Train Valley World Indie Video Game Review

Originally released back in 2015, the Train Valley video game series is one that I have really enjoyed. The series has actually changed quite a bit. The original Train Valley tasked players with building train tracks and directing the flow of trains to avoid collisions. Train Valley 2 had a similar route building mechanic but shifted into more of a management game. You still had to make sure trains didn’t collide, but the game was more focused on transferring goods between locations. Now the newest game in the series Train Valley Word is about to be released on Friday. I was curious to see how the game would compare to the previous games in the series. Train Valley World is another great installation in the Train Valley series taking what was great about the previous games and adding in some interesting new mechanics.

Fans of the series are probably interested to know how Train Valley World compares to the previous two games. Of the two the game shares a lot more in common with Train Valley 2 than the original game. The game shares so much in common with the previous game that most fans should be able to jump right into Train Valley World. For those familiar with the series, you can skip the next two paragraphs. First I want to give a brief explanation of the gameplay to those not familiar with the franchise.

The core of Train Valley World is about transporting goods between locations on the map. You have pretty much full control over where you want to place tracks. You need to make a network of interconnected paths that connect the various locations together. Once you have connected two locations you can purchase a train and have it pick up materials in one location and transport them to another connected location. Some locations are final destinations, while others are factories that refine the resource into another good. Transporting goods earns you money which you can use to expand your network and purchase more trains.

The goal of each level involves transporting a specific number of certain goods to a final destination(s). The game plays like a puzzle. To start each level you only have a limited amount of money. You don’t have enough to create your whole network and complete the objectives. Therefore you need to figure out what to prioritize first to make money. The routes you build will earn you money which you then can put to other uses. Each level has additional objectives to complete in order to earn stars which you can use to purchase upgrades. Some of the objectives include completing the level in a certain amount of time, earning a certain amount of money, and only using a limited amount of track. These basically make your task a little more challenging, and give you more to consider when making your plan.

With the main gameplay being mostly the same as Train Valley 2, if you ever played the previous game you should already know what to expect out of Train Valley World. Basically if you enjoyed the second game, I see no reason why you wouldn’t also really enjoy the third game. If you didn’t really like the second game, I don’t see the newest game being for you. As a big fan of Train Valley 2, I really enjoyed Train Valley World as well. Everything that I really enjoyed about the series is present in the newest game as well. The game kind of feels like a big puzzle that you need to figure out, especially if you want to try and complete all of the optional objectives. You need to create a plan on where to focus first and then use that to grow further.

I think the gameplay works so well because it is the perfect blend of simplicity and complexity. The game is really easy to pick up and play. You just click and drag to place tracks. Where you need to move items is really straightforward as each location pictures what it takes and produces. Those familiar with the franchise can pick up the game immediately, while new players will probably need just a couple minutes to pick up the game. The game is really laid back as there isn’t a time crunch. If you take too long to complete a level, you will just fail to receive one of the stars. You can also just pause the game anytime you want to place tracks, and figure out what you want to do next.

The simple gameplay is combined with compelling gameplay as you figure out what you need to prioritize in each level. The level design in Train Valley World is really good. While the basic gameplay doesn’t really change, each level has it own unique premise. Each level presents it own unique challenges that you have to consider when placing tracks and figuring out what you need to prioritize. Each level feels like its own little puzzle that you need to figure out. I wouldn’t consider the game to be particularly difficult. I got three stars on each level on my first attempt. As long as you take your time and don’t mind using the pause feature to plan out what you are going to do next.

With my thoughts about the main gameplay out of the way, lets get to what is new in Train Valley World. I would say there are three main new additions to the game.

Probably the most notable change is the fact that you no longer have to worry about the trains crashing. In the previous games one of the key things that you needed to keep track of was the position of each train. You chose when to send out trains, and you switch the tracks to create the path that the train would follow. If two trains would intercept you would have a crash. This is no longer a concern in Train Valley World. If two trains ever collide in the game, one of them temporarily goes invisible while the other train keeps moving. Once the invisible train is free it will start moving once again. Since there are no crashes, you make a route for each train to follow and it continually follows the steps you provide it until you give it new directions.

I am not sure what everything will think about this change. This was a key part of the previous games. I am guessing some people won’t like that it was changed. I personally think it was a good change though. The main reason I liked the change is that it lets you focus on building your routes instead of micromanaging your trains. Once you set up your train routes, you can basically forget about them. Instead you can start focusing on the next step of your plan.

There is still a punishment for having trains collide though. The train that goes invisible stops in place and has to start up from a standstill once it becomes visible. This can really slow down the train especially if it has bad acceleration. The game also adds some strategy with this element of the game. Along the bottom of the screen are all of your trains. The order of your trains from left to right determines which train keeps moving and which goes invisible should they collide. The train furthest to the left will keep moving. This adds a decent amount of strategy as you have to figure out which routes to prioritize over others. While I can see some people not liking this change, I personally thought it was a good addition to the game.

