Rail Route

Reignite your passion for mass transit systems with Rail Route: the game where your locomotive dreams come true. Endlessly control the perfect railway system and optimize every aspect to meet every user’s needs. This is the perfect game for civil engineers or simply perfectionist gamers – the kind of player who loves to see a system operating as efficiently as possible.

While the visuals of Rail Route might not be groundbreaking, the attention to detail on a mechanical level is astounding. As long as you don’t mind the game’s simplistic aesthetics, there’s a lot to unpack here for fans of management simulators.

Strict Timetables

If there’s a single thing that could be considered Rail Route’s most important element, that would be timing. While other train sims would have you building a commercial empire – like in Railway Empire – in Rail Route you’ll step into the shoes of a railroad dispatcher.

What this means is that you’ll main concern lies in how efficient is your railway system. Every new train and line you add to the map has to be placed thinking about efficiency first. This is partially the reason why the visuals in Rail Route are as minimalistic as possible: aesthetics are not your primary concern at any time.

As you make progress in the game, you’ll unlock new tools to automate some parts of your railway system. Unlocking new technologies does wonders for your transit system, as it alleviates some of your workloads and lets you focus on building new tracks.

Puzzle Levels

Aside from building your own railroads, Rail Route also includes a “Scored Maps” mode for players looking for a more strict challenge. In a Scored Map, players will have to deal with a pre-built train schedule and railway layout, forcing them to complete the challenges by adapting to their situation.

Even more impressive, Rail Route contains some real-world junctions for players to experiment with. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to control the train traffic in some of the world’s busiest terminals, then this is absolutely the game for you.

Players can also create their own maps; this includes both traditional maps and scored ones. These creations can then be shared with and rated by other players, with what is sure to be a community of train lovers. Considering the dedication that some of the most die-hard sim games fans have shown in the past, we can expect to see some pretty amazing creations in Rail Route’s engine.

Continuously Expanding

Developers Bitrich.info promises that Rail Route will be an ongoing project, with tons of new content planned after the game leaves early access. Everything from event maps to new freight yards maps are currently being developed, so players with a hunger for new content can rest easy once they try Rail Route.

Players can expand their own maps to the limits of their imagination. There are virtually no limits as to how complex the player’s railways can be, which means that players can expand their railways as far as they want. Considering that Bitrich.info also has some plans for the endless map editor, things are looking good for train simulator fans.

Pros:

• Great UI
• Satisfying gameplay
• Impressive control over your railways

Cons:

• Basic visuals