Subway Warriors: how to play, tips and FAQ
Free strategy game · No download · Phone, tablet and computer
Written by Xavier Eric Francois Guiter, who designed and built this game. Updated .
A metro map is a board game in disguise. In Subway Warriors you run one of four pixel gangs and fight over the real networks of Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid and Tokyo, drawn from open map data. Every station you hold recruits troops, and the squads you send walk along the actual track lines, only through stations you already own.
You win by holding every playable station, or by being the last gang left. Losing your HQ does not knock you out: a gang is only out when it has no station and no squad on the move. Matches against the CPU usually last a few minutes on the hub-only CORE network, and the FULL network, with every station playable, takes longer. A hard cap of 20 minutes ends any match that drags, with the leader taking it.
- Planning
- Resource management
- Timing
At a glance
- Time limit
- 20 minutes, most stations wins
- Start
- 20 troops at your HQ
- CPU levels
- Easy, Normal, Hard, Boss
- Campaign
- 5 cities, 15 stars
- Station caps
- 40, interchange 60, HQ 90
- Freex Coins
- 1 per 100 points on a win, 5 on a loss
How to play Subway Warriors
- Pick a mode: the 10-step tutorial on a small training network, the five-city campaign, a skirmish against one to three CPU gangs, local versus on one screen, or the daily challenge.
- Drag from one of your stations to any station to send a squad. On a phone you can also tap your station, then tap the target.
- Choose how many troops leave with the buttons at the bottom (25%, 50%, 100%) or the keys 1, 2 and 3. Before you let go, the forecast tells you if the attack captures the station or is too weak.
- Squads only travel through stations you own. Two squads meeting head-on in a tunnel trade troops one for one.
- Charge your gang power by playing and captures, then fire it from the button next to the troop ratio.
Controls
| Action | Computer | Phone or tablet |
|---|---|---|
| Send a squad | Drag from your station to the target | Drag, or tap your station then the target |
| Troops to send | Keys 1, 2, 3 (25%, 50%, 100%) | 25%, 50%, 100% buttons |
| Use your gang power | Power button once charged | Power button once charged |
| Zoom | Mouse wheel, up to x8 | Pinch, or double tap |
| Pan and recenter | Drag empty space, F to fit | Drag, FIT button |
| Pause | Space, P or Escape | Pause button |
How a fight is decided
A station defends with its troops times its defense: 1 for an ordinary station, 1.15 for an interchange, 1.3 for an HQ, and 1.35 times more during Fortify. If the squad that arrives is larger, the station changes hands and keeps the difference. Send 30 troops at an HQ holding 20 and the defense is 26: you take it with 4 left. If the squad is smaller, the defenders lose only what the attack was worth, divided by their multiplier.
Neutral stations start with a garrison of 5, plus 2 per neighboring station, plus 6 if they are an interchange, plus 0 to 3 at random. They slowly regrow toward it, 0.15 troops per second. Your own stations stop recruiting at their cap, and anything above the cap, after a reinforcement for example, drains away at 1.5 troops per second.
Where the score comes from
Taking a neutral station pays 100 points, an enemy station 150, an enemy HQ 500. Claiming a full line pays 400, knocking a gang out 800, and every enemy troop destroyed in a tunnel 1. Captures less than 6 seconds apart chain into a combo: x1.5, x2, x2.5, up to x3.
The winner adds 2,000 and a speed bonus of 4 points per second under 15 minutes, so a win at 6 minutes adds 2,160. The total is then multiplied by the toughest rival: x1 Easy, x1.6 Normal, x2.3 Hard, x3.2 Boss. A loss scores 0. Local versus and the tutorial do not go on the leaderboard.
Timers, rivals and campaign
Rush hour first comes at 45 seconds, then every 65 seconds, for 12 seconds, and doubles recruitment for every gang. Blackouts start at 75 seconds and close one line for 12 seconds every 55 seconds, on maps with at least 4 lines. Your power charges by 1.2% per second, 12% per capture and 25% per enemy HQ taken.
CPU gangs recruit faster as they get harder: 0.9 times your rate on Easy, the same on Normal, 1.08 on Hard, 1.18 on Boss. Boss also acts every 0.7 seconds, up to 3 orders at once. Campaign par times: Paris 5:00, London 7:00, Berlin 6:00, Madrid 7:00, Tokyo 8:00.
Tips to score higher
- Interchanges recruit at 0.8 troops per second and HQs at 1.2, against 0.5 for an ordinary station. They also defend better (x1.15 and x1.3). Take the nearby interchanges before anything else.
- Completing a line gives every station on it +50% recruitment. A short line you can close fast is often worth more than a long one you will never finish.
- Do not empty your border stations to attack. The CPU looks for weak stations next to its own network, and a garrison of zero is an invitation.
- Rush hour doubles recruitment every 65 seconds. Save a big push for the moment it ends, when everyone has just refilled and you can see who over-extended.
Common mistakes
- Parking huge stacks in one station. Above the cap they melt at 1.5 troops per second, so push the surplus to the front.
- Sending exactly enough. Neutral garrisons regrow and your squad is counted when it arrives, so add a margin, or use the battle forecast before you let go.
- Thinking the game is lost with your HQ. A gang is out only when it has no station and no squad on the move.
- Taking an HQ with a tiny squad. It keeps only the difference and refills at 1.2 troops per second, so a handful of survivors is easy to take back.
Subway Warriors FAQ
Which gang power is the strongest?+
None by design. Swarm makes your squads faster and harder hitting, Venom drains enemy stations that touch your network, Fortify raises your defense for 10 seconds, and Ghost Train lets squads ride through any station. In tests with four equal CPU gangs, each one wins between about 18% and 31% of matches.
Are these the real metro maps?+
The networks come from open geographic data (real stations, lines and connections), laid out as a schematic diagram. They are not copies of the official operator maps, and the data sources are credited in How to play.
How does the campaign get harder?+
It goes Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, Tokyo: from one easy rival to three Boss-level gangs. From Berlin on, a Blackout can close a line for 12 seconds. Each city has three stars: win, beat the par time, and never lose your HQ.
