When I saw that Railroad Corporation was part of this month’s Humble Choice, I got carefully excited. Excited because in theory, this is my kind of game! And carefully, because I already own Railway Empire, but found it too complicated very early on. I am probably doing it injustice or maybe it’s just my lack of concentration, but I felt lost and like I was fighting against the user interface. So, my hope was that Railroad Corporation was a better fit for me!
“Relive the pioneering spirit of the Golden Age of Steam by establishing your own railroad empire across 19th century North America. Bring settlements together, produce and trade goods and develop new technologies to stay ahead of the competition.”
The base game costs 29,99 €. This is what is part of this month’s Humble Choice. There is also DLC available for 34,94 € in total. The developers also announced Railroad Corporation 2 coming in 2022, so I don’t think there will be any more DLCs for this one.
The campaign comes with two difficulty settings: With or without time limits. I chose to play without them because I like having a relaxed game experience and don’t need extra challenges. Some of the optional missions within a map still have a time limit, but I can live with that. As long as I don’t lose the campaign mission because I spent too much time watching my trains move back and forth, I’m good.
In this game, I find the UI intuitive. I found everything I needed and managed to edit the schedule of a train exactly as I had wanted to without any issues (loading, unloading and maintenance at three different stations with the third added later on). It may also be that I haven’t seen any signals in the game so gar. I think there is a button for it, but the focus of the game seems to be less on signaling and more on the economic part. That is probably also why I like it more than Railway Empire or especially Sweet Transit.
The game’s tutorial is intertwined with the campaign. You slowly get introduced to the features. This means that in the first mission, not every feature is unlocked yet. For example, I could not hire employees yet. That feature was unlocked in the second mission then. If you want to see everything the game has to offer from the start, you can choose the sandbox mode! I started a sandbox map (you can even randomize the towns with their demands and supplies if you like) on normal difficulty, but failed miserably several times because I ran out of money. Basically, a town may demand a certain good but it will stop that demand after a while which means you’re stuck with some goods and can’t sell them there anymore. And if you don’t have enough money to lay down tracks to another town that needs this good – or something else you can buy and sell for profit – you’re out of luck.
Other than changes in demand and supply, there are also laws that affect the price of goods in certain cities. So paying attention to that can help you maximise your profits. And apparently, if you build a lobbying department, you can also influence these laws yourself. I haven’t done that yet, but the tooltip said so.
The graphics are okay. There are no humans or animals visible, which makes it look a bit dead. The buildings are nice, though, and they change and look bigger or more detailed when you upgrade them (the station, for example).
Altogether, I would say that Railroad Corporation is a solid, pleasantly relaxed game and I don’t regret getting the game.
“Quick impressions” are what the title implies: Not a fully grown review. I just want to share my thoughts about a game quickly. So there will often be more pictures than text. Please also note that I did not get paid by the developer nor am I affiliated with them in any way. I bought the game from my own money and my opinion is my own – subjective, as always. So please take everything here with a grain of salt!
Nerdy Bookahs 