Railway Empire

Railway Empire is a solid building and management game that will definitely appeal to fans of the genre. The gameplay is fun, but can feel a bit repetitive. Once you’ve figured out the mechanics and found the right strategy, you can easily apply it everywhere, which can make the game feel a bit too easy. That said, it’s still enjoyable and has that addictive quality that kept me hooked.
Achievements
Required time: 125-150 hours
Difficulty (in my opinion): 5 out of 10
DLCs required for 100%?: Yes, 9 (Mexico, The Great Lakes, Crossing the Andes, Great Britain & Ireland, France, Germany, Northern Europe, Down Under, Japan)
To get all the achievements in Railway Empire, you’ll need to finish every campaign mission with the highest rating ("President"). It might sound scary at first, but it’s not as tough as it seems. In the scenarios, you can pick the difficulty level, and with the right strategy, hitting the needed score is pretty straightforward. For the main game, you only need a President rating in one mission per region, but in the DLCs, you’ll need to get it in every scenario. On top of that, there are some extra achievements to unlock, like growing cities to a certain size, setting up express lines between specific cities, or connecting every city on the map. A good trick is to focus on city-to-city traffic first, then use warehouses to boost population growth. Follow that, and you’ll be on the right track!

Railway Empire. *Sigh* The memories this game brings me. If you haven't a resource management game before, this is a good one to train you for it. I didn't intend the pun but I'll just leave it there.

The base game takes you through the story of the first railroads of the United States. You'll learn how to set up trains and your grow your business while competing against AI rivals. (No Co-op sadly, which is a big upset to me.) To me, there are two ways to play this. 1. Just set up trains to complete the tasks before they are due and move on, or 2. Play the game in Free Mode and learn how to profit off the stock market. I know the second one sounds weird but, this games mechanics with the stock market are really impressive, and when managed right, you too can control whatever part of the USA you desire.

There isn't much on the negative side of things to say, other than the lack of a Multiplayer to me. I'd love to try and manage a railway against some friends but, I'm not against buying out AI. The DLC's are not that necessary to have. They do offer some unique features and more trains that will be familiar to any Thomas the Tank Engine fans, (yes I grew up watching Thomas, don't judge,) but other than that, they are just new regions with their own resources. You don't need to buy them to have a good time.

My sole opinion, this game is absolutely worth it to play, but it will take several hours of your day playing so, do think about saving the game session when you can.

Railway Empire is my only Tycoon-Esq game I play, so I can't give a comparison, however, headline takeaway is that RE is a fun, rewarding game that gets better the more you play.
There is a learning curve in the game, what kind of track layouts work and what don't, the best way to buy and adjust trains to get the most growth, etc etc. It does have to be said their is a little jank within the system where the game simply refuses to let you place track despite it looking perfectly good.
This however is worth the price of admission as the more you play and the more you understand the game, the more you will be able to begin the process of using the complexity of the game. For example you can keep adding new rail lines and shipping more goods directly on single trains, but when you use the slightly more complex systems of warehousing to get over the flow of goods this becomes a better experience. I am by no means a master of all this at time of writing but once you get to grip with a mechanic it becomes second nature and the game rewards you for that.
The campaign missions are tough but manageable. To progress you will have to start delving into the functionality of the game rather than doing only the most basic play. This challenge is great if you like that element of gaming, however there is a 'Free Mode' that allows you to sandbox on various maps to create and experiment at the same time. So if you just want to make trains go choo-choo, you're golden.
The game is also quiet stable, and tabbing in and out is something the game lets you do no problem. Graphically, I think Railway Empire straddles the pretty enough vs taxing live very well for this type of game. It's by no means ugly.
So should you get RE? If you are looking for a good game in this genre, then I would absolutely recommend it. Especially if you are going to concentrate on this title or only have one game of this type. As I say, the game becomes better the more you play. It's also great as a casual player to jump in and out of a game, you can put this game down and jump back in with relative ease.
So, go live out you Hornby dreams without the mortgage and converted attics lads, just play this instead.

Loving this game in 2024; wishing I had tried it sooner. To me it seems like a spiritual successor to Railroad Tycoon 3 -- an economy simulator as well as a computerized model train set. It's challenging to figure out the best train routes, it's enjoyable to lay the track and place buildings, and it's fun to watch the trains run and the cities grow.

This is a magnificent resource management game. Clever historical tasks and settings add depth and context. Highly recommended, but...

Warning to new players - especially to those crossing over from Railroad Tycoon who provide so many of the negative comments! There is a learning curve for switch placement and station platform management. This time investment is required to play, and, once mastered, these elements are why RE is such a deeply satisfying experience.

A fun campaign, but today after the 25 hour mark i just felt like I had had enough. Making train routes is kinda fun, but once you start making a lot of money, its hard to spend the money faster than you make it, and its just a race to spend the cash laying track faster than you earn it. The game play is sorta similiar connecting each new town, buying a new business, connecting that in, rinse/repeat x100.
Big fan of transport Tycoon Delux and Anno games, but 26.8 hours of this, is enough for me.

It's a 'strategy' game. You have to plan where you'll lay track as some direct routes can be more expensive (like hills and tunnels) than a more circuitous route. If you plan on lot of traffic then double track with frequent signals, otherwise single track is cheaper with passing tracks. I'm ex railway so I appreciate the realistic signalling and train dynamics for different types.
This is a game I enjoy just relaxing with.