Not what I expected. Essentially this game is an excuse to play with a digital trainset. You generate income by moving trains around. I thought there would be more automation than there is, but you have to micromanage virtually everything. You'll tell your trains to couple to this carriage, then backup into this siding, now uncouple, and couple to another carriage in a different siding. Take that to the business 2 miles up the track. Refill your train tender with coal and water. Etc, etc...
At first I thought this would be boring, but honestly, despite it's flaws, it's kind of enjoyable. Essentially most of your time playing will be spent solving one big train puzzle of how to get carriages from one place to another, and once you get them to the right place you earn coin.
There are some flaws though. The UI is a bit naff. There is no anti-aliasing so be prepared to look at a lot of jagged edges. The world and scenery is very very bland. There is no life - no people, nothing loading the carriages/wagons. Many carriages are even empty visually (if you open the door) even if they say full.
I am in the early game though and haven't unlocked any extra track beyond the start yet. Even now it takes me like 1hr to complete a full day. I can't imagine how long it will take with the whole track unlocked and multiple trains. But there is no time limit here. You can go at whatever pace you feel like.
I do hope that in future they add some more life to the map and animations. It would be awesome to see the carriages and wagons being loaded in real time by people and machinery. But that is probably many years away, if ever.
Overall though it's quite enjoyable if you enjoy trains, a bit of management, and a lot puzzle solving.
