Rail Empires: Iron Dragon Demo

Turn-based strategy may not sound like the most fun activity one could invite a friend over for, although Heroes of Might and Magic fans might disagree with that argument, but it certainly can be an entertaining way to put your mind to work. However, the game in question must be both fun and challenging at the same time, without the risk of becoming repetitive too quickly.

Rail Empires: Iron Dragon is a turn-based strategy game that combines tactics with tycoon mechanics, in order to provide you with a lengthy and enjoyable experience, especially in multiplayer. Thus, while the gameplay evolves in a classic turn-based manner, your main goal is to expand your railway empire and transport various resources from town to town.

Moreover, the setting is also rather unique and interesting, given the fact that everything happens in what seems to be a magical kingdom. There are palaces and underworld kingdoms spread around the map, while the characters themselves are weird combinations between different fantasy races. Railways function on the same principle, however, so there are no major changes in that department.

Whenever your turn comes, the two main concerns are the locomotives and the railway itself. Thus, in the first instance you get to manually move the train around from town to town and pick-up the desired goods from each one of them, while in the second you are offered the possibility to use some gold in order to extend the railway to new towns.

As far as the visuals are concerned, everything is in 2D, but the hand-drawn maps look very nice and the artwork is quite interesting, especially when it comes to the character portraits. On the other hand, the sound department is a bit off, given the fact that each noise appears to sound like a man trying to imitate a train. They are pretty funny, though, so it shouldn’t be that much of a problem.

All things considered, Rail Empires: Iron Dragon really shines when it comes to the multiplayer mode, since playing against the A.I. is not very fun most of the time. Moreover, there are plenty of maps to choose from and no two matches are ever the same, thanks to the large number of options put at your disposal.