Train Valley
Developer(s)Flazm
Publisher(s)Flazm, Blitworks (Console Edition)
Designer(s)Alexey Davydov
Programmer(s)Sergey Dvoynikov
Artist(s)Timofey Shargorodskiy
Composer(s)Alexander Ahura
Engine
Platform(s)
Release
September 16, 2015
  • Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
    • WW: September 16, 2015
  • iOS
    • WW: December 2, 2016
  • PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
    • WW: July 27, 2022
Genre(s)
Mode(s)Single-player
Screenshot from a level in Train Valley.

Train Valley is a puzzle-strategy train simulator video game developed by Flazm, released on September 16, 2015.[1] It is available for download on Steam and iOS. A sequel, titled Train Valley 2, was released on March 29, 2018.[2] Train Valley: Console Edition was released on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on July 27, 2022.[2]

Gameplay

The player needs to build railways in order to connect cities. Rails are cheap, except when demolishing houses or other objects. In each level, the player must use railway tracks to connect the different stations on the map to transfer materials between stations, having to manage increasing traffic by constructing crossroads and switches. The main objective of each level is to deliver each train to its destination without going bankrupt, but every level also has three advanced objectives, such as "do not stop trains" or "do not destroy tracks". There are 4 chapters in the base game – Europe (in the time period of 1830–1980), America (1840–1960), USSR (1880–1980) and Japan (1900–2020),[3] with a fifth, Germany (1830–2020), as downloadable content (DLC). All chapters have 6 levels, for a total of 24 levels, plus 6 more in the Germany DLC, bringing the total number of levels to 30.[4]

Development

Flazm's first railroad game, called Railway Valley, was developed by Alexey Davydov in 2008, inspired by an older game called Shortline[5]. Four years later, two sequels, Railway Valley 2 and Railway Valley Missions, were released.[6][7] They were downloaded 15 million times.[8]

Development for Train Valley started in April 2012. At the end of 2013 they showed the game at game conferences and collected user feedback. In November 2014 the game became the winner in the "Family Friendly Game" category at Casual Connect Belgrade.[8] During the Steam Greenlight campaign in August 2014, they got support from over 10,000 players.[9] They then added a new sandbox mode, without money or time limits.[10]

Train Valley entered Steam Early Access on May 7, 2015,[11] and was fully released on September 16, 2015.[1]

Reception

Train Valley was rated Best Family Friendly Game at Casual Connect 2014[10] and Best Game Design at Casual Connect 2015,[18] and also received an Indie Prize for Best Kids and Family Game.[19] It was also nominated for Best Indie Game and Showcase at DevGAMM 2014.[10]

The game received mixed reviews on Metacritic.[12] Reviewers liked the idea of placing players in different time periods and locations,[3] but found the challenges repetitive.[15] Train Valley was praised for being a game that was easy to learn but hard to master.[16] GameWatcher criticized the game for being repetitive and "without any real ambition", and not making bridges or tunnels available for the player to use when traversing terrain.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Alice O'Connor (September 16, 2015). "Choo Choo! Train Valley Leaves Early Access". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  2. 1 2 @TrainValley (March 29, 2018). "Train Valley 2 is finally released in Early Access! If you are lucky owner of TV1 - Don't forget to use you discount coupon!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. 1 2 3 4 McKeever, Chris (September 21, 2015). "Train Valley PC Review". GameWatcher. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Version 1.1 + Germany DLC". Train Valley. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ https://steamcommunity.com/app/353640/discussions/0/523897653319168679/
  6. ↑ "Railway Valley 2". Railway Valley. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Railway Valley Missions". Railway Valley. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Who we are?". Train Valley. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Train Valley has been Greenlit!". Train Valley. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 "Train Valley". Train Valley. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ "The game is out, here's thanks to all the players!". Train Valley. May 9, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2017 – via Steam.
  12. 1 2 "Train Valley (2015) for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Train Valley: Console Edition for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Train Valley: Console Edition for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Рецензия на Train Valley". Riot Pixels (in Russian). January 25, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  16. 1 2 González, Alberto (September 27, 2015). "Análisis Train Valley". Vandal (in Spanish). Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 "Train Valley". Train Valley. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Train Valley Presskit". Flazm. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Indie Prize". Indie Prize. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
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