Locomotion
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Are you ready for a real train-teaser? Locomotion is a cute, steamy, railway puzzler. An alien stole your gold, and you’ve got to chase them into space to get it back, across crumbling ruins and treacherous ice! Haul wagons, flick switches, and reclaim your lost gold, through fifty-one increasingly tricky levels from home on the range to the final frontier.
- Explore a captivating cartoon world.
- Solve challenging puzzles using over a dozen mechanics. Use a magnet to haul a wagon onto a switch, turning a turntable holding a fan that blows you to the next level.
- Unravel a story of loss, vengeance, and unidentified flying objects.
Steam User 13
in locomotion you guide a train to the exit, ideally picking up all the gold scattered around the levels while you're at it. there's also a narrative to unfold with some unexpected twists. don't expect too much, but it's fine for a puzzle game.
the train is controlled directly, you can move forward and backward, click intersections to change rail direction, and holding the left mouse button rotates the level. carts can be pushed around, but you can (and obviously often have to) connect them to either end of the locomotive. some carts have magnets that attract other carts, and there are those that push carts away, plus pressure plates, crumbling blocks, and so on.
the 52 levels are divided into 5 worlds with different themes. they're mostly easy, but there are a few head-scratchers in the bunch, and sometimes even if you know what to do, it can take a while to figure out how to do it, then a bit more to actually do it, turning carts around, switching directions, etc.
usually there's more than one level unlocked and you don't need to complete everything in a world to move on to the next, plus you can replay them any time and gold already collected during a previous attempt will be see-through, no need to worry about those. speaking of gold, you will run into most of it while solving the levels, would be harder to avoid them than pick them up, but there are a few pieces that require a bit of extra effort.
it's important to note that for the most part there are no timers or fail states, but on some levels you can paint yourself into a corner and have to restart. there are also situations where timing is important, pressing a plate at the right time, etc. and you have to act quickly in the final few levels, which I found off-putting, frustrating and unnecessary. the game could let you finish these levels in your own time instead of resetting when you fail (trying to keep spoilers to the minimum here), not everybody aims for perfection or achievements.
the graphics are great, diorama-like, lots of details. there wouldn't be much point in zooming in/out, levels fit the screen just fine, but it'd be cool if more of it could be clicked, birds flying away, cows mooing, etc. as it is, you only need to look for tiny horses for some achievements, there's one in each world.
as for the audio, the music's okay, but I would've turned it off relatively fast, except each world has its own rendition of the same tunes, which I found really neat. sound effects are fine and there are separate volume sliders, so my only complaint is gibberish sounds during dialog.
not only the levels themselves, but the whole game shows a lot of attention to detail and polish. it plays really well, the train isn't too fast, nor is it too slow, camera controls work well, intersections can be changed while the train is moving, level completion stats and dialog can be clicked to appear instantly, and the 'keep conductors on' setting lets you skip dialog re-appearing during replays of a level.
there are still a few things that could be tweaked though. the level select screen should mark completed levels with a different color (though there should be at least one unmissable gold piece on each, and those are marked), and of course it would've been 100% relaxing and stress-free without any timing and especially the final few levels with the constant pressure to act quickly.
it's an excellent game otherwise, top notch presentation, just the right length, not to be missed if you like puzzle games, just be prepared for the occasional frustration if you're not into timing-based puzzles.
Steam User 4
Locomotion perfectly scratches that puzzleing itch. Difficulty curve is just right, new elements are introduced gradually and the combination of these elements is neatly done. Most puzzles have simple solutions but they are not always easy to find. On top of that there are nice visuals and fitting music.
It took me about six hours to finish all 52 levels of the game. However, one to two hours of that went into three or four puzzles that really had me dumbfounded.
All in all, Locomotion is a really well designed railway puzzler. Definite recommendation from me (even for 8,15 €).
Steam User 3
Truly a must have for casual puzzle fans.
I'm usually impatient when it comes to puzzle games and easily get bored with them. This is because 1. They are usually so complicated that I don't wanna put 3 hours into a single puzzle where the solution doesn't make me feel satisfied at all or 2. Punish me for using a different logic to solve the puzzle. (Layton I'm looking at you!) However, this game caught my eye because of the charming artstyle and interesting track switching mechanic. I've only put 1 hour into the game but I can already say I'm so addicted time just flew by. The difficulty and pacing of the levels feel well-ballanced and beating them feels rewarding. I also felt like I could apply my own logic to the puzzles and beat them in my own way.
Steam User 2
Well polished and presented, everything looks and sounds great. The difficulty of the puzzles so far (I'm half way through the 2nd world) has been good. A lot of new mechanics are introduced early on and then used in increasingly complicated ways, but it never felt frustrating. Gave me a bit of a captain toad's treasure tracker vibe
It's a cute little indie puzzle game about trains, what more could you want.
Steam User 3
I actually alpha tested this game last year back at insomnia 62 and i enjoyed it so much and have been looking forward to play it ever since.
Since i played it there seems to be many new levels that i'm enjoying, and i remember this game had a lot of bugs in alpha and i haven't run into a single one as of yet,
This Game is very polished and overall a greatly enjoyable indie game. Would recommend
Steam User 2
Sound & Graphics:
The artstyle of this game is beautiful, no doubt about it. The animation of not only the train but any surrounding elements is great, I've played many games like this and have always come across some kind of graphical glitch or bug but so far I've experienced nothing with Locomotion, credit to the devs! Sound effects and background music are high quality and overall are nice to listen to.
Gameplay:
Great example of a good puzzle game, good tutorial with the starting levels to help you get to grips with it. Controls aren't difficult but you'll need to use some brain power to work out these levels (especially the later ones) if you want to get all of the gold bars.
Replayability:
For perfectionists there's always replayablity to make sure you've gotten every gold bar or to see how little distance you can travel before completing the level. Even if you're not a perfectionist this is a game you could easily revisit a few months after completing it just to experience the fun again.
Pros:
Beautiful artstyle
Great level design
Requires some thinking for 100% level completion
Cons:
Leaderboards would be good
Level creator would be fun
Overall:
Very fun game with a great price tag. Great for killing time if you just want to play a few levels or for longer play sessions if you want to give your brain a good workout.
9.5/10
Steam User 0
It's a good puzzle game, but i didn't like the final levels, where you have to be quick.