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Weave Through Accra’s Transport Lines in Trotro Driver: A Review

September 14, 20164 min read

It’s no secret navigating Accra can be a chaotic exercise with private cars competing for wiggle room with public mini-buses – popularly known as trotros – that stop seemingly everywhere. This beautiful mess is digitized in Trotro Driver, a mobile game that tries to re-imagine the city’s transport wahala as fun and entertaining. The game aims to supplement the inadequacy and outcry for unique content that reflects Ghanaian reality.

Developed by Augustt Games, Trotro Driver is based on a few simple ideas: drive through the city, reach your bus stops, follow directions and drive like a maniac.

Trotro driver in-game scene showing bus collecting coins

Gameplay is very simple, swiftly reach checkpoints and earn extra time to complete the next lap in addition to virtual coins as bragging rights. Spoiler alert, driving crazy like you’re in the Dakar Rally won’t prove much help. For a champion’s experience, you require caution, skillful navigating, close shaves and enough coins for a shield. You also have the option to share your scores to Twitter and Facebook.

Drive like a maniac? Yes. However, turtle racing and colliding with obstacles throws you into the waiting arms of the law for traffic violations. Such repeated encounters lead to game failure. You also end up paying a fine which reads like paying bribe, a sadly normalized reality on Ghanaian roads.

Trotro driver poster showing a driver caught by police for traffic violation

Trotro Driver has basic controls that sadly disappoint. While fluidity in maneuvering associated with most games is absent, the game’s controls can be endured since simplicity is what the developers were going for; left, right, auto accelerate. Generally, controls are not very responsive and are spread too wide apart. This requires adjusting to but that’s easily overcome with time. A tip to get initial bursts of speed is to tap and hold accelerate before it starts.

Graphically, frame rates are considerate on the eye and glitches aren’t so rampant. The game’s setting is an aspiration; very clean and orderly Accra streets. The landscape loosely depicts a future utopian Accra. While the graphics aren’t aha, Trotro Driver isn’t bad looking.

Trotro Driver  in-game check point scene

Trotro Driver could and should have incorporated delightful music that eases players into it and also shortcuts for special swift maneuvers. Also, incorporating passenger pickups could at least count for user interaction since it’s trotro and they exist because of passengers who inspire some unforgettable experiences.

While the game is rather difficult, it’s a fun way to endure Accra traffic, overcome boredom and enjoy the thrill of overcoming difficulties. Squid Mag vibes with the inspiration and the initiative of the developers to stay true to our reality but beg for some serious improvements if the game is to be sustained and celebrated.

Trotro Driver Game scene, Bus stuck in traffic.

For me, playing Trotro Driver is like holding a small window into a virtual ordeal of every Trotro Driver.

Ride through Accra in your own trotro by clicking this link to download the game from the Google Play Store.

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