If you're a huge train nut, there is much fun to be had by purchasing Train Simulator 2014 on Steam, but Pocket Trains is more about the management and expansion of your railway empire. Fans of developer NimbleBit's former time management hit Pocket Planes will be happy to know that Pocket Trains features most of its predecessor and further improves on it. You would think that it's just substituting trains for planes, but interestingly enough, that changes things a lot. The most significant example of that is the fact that you have to coordinate which railway line goes where. If a train is on the red track, it cannot go to a town that isn't connected by the red track. Bear in mind also that changing the color line of a particular track costs money, so it encourages you to think before you set the color of a track. As such, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out which color track should connect to which town to maximize my efficiency.
For newcomers, the game is pretty simple to pick up and play. You choose the region you want to start in and the game gives you a few trains and towns to begin with. The tutorial runs you through the process of choosing jobs to deliver via train to another town, which will earn you coins, bucks (the in-game currency), and even train parts. Then, when you have amassed enough money, you can buy a connecting railway track that leads to a new town station. That is how you expand your line. From then on, you are left to your own devices where you can upgrade your current trains and stations, expand into other regions in the world, join daily events that will reward you handsomely, and obtaining new and better trains.
The game is as repetitive as you can ever imagine, but strangely, you don't feel it all that much. That is because there is so much thought that goes into every delivery and purchase and upgrade that it never seems like a chore. The complexity is further multiplied by the constant need to transit packages from one line to another line at a connecting station. That can make things very chaotic as you decide which resource is more important to you at that moment. Coins is the main resource that you use to buy tracks and claim them for a particular color, and deploying new colored lines. You earn them generously by delivering goods and people from one station to another. Bucks is the currency that is used to open crates that contain train parts and upgrade your stations. These train parts are spent on building fuel cars and new trains. You earn this the same way, but it's rare and in very small amounts.
Along the way, you will level up often, and every time you do, you earn a good chunk of coins and bucks. While this is a free-to-play game, it never forces you to spend real money. All you need is a little bit of patience and time. However, if you are the type that wants to see results instantly, you can pay to get bucks that you can also convert into coins.
There really isn't much about the graphics to mention. Pocket Trains employs the same pixel graphics that weirdly complements the gameplay in a charming and cute way. The audio is equally engaging and serves well as a soothing background music while you think and think and think some more.
Overall, Pocket Trains is a must have for former fans of Pocket Planes. The strategy that is involved every time you send your trains off will keep you coming back anytime you find yourself with spare time. You might even end up losing sleep over it. Watching your railway empire grow from just a few towns to the entire North America gives me a huge sense of satisfaction, and I fully intend on dominating the world with my choo-choo pocket trains!
