Distributrains

This game is great and feels like a passion project from the dev (who I believe is solo). I'm a big fan of OpenTTD which this game feels inspired by. This game has challenges, goals, and win conditions and is not played like a sandbox like OpenTTD usually is. Pros: Good replayability especially if you try to challenge yourself to do the achievements. Since some will restrict you or you'll have to focus your industries to mass produce a particular resources. There is a learning curve but I didn't find it too bad. There is a decent amount min maxing you can do to get better though. It doesn't feel like spreadsheet simulator though. Challenge mode is really fun. It's a jump in difficulty from normal mode. I never got good at it but It's a unique way to play these games since you can't take any action while paused and you're on a time limit to get to your win condition. The "train core" is a cool concept and works really well for this game. In OpenTTD terms it's 12 Depots stuck together to make a super depot. You're only allowed 1 train core. You have to choose wisely where you place it at the start of the game and play around it. You can't move it. There is no trains breaking down or maintenance cycles. This may be a con to some people, but I always turned that setting off in OpenTTD so it's a pro for me. Click and dragging up or down to give load/unload orders to trains is really nice. It makes setting up your trains quick once you get used to it. (Though if only I could swap the up/down gesture... I always mix it up even after over 50 hrs. I guess I view going up = picking items out of the train and going down = drop item into the train lol) The default hot keys are good. Cons: Map variety is lacking. Even though the map is randomly generated each game it's mostly the same. As I play I find myself wanting more varied map types. Like maybe a desert or a snow map with their own quirks. This could be seen as a good thing too. Assuming that it's 1 developer extra tile sets and map generation and other mechanics might be outside the scope. Might be for a future release or expansion (i'd buy it). Some type of career page at the home screen that shows a culmination of various stats would be cool. Such as how many times you won with a particular win condition for example. [strike]By biggest con is that while the UI is overall decent looking, the UX feels off to me. I find myself constantly moving windows out of the way and resizing them. For example If you press Q to open the train core it always defaults to the same size and position. So you have to make it bigger each time if you want to build a long train or you have a list of trains. If I press 3 or 4 to open the export or import dock it will open at the mouse cursor while staying on the screen. If I press 1, 2, 5, or 0 to open those screens they will be placed on the screen in a slightly different spot each time. If I press 6 or 9 it's like the train core and resets each time. Basically, you start the see the problem. I'm no UX designer but I think making each screen remember it's last size/position would make it feel a bit more consistent. It's worth thinking about.[/strike] Edit: I removed that con because a recent update fixed a lot of the issues I had with the interfaces not remembering where you put them. It's not fully customizable but it's much better now. I'm happy the developer is actively working on this game! [strike]Shunting trains is a nice feature but feels limited in use since the most efficient time to shunt is when the train is on the way back to the train core or when it's already there. If you tell a train to shunt on the way to a factory it will just return to the train core immediately skipping all it's orders. I'd like to be able to tell the train to shunt after it's last order or just the next time it's at a train core. Though I could be not doing it right too.[/strike] [strike]Finally a minor QoL gripe: you can't build a whole track of signals like in OpenTTD, you have to click and drag each straight section one at a time. Makes it take a bit longer to make your train lines denser.[/strike] Edit: Removed those two cons because there were updates to fix both of them. Shunting is easier to use now, and building a line of signals is really easy with the follow rail option. I'm happy the developer is reading feedback and making changes.

I was supposed to just quickly test it but instead got stuck and ruined my sleep schedule playing it for too long.

This was a nice surpise! Beautiful looking goal focused TTD inspired ...roguelike?? Theres a basic game mod where you can pause freely and think about your set up ( which I super need ) and a challange mode with when you feel more confidant.