The second main addition to the game are specialists. With your money you receive from delivering goods, you can purchase specialists to place on your trains. These specialists give the train they conduct a special effect. These special effects can range from having additional cars, moving faster, earning more money for each delivery, as well as some other beneficial abilities. Each specialist needs to be purchased each level, and they can only conduct one train at a time. Only one of each type of specialist is available, but you can move a specialist from one train to another.

While the specialists don’t drastically change the gameplay, I thought they were a good addition. How you decide to use them could be the difference between getting three stars or less in a level. Some of the specialists are quite a bit more useful than others in my opinion. This makes it crucial to determine which train each specialist would be best on. Regularly you have to decide between carrying more cargo, or having the train move quicker. The specialists that earn you more money won’t directly help you complete the main objectives, but the cash they earn can be huge in helping you expand quicker.

In particular I became a big fan of creating a route in each level that was solely tasked with transporting passengers between cities and putting a specialist on board which increased the amount of money earned per passenger. These routes became great sources of early revenue allowing me to build up my routes quicker.

The final main addition to Train Valley World is a multiplayer mode. In this mode you can work with another player(s) in order to complete objectives. You can also decide to be less friendly and sabotage the other players for your own benefit. As I played the game pre-release, I wasn’t able to check out the multiplayer aspect of the game much. I find this a really intriguing aspect of the game though. There is a level in the single-player campaign where you have to work with a computer controlled company and it was a really unique level. Based on that level, I think it could be really fun playing with another player.

I had really high expectations for Train Valley World mostly due to how much I enjoyed the previous games in the series. For the most part the game really lived up to my expectations. The game is a great train management game with puzzle elements. While I had a blast with the game, I did have a couple issues with it.

My biggest complaint with the game is the number of levels included in the campaign. The game only includes 16 single player levels and 6 multiplayer levels. This is quite a few less levels than Train Valley 2. After playing the game I was a little disappointed as I was hoping for more levels. Part of this was because I was really enjoying the game and just wanted there to be more. It also just felt that there could have been a few more levels in the game. On the positive side the levels felt quite a bit longer/bigger than the levels in Train Valley 2. To get three stars in most of the levels it will take around 45-60 minutes.

The other positive is that Train Valley World includes a level editor like the previous game. The level editor has even had some upgrades from the previous version. Train Valley 2 developed a pretty impressive community for user created levels. I expect that to continue in Train Valley World. With the possibility of user created levels that you can check out, it does reduce some of my disappointment with there being less levels than I would have hoped. The number of levels is still my biggest complaint with the game though.

The other complaint I had with Train Valley World has to do with the paths that the trains sometimes take in the game. As long as there is a path for a train to reach its next destination, it will automatically follow the route you create for it. If the train only has one route that it can follow, it will obviously follow that route. If there are multiple ways for a train to get to its destination, it chooses which path it wants to take. Usually the game does a good job choosing the best path to follow as it appears to prioritize taking the shorter path.

Sometimes the game chooses a path that you don’t want it to take though. This usually becomes a problem when you create multiple paths and you want it to follow a specific path to reduce congestion and situations where two trains collide. This can slow down your routes and lose you precious time. The game does have a fix for this that usually works. You can put in checkpoints in each train’s route. When you place checkpoints on a specific path, you can usually get the train to follow the path you want. Sometimes it will still take a weird path though. These checkpoints are sometimes a pain to set up, especially in areas where a lot of tracks are located. This is more of an annoyance as you can usually work around the paths the trains take, but it can be a little frustrating at times.

Being a big fan of the first two games in the series, I was really excited to try out Train Valley World. For the most part the game met my expectations, and in some ways have surpassed them. The basic gameplay doesn’t diverge much from Train Valley 2. You still mostly create routes between locations in order to transport goods. This gameplay feels like a puzzle, and is really satisfying. The game does a great job balancing simple gameplay that can still be challenging due to the level design. I think it was a good decision to remove crashes since it lets you avoid micromanaging every train and gives you new strategic options to consider. The addition of specialists that give special abilities to each train are also a great addition adding more strategy to the game. I am also really intrigued by the game’s multiplayer.

I really only had two complaints with the game. First I wish there were more levels as 16 single player and 6 multiplayer seem to be on the low side. I wish there were more levels because I was still really enjoying the game when it ended, and it just feels like the game needed a few more levels. I am guessing user generated levels from the game’s level editor will easily make up for the lower number of levels though. Otherwise the game’s logic when determining which routes to follow can be off at times. You can usually manually edit the routes to make them more efficient, but this can be a little frustrating at times.

My recommendation for Train Valley World is actually quite simple. If you didn’t really care for Train Valley 2 or the premise doesn’t intrigue you, the game probably won’t be for you. If you generally like these type of games and especially enjoyed Train Valley 2, I think you will really enjoy Train Valley World and should consider picking it up.