Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗The Meter is Running
Debt Driven Games · Published by Debt Driven Games
Content notice: Mature content is delivered through narrative events describing physical altercations, car accidents, substance abuse and crime.
Mostly Positive — 78% positive (278 reviews) · 24 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
You inherited a taxi dispatch business but it came with debt attached. Hire drivers, dispatch fares, navigate Istanbul’s chaos, deal with bad customers and worse luck. You have 15 days to pay it off or lose everything. The meter is running.
£6.00
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Price history
Indie, Simulation, Strategy · 2026 · More £5 - £15 games
Take charge of a taxi dispatch business in Istanbul, navigating chaos and customer complaints to clear your debt. Every decision counts as the clock ticks down in The Meter is Running.
About this game
The Meter Is Running is a short management game about trying to keep a taxi dispatch alive when everything is stacked against you.
You run a small taxi dispatch in Istanbul with limited resources and debt hanging over your head. You assign drivers to customers across a physical city map. So distance and deadhead matter. A bad call early in the day can cost precious time.
Each day brings new fares, difficult decisions, and unexpected events. When drivers encounter a situation they will call back to base and you’ll face narrative events with choices shaped by who’s involved. You have 15 days to earn enough money to stay afloat or your dispatch shuts down and you lose everything.
Every morning you can see the new pool of drivers available to hire. Each driver has a different combination of traits and stats. More importantly, each one comes with their own personality, totaling over 1200 unique lines. Pick your favorites and assemble your fleet.
Each shift takes roughly 15-20 minutes, you can buy permanent upgrades to your garage between shifts to increase your chances of paying off the debt in 15 days.
Paying the debt is one side of the coin. The other question is, how far are you willing to go for money? That forgotten wallet looks a lot juicier when the debt is right around the corner. But some choices run deeper than others, and the community remembers. The meter is running!
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i3-4130 / AMD FX-4300
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD 5000 / NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 / AMD Radeon R7 240
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Sound Card: Any
- Additional Notes: Minimum display resolution 1280x720
Recommended
- OS: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-6500 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 750 Ti / AMD RX 560
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: Any
- Additional Notes: Recommended display resolution 1920x1080
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
1.3.5 Patch Notes - The Backstreets & Better Upkeep
The Backstreets Locals now give you reputation when a ride ends Cheerful or Ecstatic. An Outraged local costs you 1 reputation.They still pay poorly and barely tip. Their spawn rate has also been lowered from 16% to 12%. Repair Shop & Wash Area These upgrades now make cars recover condition and cleanliness faster while parked at your stand.The Auto Shop and Car Wash are still the fastest options, but looking after a car at the stand is now actually useful.Read full article on Community Announcements (Debt Driven Games)Patch NotesOfficial
1.3.4 Patch Notes
Adjustments to a few achievements to make them easier to get naturally.Read full article on Community Announcements (Debt Driven Games)Patch NotesOfficial
1.3.3 Patch Notes - Deadhead and Traits
DeadheadRenamed from "dead km" and "Empty KM" to Deadhead. That is the actual term for driving without a fare. All screens say it the same way now. Deadhead now has colour bands instead of always printing red. Green up to 60%, amber between 60% and 70%, red above 70%.Added a tooltip on the label explaining why it never drops below 50%. The car drives out to the fare then drives home, so some empty distance is always there. BalanceThe reputation bonus moved from Street Smart to Hustler. Same 1.5x bonus, just on a different trait.Street Smart keeps the defensive half. It still blocks scammers and still prevents Nuisance reputation loss.Trait descriptions updated. Street Smart's scammer protection was always in the game but never written down anywhere.Read full article on Community Announcements (Debt Driven Games)Patch NotesOfficial
1.3.2 - Minor Performance Enhancements
Improved runtime performance and reduced memory usage during gameplay. Reduced unnecessary background rendering and interface updates.Read full article on Community Announcements (Debt Driven Games)Patch NotesOfficial
1.3.1 Patch Notes - Routes, Saves & Balance
Hello everyone! This patch focuses on more believable taxi routing, safer save loading, some controller tweaks and several economy balance adjustments. FixesTaxis now choose routes by estimated travel time instead of raw distance. They may take a slightly longer road when it gets the passenger there faster.Fixed old saves sometimes inheriting signatures or daily financial records from the wrong game sessions.When multiple controllers are connected, the game now keeps using the controller you are actively playing with instead of switching unexpectedly.Dispatch and vehicle-service tutorial instructions now adapt correctly between mouse and controller controls.A negative closing cash balance is now shown in red in the day ending notebook. Balance ChangesPassive repair and cleaning rate at the home base has been slightly reduced. Repair and cleaning services should now remain meaningful instead of being replaced by short idle periods.The Slick trait was a little bit overpowered, it no longer reduces negative rating results. Its mood, tip, service-quality and inspector benefits are unchanged.Friday tax choices have been reworked;Pull some strings to get a discount: requires 20 Reputation; pay 85% and lose 20 Reputation.Cook the books to underreport weekly earnings: requires 35 Reputation; pay 70%, lose 35 Reputation and lose 1.5 Rating.Read full article on Community Announcements (Debt Driven Games)
