Terminus

Game jams produce some of the most amusing and creative indie titles, and Terminus is a great example of that. Built in just two days for the ‘A game by its Cover’ jam, it draws inspiration from the 1994 action thriller Speed. You play as both Sandra and Keanu, who do their best to keep the bus over 50 and everyone alive.

Terminus starts off with the terrorist dude who makes the scenario clear. Like in the movie, Sandra will be driving the bus and Keanu will tend to keeping the passengers calm. Using the left stick of the controller you will have to drive the bus, and the right one is reserved for Keanu to move around inside the bomb-rigged transport.

Although its retro-looking pixel graphics might fool you, Terminus is not an easy game. Apart from dodging heavy traffic, avoiding trees and barricades, Sandra, or rather you, need to make sure that the bus keeps over the 50 mph limit. While she does that, you, Keanu, need to talk to the passengers to either keep them calm or prevent them from dying.

While these two sound simple enough, Terminus your multitasking skills when you need to do them at the same time. It gets that much harder since Keanu’s part requires that you enter specific sequences of controller buttons, and it’s against the clock.

Along with driving and keeping the passengers in check, you also have to flirt with dear Sandra from time to time. As if having a bomb on your buss wasn’t stressful enough, you have to keep her happy too. Now, factor in that last piece of gameplay and it’s easy to understand why Terminus can get very stressful.

Nonetheless, all of that is part of the game’s charm, and you will have a blast with it if you’re into arcade-style indies.

To end, Terminus is a game you simply have to play if you’re a 90s kid, or not. Either way, it’s a charming little stress-inducing game, and it’s also a lot of fun to play.