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GDC 2015: Hands-on with Does Not Commute - Mediocre's barmy morning traffic sim

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GDC 2015: Hands-on with Does Not Commute - Mediocre's barmy morning traffic sim
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| Does not Commute
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Mediocre's new game, the puntastically titled Does Not Commute, starts out easy. You just have to drive a little car - top down, Micro Machines style - from someone's house to a specific road.

Then you drive another car, and you realise where the challenge comes from: your first car is now driving that same path again and is liable to crash headfirst into you.

And then you drive another car. And another. Until you have 13 or more vehicles all charging across the map and you've got to dodge them all - using either your reflexes or your memory of where your previous commutes took you.

There are shortcuts through gardens, but you're on a tight timer so you can't cheat by driving around in circles until the traffic dies down. There are pick-ups for more time, and you can spend your precious seconds on boosters like turbo and no-skid traction control.

There are 60 vehicles including mopeds, boats, and more. And you'll also see different weather conditions, and obstacles like bridges to make your life even harder.

Does Not Commute also features a light story that unravels as you play, as each commuter has a little intriguing back story - all written by Simon Flesser of DEVICE 6 dev Simogo.

The game's coming to iOS and Android in mid April, and will use the same business model as Smash Hit - it's free to play, but you can upgrade to premium to unlock the ability to play on from checkpoints. Otherwise, it's back to level one.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer