If you”re just looking for a break from Anno 1800 or stressful survival building games, then Islands & Trains on Steam might be just the thing.
Hey, remember when the big survival hell broke loose with games like Banished and Frostpunk? When it suddenly wasn”t enough for us city-building fans to just build a bit? And we needed the thrill of natural disasters, famine, death, plague and cholera? Obviously, this time has left its mark and we are now all suffering from high blood pressure.
No wonder that the small, relaxed building game Townscaper has quietly triggered a counter-trend and for some time now you can read on the Steam page of numerous building games: “Inspired by the wonderful Townscaper.”
After all, we don”t always want to sit grudgingly on the edge of our chairs when we play construction games – actually, we”re all just model railway fans in disguise! Well, for my part at least. And that”s why I immediately jumped into the demo of Islands & Trains. It takes the strengths of Townscaper and improves on it with one crucial bonus: Trains!
What is Islands & Trains about?
Sometimes what”s inside is exactly what”s on the box: In the case of Islands & Trains … Islands & Trains. I cobble them together in a very tidy and aesthetically pleasing sandbox mode that gives me the most beautiful model-building feelings. Various track variations such as crossings, bridges and curves. Small houses, trees, boats, farms, flocks of sheep. After all, it”s not a train journey if you can”t point out of the window at least once and shout “Look, sheep!”
Currently in the demo I am thrown onto a medium sized snow-themed map, though I don”t see anything of it yet. The map initially consists entirely of water, into which I then place my own ground blocks along a grid. Free areas, on the other hand, remain bodies of water. In the final version, there will be maps of other sizes and different themes (snow, meadow, autumn fields, etc.), as well as more building modules – as you can already see in the trailer above.
For whom is this exciting?
On the Steam page, the small development team pays tribute to their role models Townscaper and Dorfromantik and indeed Islands & Trains sorts itself pretty much in the middle. It has no point mechanics like Dorfromantik and is thus even freer of rules or a special claim – which is a matter of taste.
At the same time, it also offers more than Townscaper, as it relies less on chance and as silly as it sounds – but the moves are actually a clever gimmick. Whenever a city is finished being built in Townscaper, it”s just an unmoving picture that I can”t stay in for long. If, on the other hand, I have finished building a diorama in Islands & Trains, I click on the button that sets my train in motion, hear its cheerful “Choo Choo” and can watch it make its way through my built rail network. The show value (you could almost say … the scurry factor) is a lot greater.
Sure, I won”t kid you, we”re still talking about a building sandbox with no real ambition and no real reward either – as long as the really cute “Choo Choo” isn”t a reward for you. If you didn”t like this concept in Townscaper, you might not be happy with Islands & Trains either. But give it a try? Yes, you should definitely try Islands & Trains! Maybe you”ll be surprised.
In the current demo we can play the winter map. But there are many more variations.
What do we like so far? What remains unclear?
What do we like so far?
- Aesthetics: Islands & Trains perfectly implements the look of the Townscaper era: detailed yet minimalist.
- Intuitive building: With a few minor exceptions (which will hopefully be fixed before release), building is extremely intuitive and fun to place each box.
- Motivates to experiment: Since the respective modules have different random variations and there are countless possibilities to combine tracks, I like to tinker with a map for a longer time.
What remains unclear?
- Details in need of improvement: Some features are clearly still missing from the demo – for example, the ability to place multiple floor squares via drag & drop.
- Long-term motivation: For all the Schönbau love, the concept cannot hold up for long, at least at the moment. But if, similar to Dorfromantik, several more modes follow here (such as one in which you have to adapt to a given terrain), then the basic framework of Islands & Trains has enormous potential! “Good Bones”, as they say in house-building jargon.
At the moment you can play Islands & Trains in a (free demo) as part of the big Steam build-up sale – and I strongly advise you to do so! Either because you”re already fans of the Townscaper concept, or because Islands & Trains might convert you.
There is currently no release date, but you can currently request features and improvements directly from the developers when you download the demo. I”m keeping my fingers crossed for the two developers that Islands & Trains picks up (well you know, picks up by train) exactly the people who will appreciate it.
Editorial conclusion
I can rarely play just one build-up game at a time. I need something for all my building needs. A bit of Anno 1800 for ambition, a bit of Two Point Hospital for humour, a bit of Frostpunk for thrills and always something for relaxed building.
Islands & Trains could fit perfectly into this category and looks very promising in the first demo. If only a good soundtrack, more modules and maybe different game modes are added, then I”m convinced! And if you don”t like it – at least you haven”t paid anything at the moment.
