Take the controls of your train…
…and travel across Europe with passengers and merchandise. Time to drive through Germany, riding in the cab of several locomotives. Each locomotive has unique characteristics (power, braking, etc.) that you must fully master to be as effective as possible. Take your passengers through astonishingly beautiful lands, including town and country, forests, and mountains.
Show your entrepreneurial spirit.
So, is this game all about driving trains? No, it’s not ‘just’ all about driving trains. You must also grow your company by optimizing your Passenger and Freight activities. Choose a name, and a logo, purchase locomotives, and hire drivers, giving them new contracts and exploring new tracks. You must also maintain your locomotives to prevent breakdowns and handle emergency repairs. You can accept or refuse contracts: make the right choices, earn money, and develop your company!
This also means that Train Life involves demanding gameplay based on real-world behavior. You have to respect the rail signals and driving instructions, adapt for rail switches, and manage speed. Make sure you keep an eye on braking distance when you pull into the station and open and close the doors for your passengers. There are also unforeseen situations to manage, such as fallen trees, stalled cars, and trains rolling on your track. The dynamic weather and day/night cycle mean you have to adapt the way you drive to avoid accidents and damage to the tracks.
Simulator heaven?
Train Life is most of all a fun and casual train-driving game that isn’t (but doesn’t have to be) as accurate as more expensive train simulators. It has very similar vibes to Eurotruck Simulator but can be a bit underwhelming for those seeking the thrill of driving the actual trains of their dreams. Even on Switch the game looks decent and performs well. Even though I think the game plays better with a mouse and keyboard (mostly due to the clutter of controls in the cockpit). Another downside is the fact that there are no real physics involved. I understand it’s not meant to be a full-on simulator, but I miss wagons pushing you downhill and holding you back uphill. Time to watch some more Thomas I guess.
The tutorial can be a bit messy. In one of the missions the gps routes took me to the wrong platform to pick up passengers. Turned out I had to switch tracks manually (which I learned a few missions back), but the game gave me an error as reward. As one of the other people reviewing this game pointed out: “You shouldn’t really have to switch tracks as a driver unless you are in a freight yard, this puts me off. I am ok with switching tracks, as mentioned, inside yards because that’s pretty common, but switching tracks along the line and into passenger stations is the job of a signaler.”
Conclusion
So, what do we got here. A fun and casual simulator with enough to keep both the Lemons and Sheldons of this world happy. If you want to go all hardcore on this simulator, you can – but probably run out of steam before passing the last few switches. If you are looking for a simulator with enough depth to be more than a Diesel, this game is the right pick for you. Or in layman’s terms; if you are in need for some more then casual train simulation, this could fill that hole. I do, however recommend that you look into the Steam version of this particular game.
