Railroad Corporation
Relive the pioneering spirit of the Golden Age of Steam by establishing your own railroad empire across 19th century North America. Race against time to bring settlements together, produce and trade goods and develop new technologies. Embark on your dream career and earn your fortune in the New World. Work to fulfill contracts and complete missions based on historic rail networks across the United States. Lay down tracks, dig tunnels and raise bridges to connect settlements big and small, old and new. Strategy and forward planning are essential to make the best deals – so you’ll need to be across every aspect of your organisation. Control and combine resources, establish new industries and even lobby politicians to change the law of the land. KEY FEATURES: Establish a profitable Railroad Corporation in the Golden Age of Steam Construct a vast transportation network and trade goods with towns and cities Engage in political lobbying and research new technologies Acquire your own buildings and real-estate Expand your operations with new departments, recruit employees and manage business loans Buy, control and maintain historically accurate locomotives and rolling stock Blast, dig and tunnel across the beautiful frontier landscapes of 19th Century America Compete with a friend in the online multiplayer beta and race to earn $500,000! Fully focus on growing the corporation and expanding your train network in Sandbox Mode
Game Discussion
Steam User 59
I'm a long-time player of Railroad Tycoon II and III, and of the two recent takes at the same theme, Railroad Corporation and Railway Empire, I like Railroad Corporation more. Do I like it more than RT2/RT3? Eh.... probably not, but after 15+ years of waiting for a proper successor, it's the closest I've found.
At a high level, it combines the free-form track building of RT3 with the economic engine of RT2. Goods only move if they're hauled on your train, and buildings requiring source goods produce nothing without the railroad. Unlike RT2, there is a delay to their production in Corporation, so you'll have to make some tweaks if you don't want your trains to be waiting around for the steel mill to make steel with its newly arrived components.
Some reviewers prefer Empire because it requires you to build signals. I prefer Corporation because it doesn't; it focuses on the tycoon aspects rather than being a signal-builder game. For the most part, you lay track, trains figure out where to go. But double track helps, and you can optimize things pretty well by building some connections between tracks and optionally setting directionality, allowing a fast train to overtake a slow train, for example. I find Corporation strikes the right balance - it doesn't get bogged down in the signal details, while being slightly more in-depth in that area than the Railroad Tycoon games. If there were routing issues on release in 2019, I didn't see them during the entire campaign in 2023, so consider them fixed.
Corporation also benefits from not having the cartoonish cast of characters in Empire who constantly interject verbally. Once again, it lets you focus on building a railroad, only occasionally interrupted by an auction for a property, a somewhat interesting alternative to simply being the first one to click "buy" on a property in Railroad Tycoon.
The campaign scenarios can be moderately challenging, but like the Tycoon games, are designed with required and stretch goals; I didn't meet all of the stretch goals. I found the campaign to be fun in the beginning and after the mid-ground reset, but while somewhat fun, the research felt a bit artificial (just because you start a new company in 1860, you're stuck with 1830 locomotives? I'm sure Baldwin will sell you a new one). And by the end, I'd figured out the game, there are only so many supply chains.
That, combined with the limited set of scenarios, and the pre-set maps (versus the randomly-generated-buildings-based-on-weights method of RT2/RT3), ultimately limits the game's replayability. By the time Railroad Tycoon II reached Platinum, it had well over 100 scenarios covering all time periods and geographic areas, and both RT2 and RT3 have vast third-party scenarios on the Hawk and Badger Railroad website. Here, you've got about a dozen in the campaign, a couple more standalone, 5-10 that you can buy as add-ons, and not much in the workshop; there's a Germany map that looks interesting. I suspect PopTop had a much larger team and budget than Corbie did, but the modding capabilities of even RT2 are far superior. Thus, while I've played hundreds of hours of each of the Railroad Tycoon games, I don't know if I'll ever reach 50 in Corporation.
The 32 hours I did play were a nice change of pace though, and I look forward to seeing what Corbie can do in Railroad Corporation 2, in the 20th century. They've got the fundamentals down for a full successor for Railroad Tycoon, they just need the time and funding to polish the edges, build out the content library, and make the still-in-beta modding tools better in the next version so the community can more easily help with the latter.
Steam User 9
It reminds me a lot of "Railroad Tycoon". You basically set up supply chains and take care you follow the commodity chains with your trains. The first scenario unlocks more and more functions over time (like bank is unlocked only after 4 missions) but it guides you well. Missions you play within the scenario are unlocked to play in free/sandbox mode. This enables you to play the same map with a different goal set up.
Multiplayer/Coop mode is available too. Music is lovely and the graphics are cute overall.
I admit I spent much more time in it than I thought, can't deny a bit addiction potential. Not tried multiplayer/Coop mode yet but I#m more single player type for this kind of game.
I noticed steam achievements are not unlocked in first scenario but only in free game of unlocked maps (like "Your first warehouse"). Might be a bug but who cares about those things anyways. Just a bonus.
Those into railroad management simulations might want to have a closer look at the game.
Steam User 7
Enjoyed this game far more than I thought I would. Focus is heavily on trading and unlike other train games there's not a whole lot of 'minutia' railroad management, which I greatly appreciated. The trains are quite good at finding routes that work if you give them options and train queuing at stations is pretty simple to understand after the first level. This game is easy to learn, while being difficult to master. Some of those challenge missions are pretty hard, and competing against can be a challenge until you find a strategy that works. Town growth and changing needs keep you on your toes. Research trees are interesting but not vital. Overall, a pleasant experience.
Steam User 10
I don't often write reviews, but this game deserves one.
Railroad Corporation is the ONE true game that is a remake of the original in the 90's. Out of all the railroad simulators this it the one I like the most by far.
Gameplay is simple, fun, engaging and the missions are fun to play.
The campaign was fun and I just couldn't put the game down until it was completed.
Highly recommend, especially if its on sale
Steam User 5
One of the best railroad games out there. The multiplayer aspect holds this above its competitors.
Steam User 6
One of the Best and most realistic Railroading games I have had the honor of playing.
Steam User 3
This game is great! It is a much needed update to what Railroad Tycoon 2 started back in the day. The interface is really easy to understand and the tutorial was great. I really enjoy the strategy and logistical planning. This game has a lot of reply value. I like this game way better than railway empire.