The Real-Life Inspiration Behind Russian Subway Dogs

Stray Dogs: The Basics

The Secret Sauce of Simulation

Eat ‘Em Up Gameplay

Systemic Simulation is Our Secret Sauce!

We Brought Guests!

The real-life stray dogs of the Moscow Metro have inspired our new game, Russian Subway Dogs, which is now available on Xbox One! This single screen arcade game takes its cue from these clever canine commuters who navigate the subway system in search of food. After a satisfying feast, they return to their quiet suburban homes. One dog became so beloved that a memorial statue was erected in his honor. These dogs, along with the stunning architecture of the city’s subway stations, were the catalyst for creating this unique game.

As the titular Subway Dog, your mission is to keep yourself fed by running back and forth along each subway platform. Your stamina bar serves as a hunger and life meter, continuously draining as you scavenge for food. Trains arrive at the station, unloading commuters with delicious snacks and beverages for you to steal. With a quick bark, you can make them toss their food in the air for you to catch. However, you have competition from other strays and an array of subway wildlife. Subway pigeons and even bears will try to snatch your food, resulting in point deductions and potential loss of stamina.

To aid you in clearing out your competition, you can use volatile vodka bottles carried by passengers. These bottles create fiery explosions when they hit the ground. Mastering the timing of your barks allows you to bounce the bottles in the air, cooking wildlife and toasting food, making them more filling and higher scoring. By juggling multipliers and air catching combos, skilled players can turn a minor meal into a feast worth thousands of points. However, you must be careful, as rival dogs can steal valuable meals, resulting in negative points.

What sets Russian Subway Dogs apart is its systemic simulation, also known as multiplicative design or emergent gameplay. Everything in the game interacts with each other in a way that mimics the real world, creating a fun cartoon logic version of reality. Fire sources cook food and melt snow, while snow cools cooked food and can freeze a flopping fish into a block of ice. The power-up that allows you to bark fire can be eaten by a rival dog, giving them the ability to bark fire as well. Bears can be fattened up with food to produce higher quality meats or fed chocolate, which results in poisonous meat. Every element in the game has multiple uses and interactions, leading to endless strategic possibilities and split-second decisions.

Russian Subway Dogs features two play modes: Endless and Campaign. In Endless mode, you compete for the top spot on the online leaderboard while surviving as long as possible. Each session is unique and challenging thanks to modern procedural tricks and auto balancing. Campaign mode takes you on a journey from station to station, offering over 100 unique sub-missions from your feline friend, The Proletaricat. These missions include challenges like beating a level while sticking to a vegetarian diet or cooking a “Bear-B-Q”. Throughout the campaign, you can unlock over a dozen playable critters, including characters from other indie games.

Whether you’re a dog lover, a cat lover, or just someone looking for a unique gaming experience, hop on board with Russian Subway Dogs!