h3]Gameplay:[/h3]
The gameplay is easily the biggest focus but also the biggest highlight. The core gameplay loop is extremely simple, and I'll admit the game kinda throws a lot at you all at once, but once everything starts to click, it's incredibly addicting. Across the fifteen-day campaign, you're responsible for dispatching drivers to customers across a physical, interactive city map from roughly 7:45 AM to 8 PM, so distance, travel time, and how long your drivers spend sitting idle/driving around without a passenger all directly impact your efficiency and profits. However, the gameplay runs much deeper than simply assigning the closest driver to the nearest fare. Every day introduces new customers, unexpected events, and difficult situations that usually force you to choose the lesser of two unfortunate outcomes instead of a clearly "correct" answer. Whenever one of your drivers runs into a problem, they'll call you, triggering text-based events where the choices you have available are often influenced by the specific driver and customer involved.
On top of all of that, you also have to keep track of every individual driver's composure, vehicle durability, and cleanliness, and each aspect directly affect customer satisfaction. I especially liked this since it means you can't simply keep your drivers on the road from sunrise to sunset without consequence. Instead, you're constantly weighing whether a fare is worth accepting or if it's smarter to pass it up and send someone to the car wash/mechanic so they're in better condition for a more valuable customer later. Every decision has an opportunity cost, and I found myself constantly slowing the game speed to make strategic decisions rather than just reacting to whatever popped up next. Furthermore, every morning presents you with a new random pool of drivers available to hire, and they all bring their own combination of traits, perks, and statistics. What I appreciate, though, is that the drivers themselves aren't randomly generated across playthroughs. They'll always have the same names, stats, and abilities, meaning success comes more from understanding how to build an effective team than simply hoping for good RNG. Lastly, I really like how every potential customer has their own unique perks, drawbacks, and preferences because of how it adds another strategic layer to nearly every fare you accept. What initially looks like a fairly straightforward taxi management game quickly reveals itself to be a surprisingly thoughtful strategy game where you're constantly trying to determine which driver should pick up what customer while balancing your finances, your business rating, and your reputation within the community. It's an extremely satisfying gameplay loop that has enough moving parts to keep each day feeling fresh without ever becoming overwhelming, and for $7, I feel like this game is a steal.
[h3]World:[/h3]
The world/map is literally an interactive map of Istanbul, which I think is very cool. It's not super high quality in regards to the actual buildings and environment if you zoom all the way in, but it is still surprisingly detailed considering what this game is trying to accomplish. Also, I'm not from Turkey myself, so I can't really comment on whether the road layout is 1:1 accurate or if it's more of a generalization, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's at least pretty close. I say that because if you compare the in-game map to Google Maps or something similar, the geographical landmarks, coastlines, and landmasses literally line up without any major discrepancies, even in the further areas of the map where I've never actually had to take customers in over 40 hours of casual gameplay. So no, the map isn't going to blow your mind with its visual detail, but it is definitely impressive in terms of its technical detail, especially given this is an indie game.
[h3]Visuals:[/h3]
I really like the visuals, and I think the stylized 2D hand-drawn aesthetic/art style 100% works in its favor. The strongest part of the art style is the sense of personality and identity it gives the rest of the game. The "graphics" aren't aiming to impress with technical innovation, but the simple UI and charming art direction perfectly complement the humor and randomness of the events throughout each day. It has a bit of a newspaper illustration/indie graphic novel vibe, where the goal isn't graphical fidelity but making every character, situation, and thus the whole game immediately recognizable. Rather than trying to ride the wave of another indie game's identity, this one has its own unique flavor that makes it stand out, and I think that alone will help keep it feeling fresh years down the line.
[h3]Music/Sound Design:[/h3]
The music and sound design are easily the weakest part of this game, but more so the music than the sound design. The sound design is pretty simple and straight forward, but I think it does a good job at making the gameplay feel more intuitive. There are unique audio cues for when a new customer appears on the map, when a cab driver is calling dispatch for an event, when a ride is finished, etc. and I really like how the game uses these small details to make sure you're always aware of what's happening without having to constantly look at everything. Additionally, there's all kinds of sound effects for simple stuff such as when you [i]do[/i] dispatch a driver to a new customer or when you send them to a car wash, and I feel like that further complements the immersiveness of managing your taxi company.
The music, on the other hand, is kinda the only area where I really had any major gripes. The main theme song and the other song that plays in the background during general gameplay are genuinely really fun to listen to, they're high quality, and they give you the feeling that the setting is actually in Istanbul. The rest of the soundtrack, however, like the songs that can be played on the in-game music player, are honestly pretty rough. Not only are they noticeably lower quality from a technical standpoint, but they also don't match the tone/atmosphere of the other songs or even the gameplay itself, in my opinion. They're way too chaotic, have very little structure, and are simply unpleasant to listen to, which is disappointing because the few good tracks in the game show that the soundtrack could've been much stronger overall.
