Train Valley Origins

Okay, as a dispatcher in my model railroad club, I've always loved TV1. When I looked at TV2, I realized it was a puzzle game, something I really wasn't interested in (to me, the entire thing becomes an effort to simply solve some very tricky puzzle, and not just moving trains as efficiently as you can). This is why I loved TV1 - that I could play the sandbox levels over and over. Then I discovered TVO, which is more TV1 than 2 or 3. And I as delighted. While I haven't gotten to the point where I can find if there are sandbox levels, the current levels in the "England" scenarios are fun enough to play over and over. Some of the new features in TVO that improve things over TV1... 1) The autoscheduling feater, where instead of a train just popping out when you waited too long, you clearly see how much time you have before it launches. 2) All the scenarios are well-put together and fun to run through. 3) Instead of just having a bunch of trains waiting in depots, you have a "roster" ...

The tag relaxing is the opposite of what this game is 8/10

Very nice game as usual. This is a simple version of Train Valley 2

This is a soothing little train delivery game, vaguely related to the other titles in this series, but also quite different. On the one hand, it is a very casual game, basically sending your trains to stations that match the little colored icons, and paying attention to various extra goals to be completed for each level. On the other hand, some things can definitely go wrong, in which case there are very exciting explosions to reward you, and you try again! i think my favorite parts about the game are just the sights and sounds - very vivid colors, cute trains that wobble back and forth, charming music, and engaging sound effects. Also, the rewards are fun - each experience upgrade gives you a new locomotive (and historical notes in the train shed) as well as an item you can use in the Workshop. The Workshop is a big plus because it allows players to share custom levels, which adds even more content, and I have found some of those custom levels to be quite challenging.

As a fan of Train Valley 1 and 2, it was a no-brainer to get this one, especially since we're playing it together with my son. Unfortunately, this one is so buggy I cannot recommend it in the current form. I can't fathom how something can be released in such a poor state - almost every play session we need to restart a level because something breaks. Just right now, we had 2 challenges fail because the game decided on one side that a bridge would be a bridge, and on the other side, it would be a tunnel, and trains would go underneath the bridge and explode. Often, while building tracks, they break and also explode trains. Sometimes, decorations cannot be bulldozed, resulting in the same thing. I understand if it would be obscure bugs, but this is just plain obvious - all you need to do is play two maps of the game to spot one like that. I would be ashamed of selling a product like this.

This is a dumbed down version of Train Valley 2 - if you've already played that game then there is no point to trying this game. It's not engaging at all.

Recommended!