Railway Empire - Xbox One

Railway Empire is something of a gimme for Kalypso. It's been a decade since the last game in the Railway Tycoon series (a series that practically invented a whole 'tycoon' genre) and Kalypso has made its name with games like Tropico, which cast the player in an antiheroic role within a period management sim. In keeping with that theme, Kalypso is plugging the Railway Tycoon-shaped hole in the market with Railway Empire, a game that has you building your own railway network over a century of American history, starting back in 1930.

Your goal is to beat your rivals and establish America's widest ranging rail network, setting the nation on the path to becoming the industrial powerhouse it is today. Along the way you'll have specific missions, such as laying out a certain amount of track or buying out a rival. Other modes allow players to set their own constraints, or just crack on with 'model making' - creating the most impressive network without any financial constraints or competition.

Everything in the game is a trade-off. Shorter routes are more profitable in getting your locomtives to their destinations quickly and reducing track maintenance, but winding track can increase the efficieny of your engines. Bridges and tunnels bypass natural obstacles, but they massively add to your costs. It's all a balancing act.

Newcomers should find the game fresh and accessible, but for those who really want to get down to brass tacks (or iron nails) there's a lot of depth to explore, with over 40 different trains, stations to buy or build, maintenance facilities, factories and tourist attractions to consider, not to mention your workforce to think about and over 300 technologies to research. And, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty, there's the murky business of corporate espionage to think about...

Your empire awaits! more