Although Jonathan isn’t old enough to operate the computer by himself yet, he loves to watch me and “help.” (By the way, an extra [non-operational] cordless mouse makes a great way for him to participate.) There are a surprising number of software products available for our enjoyment, and we’ve tried most of them. Our latest is Sid Meier’s Railroads!
Meiers developed the original Railroad Tycoon, which was the first “tycoon” game and launched an entire genre. He didn’t give input on the following versions, RT 2 and RT 3, but they were still great games — in fact, many people believe RT 2 to be the best railroad strategy simulation made to date. The Railroads! game is Meiers’ re-entry into the field.
This review is from the point-of-view of a “traindad,” not a pure game player. In other words, it needed to be fun for my son as well as for me. This game nails it to a degree nothing else has matched. While games like RT 2 allow for more intricate and precise strategy, they aren’t as good at being spectator sports. The person watching becomes bored, particularly if they have the attention span of a 2-year-old! Railroads does an amazing job overcoming that. It’s quick to learn, particularly if you take ten minutes to play through the tutorial. Then you are off and running, and it’s a delight to watch. The gorgeous graphics provide full visual interest. Tractors plow the fields, oil wells spew, trees fall into chutes at the sawmill, cows climb the ramp to load the cattle cars. Learn how to zoom in, and you can watch the trains in beautiful close-up. Zoom out, and you can watch all the little trains chug about. It has the feel of a model railroad.
When JB is watching, I usually jump into the Table Top mode. Here, it’s all about the trains. There’s no money limits, no economic requirements or pressure — just lay track and run the trains. It’s fun, fast and easy. I’m pretty sure a 5– or 6-year-old could play this and have a load of fun.
If I want the strategy challenge, it’s there too. Switch into one of the other modes, and play is fierce and competitive. While online reviews have frequently panned Railroads for not being as detailed, complicated, or realistic, I found that Meiers made a valuable though difficult choice: he sacrificed a little of those factors to gain a huge measure of pure fun. The stock market isn’t as complicated as that in RT 2, the industries work together in different ways, but the game as a whole is simply more delightful. As another bonus, gameplay is faster; a full competitive round can be under an hour, which was rarely possible with the other games.
I found a couple disappointments, but I also found solutions. First, the steam engines inexplicably lack tenders. What?! It’s ridiculous. Second, the focus is on the golden era of steam, so the game ends around the introduction of GE’s GP series diesel engines in the 1950’s. That means the engines we see on the rails today aren’t represented. Thankfully, there are simple solutions to both problems. Both are small programs you run which add these features. TenderCars automatically adds correct tenders behind engines; it worked flawlessly for me. Similarly, there are simple installers to add modern locomotives like General Electric’s AC4400. More of these are available at the Railroads wiki — more on that in a moment. TenderCars works all the time; locomotives are only available in Table Top mode, unless you do some under-the-hood tinkering.
I did have a few technical problems with the game. The producer has released a patch to fix many problems; make sure you have installed it. I have ongoing issues with my video card driver under Windows Vista, but I don’t think that’s a widespread problem. The game does require a fairly powerful computer. In any case, there’s lots of help available. There is an active player’s forum, Hooked on Railroads, with lots of help. Those people have also built a Railroads wiki, with lots of technical information as well as instructions, hints and tips, and add-on files.
One add-on particularly worth downloading is the official Holiday Scenario released by the publisher; you have to help Santa fight off robber barons intent on getting a cut of his business.
This is a fun game for both the player and the spectator; I recommend it highly. It’s available at most stores for about $20; right now it’s on sale at Amazon for $12.99 with free shipping. Give it a try!