A game that doesn't aim to compete with OpenTTD, but coexist with it as an alternative for people that want something more action packed I like it. Maybe not on all days, but some days. (Marked as product recieved for free since I was a tester)

This is fun. It's a little like a challenge generator for OpenTTD (there are many comparisons, it's almost unavoidable, so I won't avoid them), but with mechanics more precisely tuned towards that goal rather than having to cram it into an already existing structure. Mostly I play on the mode with no time pressure, but the mode where you can't build while paused, and the time keeps ticking on, and you need to get everything done quick as well as right - well, that seems like a lot of fun if you have a block of time to concentrate on it as well. The graphics are 3d, low poly but charmingly textured, I think they work really well for it and carve out enough of its own style to be easy to read in a hurry (important, see above) but also have its own identity. The animations are few but well done and pretty smooth, and the general UI is fine, and getting better with most updates. Again, if you've played OpenTTD you'll probably just know what most of the buttons and options do, but the way you interact with them is quite different. Card draw and a roguelike feeling layer of rotating possible quest-mission-things keeps things a lot more interesting, and the map is small and focussed. You usually start out pushing everything to and from a big central structure, and later expand into more efficient expanded operations - but in comparison to more traditional train empire games (almost all of them, not just OpenTTD this time!) there's a lot of *reasons* for you to put multiple cargos on each train. Industries are massively boosted by consuming various things, usually not even that much of the thing, so it's usually worth your while to take a tiny car of fuel or a half-load of metal along with you in one direction before most of your train picks up whatever the farm/factory is producing. Then you can either ship those out for points, or move them elsewhere for further processing. Do this while also managing your town growth (it needs resources to grow, but also different resources to sustain, and produces more waste the bigger it gets) means there's always quite a lot to do, and on challenge mode at least feels very busy. It's not cozy, sit back and wait for resources to roll in, it's very much get something that mostly works done as soon as possible, make sure you're not going to run out of anything, and build from there. It's pleasingly different to most train games, but also pleasingly similar in many ways that matter. It's not expensive, it hasn't crashed or bugged on me once so far (admittedly, not played it THAT much, but it's a great sign). If you like anything of what you see, you should give it a go!

Very quality game with an immense attention to detail that does something new while wearing its influence(s) with pride

simple but good

Really digging this game; it's already sapped away several evenings of my week. Most train games are obviously inspired by Transport Tycoon and are basically the same game with slightly different coats of paint, but this one is actually trying to do something interesting and different within the genre. The roots of Transport Tycoon are clearly there, but there's so many little twists that it's unfair to compare it directly. I think this developer is doing something very innovative in this genre and breaking the mold of what we've all come to expect. The mechanics of the game will be very familiar to anyone who has put several hours into a Transport Tycoon-like: signals, orders, bring-resource-to-factory-get-new-resource-in-return. But I think the most interesting part of the game is the introduction of the "train core", a magical roundhouse that acts as both a train depot and a massive storage warehouse. There are NO OTHER depots in this game*, so you need to think really carefully about where you place your train core and how you will be utilizing it as it is the only place where you can buy trains and dump resources mid-transit. This makes the approach to the early game more like a puzzle, where your initial decisions on where to break ground in relation to the landscape matter so much more than other train games. The game also imposes strict rules about proximity of industries and stations. Unlike other train games where you can cluster a bunch of industries and stations off in one part of the map somewhere to maximize efficiency, this one really forces you to think not just about the industry you're placing in this cycle, but how it will affect your ability to place other industries you may want to use in future cycles. A really convenient spot for your glass factory could happens to overlap with an ore vein, and placing your factory there would functionally lose you the ore vein for the entire rest of the game. My last game just had several geothermal geysers right in the middle of prime farmland when I was going for a food victory, so I had to seriously consider power management to avoid losing more farmland. It's just cool! Lots of decisions to consider in Distributrains that most other train games completely ignore. The developer also seems to be very active. I watched Master Hellish play through the tutorial, and he had some quality of life critiques with the game. By the time I bought it, maybe 1-2 weeks after the video had come out, all of those QOL critiques were already addressed. Every time I boot the game up, there are more little QOL things and bugfixes that the dev has added. I honestly don't have any major critiques about the game. --- *Technically there are train turntables that can be placed elsewhere on the map, but these are really just to help facilitate some temporary shunting operations. They cannot be used to buy new trains or store resources.

If you like Transport Tycoon or other infrastructure building games but feel like most of them are too aimless and just take too much of your time, this is the game for you. Fast paced and fun, with goal-oriented, roguelike-esque mechanics and many different ways to play.

A really fun alternative to OpenTTD! Has many elements that reminds one of its inspiration, but does add new additions to the formula to keep it unique and worth playing even if you love OpenTTD and want a quicker, more focused experience! (I was a tester so I received it for free)