Metro Planner — a Minimalist Subway Line Game
Draw subway lines between stations, run your trains, and deliver every passenger to a station of their own shape. Weekly upgrades keep the city growing — crowded stations start a countdown you cannot ignore.
About this game
Metro Planner is a minimalist transit-network game. Passengers appear at stations and want to reach a station that matches their own shape — a square passenger needs a square station. Your job is to design the lines that carry them there.
- Draw up to 7 lines between stations. Drag from a station to start a new line; drag from a line's endpoint to extend it; drag back to the first station to close a loop. Line segments that cross the river run through tunnels — each crossing consumes one tunnel from your weekly supply; lines may cross each other freely.
- Trains run back and forth along their line picking up and dropping off passengers. Carriages add capacity; interchanges expand busy stations.
- Every week (7 in-game days) you choose one upgrade: a new line, an extra train, a carriage, a station interchange, or a crossing.
- When more passengers wait at a station than it can hold, a 45-second countdown starts. The countdown pauses while a train is stopped there — but if it ever reaches zero in Classic mode, the run is over.
How to play
- Drag from one station to another to draw your first line — a train is what delivers passengers, so place one from the toolbar.
- Watch the small icons around each station: they show which shape each waiting passenger wants to reach.
- Extend lines to new stations as they appear. Dashed ghosts preview where the next station will arrive.
- Spend weekly upgrades where it hurts most: capacity for crowded stations, crossings for tangled maps.
- In Classic mode the run ends when a station's countdown hits zero. In Zen mode you can keep building forever.
Controls: drag to draw and extend lines, click a line to select (and remove) it, click a toolbar item then the map to place trains, carriages and interchanges. Space pauses; the ×2 button fast-forwards.
Strategy tips
Connect every new station quickly — the longer the network leaves a station unconnected, the faster passengers pile up everywhere. A single loop line through the busiest shapes is often stronger than several short lines.
Interchanges are worth more than they look: +6 capacity and faster boarding at one station can defuse a crisis. Keep one tunnel in reserve before you need it — river crossings without a tunnel will refuse to connect.
Few long trunk lines beat many short ones. Passengers can change lines at any station shared by two lines, so two well-placed trunks often move more people than four short stubs.
A crowded station's countdown pauses while a train stands there — routing any train through a crisis station buys time. An interchange upgrade adds +6 capacity per level (up to two levels) right where lines meet.
Daily challenge
One city, one seed, everyone worldwide plays the same map. A new challenge every UTC day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Let us know.
What is Metro Planner?
Metro Planner is a free online minimalist subway-network game. You draw metro lines between stations, run trains along them, and deliver passengers to stations that match their shape while the city keeps growing.
How do I draw or extend a line?
Press and drag from one station to another to create a line. To extend it, drag from the colored endpoint dot on the line's last station. Dragging an endpoint back onto the line's first station closes it into a loop.
What does the countdown around a station mean?
It appears when more passengers are waiting than the station can hold. If the countdown reaches zero in Classic mode, the game ends. The countdown pauses whenever a train is stopped at that station, and you get a few extra seconds of grace after each weekly upgrade.
What is the difference between Classic and Zen mode?
Classic ends the run when a station stays overcrowded for 45 seconds. Zen has no game over: upgrades arrive when your rolling delivery rate reaches milestones, so you can build and experiment freely.
How do crossings work?
Whenever a line segment crosses the river it runs through a tunnel, and one tunnel is consumed. Lines may cross each other freely — only the river charges your supply. You start with a few and can choose more as weekly upgrades; with none left, new segments cannot cross the river.
Is Metro Planner free to play?
Yes — it runs directly in your browser on desktop and mobile, with no download and no account needed.
Is Metro Planner like Mini Metro?
Metro Planner is inspired by minimalist subway-planning games such as Mini Metro: you draw lines between stations and trains carry shape-matching passengers. It is an independent free browser game with its own cities, modes and daily challenge — nothing to download or install.
What's a good strategy for Metro Planner?
Connect new stations as soon as they appear, run one loop line through the busiest shapes, place interchanges at crowded transfer hubs (+6 capacity per level), and keep a tunnel in reserve before you need to cross the river. The strategy tips section on this page goes into more detail.
