Bounty Train

Pros: - neat graphics - unusial blend of trade-simulator and mini-action-rpg - rather fast-paced - entertaining campaing - lots of random events - interesting companions - fun leveling-system - good music Cons: - tricky user interface: even after getting used to it, it remains annoying - save-games can get corrupted - occaissional chrashes - balancing issues: one bad click can ruin your campaing, so using quick-save is recommended. - historic setting is very underdeveloped - can get repetative/become a chore: earning money is a click fest with repeating screens. - trade routes/prices vary from campaign to campaign and seem to be arbitrary. Conclusion: A good and fun little game with an unusual setting reminiscent of games like Railroad Tycoon or North and South. If these games appealed to you, than give this a go as well as long as it is on sale.

I was very surprised at how fast I became addicted to this game. It took a couple of hours to get used to the gameplay mecanics, but it's pretty straight forward after that. I noticed some comments that the play is unbalnaced, I haven't found that at all, so maybe those issues have been addressed. There are several aspects to this game, the trading side is the dominant one, the rpg side not so much, but it adds a nice touch. Basically it's all about making as much money as you can so that you can obtain the majority shareholding in you late faters railway company. To do that you trade goods, move passengers between cities, smuggle contraband, fight off bandits trying to rob your train, take out wanted criminals, deliver urgent mail, complete quests and make good on contracts with local cities. All all while trying to stay alive. To be successful you will need to upgrade your trains and carriages and round up a crew to help you fight the bandits/Indians. The combat system takes place between cities when your train is stopped and raided. It's like a mini-game. The tactical pause helps a lot and it's a bit of trial and error before you figure out ow to beat them off. There is no tutorial as such, you simply need to figure it out yourself, which I dont mind at all. On normal difficulty I didnt find the bandits too difficult to defeat. Occasionally I lost, but hey, thats wat saved games are for! Finally, dont t try to trade & move passengers at the same time. Its better to trade for a while, build respect with cities and factions. The game changed completely when I switched to the large cargo carriage and a fast engine aka John Bull. I left the passenger carriage in Philly and zipped around like crazy. It's a lot of fun and dont be shy about going around the long way if it satifies more quests and contracts. At times the game feels like the pressure is on to complete the main quests but in reality there's plenty of time to do most side quests with a bit of planning.

I was really excited to play this game and while the first portion is a lot of fun, the excitement runs out quickly. As others have said, it's very repetitive and you will find yourself stuck, forcing you to restart the game and trying a different strategy. Only to get stuck again. How are you stuck? What happens is you need coal to travel. Traveling allows you to complete the main storyline and side missions to make you money and increase your reputation. Over time you will need to buy additional carts for your train so you can deliver goods and transport passengers for money. Eventually, you will run out of coal to power your train. So you need to buy coal. However, you will become stuck in one town with no money and no coal. It's a paradox of: I need to travel to make money, but I need coal to travel. Coal costs money and I'm broke. So you can't afford coal to travel and you can't make money unless you have enough coal. The concept is awesome. I love the way the game looks, it's easy to learn. The game starts out as a lot of fun and you look forward to upgrading your train, skills, and hiring guards - but you won't get far enough to continue that excitement. I recommend buying the game when it's on sale.

So I finished this game and i got to say. it was quite fun. Bought this in sale for about 1€. When Playing you really have to lose a "everything's got to go perfect" mentality. Sometimes RNG might screw you over and you really can't please every faction all the time.

Played about 10 hours and so far I like it. Its not amazing but its fun, a lot of the reviews I read were for before it came out and either they changed a lot or the reviewers only really played like 30min of it (read something about carriages only carrying 1 passenger when so far they carry 2-4 depending on size)