Leading simulations publisher Excalibur (http://www.excalibur-publishing.com) is pleased to announce Taxi!, its first release for iOS and Android, also appearing on PC and Mac. Taxi! is a follow cam, driving / management game based in a living 3D city featuring cartoon-style graphics where you take control of your very own taxi cab company.
Commenting on Excalibur’s advance into the mobile gaming market, the publisher’s Managing Director, Robert Stallibrass said: “We’re very excited to be entering the mobile market. Taxi! is a full feature complete version for iOS and Android that equals its PC and Mac counterparts. Further mobile games in the pipeline from us will give our customers a choice on how and where they choose to play our games.”
The Game
You’ll start off as the driver of an old model taxi with the intention of earning as much money as possible. As you increase your revenue, you’ll hire staff, buy vehicles and purchase upgrades for them whilst keeping them all well maintained and clean. You’ll then hire more drivers and vehicles to expand your business. The game features three major cities; one in the UK, one in the US and another in Europe. Each one comes with its own unique cars and local driving conditions and laws. You’ll experience both left and right-hand driving, having to obey traffic lights, varying speed limits and ever changing traffic conditions.
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The cities also feature an airport, single and dual carriageways, pedestrian crossings, roundabouts and road junctions controlled by give way signs. Other features include bridges, street names, ambling pedestrians, road signs, uneven roads and a day and night cycle. Taxis need to be refuelled as running out of petrol can lead to a hefty rescue / recovery service fee.
Once you have generated enough money you can hire other cars and drivers and then control them by allocating overflow jobs to them. Every driver will have various ratings which will affect how quickly they drive, the likelihood of accidents and how high a fare they can command.
Penalties are awarded for speeding and policed by squad cars. You can pick up jobs in a variety of ways. Pedestrians can flag taxis down and jump into your cab or you can pick them up at points around each city. Jobs may also come over the radio telling you where you must collect the passenger and where they must be dropped off.
There are penalties for going too fast, running a red light or causing damage to other cars. Each of the three cities will feature three different taxi models including a yellow New York and a black London cab.
Product Information
Title: Taxi!
Publisher: Excalibur
Genre: Management / Simulation
Street Date: 22nd August 2014
RRP: PC & Mac: £9.99 / iOS & Android: TBC
Format: PC / Mac / iOS / Android