What do you think Islands & Trains is about? I’m not going to give you long, because it really is just right there in the name. As you’ve presumably already guessed, it is a quaint-looking sandbox builder where you make tiny diorama-like islands, adorning them with tracks for trains to choo-choo along. I told you, it’s a name that does what it says on the tin, and if it appeals to you at all, well, there’s some good news, as it just came out today.
Islands & Trains for the most part looks like one of those kind of build-your-own screensaver type of games, without the screen saving part. Developer Akos Makovics specifically cited games like Islanders, Dorfromantik and Townscaper as influences, all titles with a focus on making peaceful places to look at with a hopeful sense of ease. So, if they’re up your alley, this one probably will be too.
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There’s apparently over 400 types of tiles to play around with, lots of variations amongst those too, and you’ll notice animals like cows and ducks flocking in as you build up your city. I’m not typically a sandbox builder kind of person myself, and yet looking at it I can’t help but harken back to my own childhood playing with my dad’s model railway.
He wasn’t the kind of model train enthusiast that had all the extremities like sets and tiny trees, so imagination was key to building up a picture. Islands & Trains looks like a nice opportunity to express that childlike sense of train-oriented curiosity. You can pick it up on Steam right now if it takes your fancy.
