Game Review: Minami Lane

Minami Lane is a management/simulation video game developed by a pair of independent developers called Dorian "doot" Signargout and Doriane "blibloop" Randria. Its main concept revolves around building and managing your own Japanese street with the help of friendly Tanuki by the name of Ema. Built on Unity engine across a 6-month period, Minami Lane released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2024 and subsequently on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2025. Upon release the game aggregated a moderate critical average of 80 on OpenCritic.  I couldn’t really find anything online to reflect the sales numbers but there was an article noting how the game’s revenue generated over $750,000 for the developers, so I can only assume it was a noteworthy success in light of its small budget and high gross return. 

There isn’t really a story to Minami Lane, there’s some initial context given to you in the form of the friendly Tanuki Ema.  It tasks the player with building and managing their very own Japanese street by constructing homes and stores for the streets residents to spend time and money within.  There are five central missions the game is presented through, with Ema giving you both a main and optional objective to achieve with each one.  The main idea behind these missions is to introduce you to the game’s features individually and build on them as you progress to each new mission.  You’ll start out by building Raman huts and apartment houses until you’ll eventually unlock multiple lots to help bring commerce, natural beauty and even more housing to your street. 

The initial impression of the games fundamental gameplay is definitely a positive one. It’s easy to see doot and blibloop wanted to realize the idea of building and maintaining a beautiful Japanese street filled with all the iconic elements that define their recognizable culture.  Despite management games having a reputation for complex mechanics, the cozy-approach behind Minami Lane helps to ensure the game is accessible without losing out on the core appeal behind building and simulating your own creation.  The lots you can build all offer means to further upgrade and maintain their service to ensure you’re keeping Minami Lane’s residents happy while also reaping a respectable profit.  I do feel the cozy approach holds the game back from giving much room for failure though which is a shame, because half the fun of management games is seeing what funny and bizarre results you can generate from failure as much as success. I also feel the game had a lot of potential that was sadly not all that tapped into upon overall reflection.  I get this is an indie game made in less than six months so the potential for depth is limited, but I really feel an extra six months might have helped give this game even more features and functionality to appreciate.

On the visual end, the game really hones in on the cozy stylings while doing its best to represent the Japanese culture it’s so proudly celebrating. Minami Lane has a unique appeal behind its visual style that relies far more on colorful animations as apposed to realistic graphics.  The fact that the artwork and animations were all hand-drawn by a single person just goes to show the sheer talent doot and blibloop have at their disposal. The duo also collaborated with Zakku to compose the official score for the game which also helps add to the overall charm and coziness the game offers. 

Minami Lane meets all the core check boxes for a stylistic and memorable cozy game.  I do feel it loses some marks for a lot of missed potential.  What’s here is a great foundation but its appeal sadly fizzles out all too quickly to establish a long-lasting impression. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my time with this game but I was left wanting for more and it was clear the game could have benefitted from a longer development cycle so doot and blibloop could have refined and incorporated more ideas into this game.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