The Train Giant Demo

Tycoon games are usually pretty complicated, in the sense that you have to manage a lot of things at the same time and keep an eye on multiple business and logistical aspects in order to be successful. The learning curve is sometimes steeper than in most other genres, but the rewards are worth the effort and you can still get better at it even after dozens of hours of gameplay, which is one reason why such simulators are so popular with the crowds.

The Train Giant (or A-Train 9) is an interesting mix of transportation tycoon and city builder, since it encompasses a truly huge amount of options and gameplay mechanics. However, all these options come with a price, since it is excruciatingly difficult to get the hang of the game and even more so to win at it, given the fact that there are no real tutorials included and the interface is beyond tricky to make use of properly in the beginning.

As a core concept, the game surpasses most simulators when it comes to the sheer number of options you are presented with. Not only that, but you can actually control everything down to the finest detail, since you even have to manually direct your trucks through the city in order to get them to their destination. Hence, time is a critical requirement, because this is certainly not a game you can go in and out of a few minutes every now and then and see how much of a profit you’ve turned lately.

In case you truly are a control freak, there’s also the option to design your own map from scratch and choose exactly how you want the city to look like. There are plenty of building models to select from and the degree of freedom is truly astonishing, as long as you’ve got the patience to do so. You can also build stuff during the game, although constructions do require a lot of money and materials.

Visually, the game looks quite well when you look at it all zoomed out and it remains decent even when you get uncomfortably close. However, you might notice that there are no people or cars on the streets, which is definitely weird and annoying. There are some planks that serve as passengers waiting for the train, but they are obviously motionless and it really hurts the atmosphere, at least until you get used to it.

When it’s all said and done, The Train Giant is quite the curious Cathy, because it’s difficult to say whether it’s worth recommending or not. On one hand, it features unparalleled levels of realism and a staggering amount of freedom, which is obviously nice. On the other hand, the game refuses to tell you about these features and you must be quite persuasive to find out how everything works. Thus, if you like a challenge and time is not an issue, then The Train Giant is the way to go. Otherwise, you might look in another direction and find something less baffling.