Reviving a Classic: Sid Meier’s Railroads Brings Timeless Tycoon Action to Mobile Devices

Initially released in 2006, Sid Meier’s Railroads marked the fourth and conclusive entry in the Railroad Tycoon franchise, establishing impressive benchmarks for the ‘Tycoon’ gaming genre. While Sid Meier may be more recognized for the Civilization series of strategy games, I personally regard the Railroad Tycoon series as his masterpiece, which has garnered a devoted fanbase among those who experienced the heyday of simulation games. With the help of mobile adaptation experts Feral Interactive, Sid Meier’s Railroads has transitioned to smartphones in a modern, touch-optimized style that resonates well with its primarily older millennial user base.

Entrusted with the development of a railroad enterprise in a range of historical and imaginative environments, Sid Meier’s Railroads was a pioneer in the 2000s and maintains a remarkably modern feel today. I experienced the original version on PC during my college years and was eager to leverage my matured reasoning on the ingenious economic and gameplay mechanics of this classic. Therefore, here is my assessment of Sid Meier’s Railroads on mobile.

Monitoring the economy and mastering efficient goods transport is essential for success in Sid Meier’s Railroads

Sid Meier’s Railroads review: Pricing and compatible devices

While Sid Meier’s Railroads continues to be accessible for PC through Steam and GOG, its ongoing relevance stems from its recent re-release for iOS and Android. On Android, the game comes at a price of Rs. 399, whereas it costs Rs. 499 on iOS. The gameplay experience is mostly consistent across both platforms, yet I suggest using a tablet or a large-screen phone to conveniently view and interpret smaller details.

Device compatibility within the iOS and Android environments highly depends on your specific model, but the majority of recent iPhone iterations and Android devices from various brands should support the game. Feral Interactive indicates that some devices are prohibited from installing the game, but if it’s installable, you’ll likely enjoy a seamless experience. The download size is 1.7GB for both platforms. I tested Sid Meier’s Railroads on an iPad mini (5th Gen, 2019) (Review) running iPadOS 16.3.

Sid Meier’s Railroads review: User Interface

While the initial version depended on a mouse and keyboard for navigation, the updated version for iOS and Android is designed for touchscreens. It’s commendable how well this game adapts to touch controls in certain areas, particularly in designing rail tracks and construction, allowing you to accurately manipulate the layout. Furthermore, zooming in and out is significantly simplified via pinch-to-zoom, addressing several of my earlier grievances with the original.

Nonetheless, some aspects of the touch response can be somewhat challenging, especially when trying to select specific elements on the screen, like a town’s supply-and-demand metrics or track endpoints for continued construction. Zooming in can mitigate these issues, but it often introduces additional tedious steps to the process.

The game showcases an impressive variety of historic engines to select from

This assumes you are playing on a tablet with a sizeable screen. Using a smartphone may make it somewhat challenging to decipher the numerical details related to finances and available resources for different shipments in towns and cities. Although zooming can make this easier, there’s already plenty happening in a typical game without adding extra steps.

Sid Meier’s Railroads review: Gameplay and performance

The fundamental concept of Sid Meier’s Railroads revolves around establishing and managing a railroad business, yet there’s much more at play beyond merely constructing tracks and selecting the right engines. The game operates on a sophisticated model grounded in the dynamics of demand and supply for various raw materials, finished products, passengers, and mail, with the crux of success being the creation of an effective network that supplies goods where they’re needed.

This entails an understanding of each map’s economy, linking remote suppliers of raw materials like grain, coal, timber, and ore, to towns and cities that house factories transforming these into finished products such as furniture, steel, and processed food. You’ll earn revenue simply by transporting raw materials, yet the significant profits come from ensuring that finished products reach their destinations to satisfy demand.

You can intensify competition by introducing AI opponents, which not only compels you to navigate track placement around existing tracks, but also divides the available goods for transport. I eventually realized that maintaining shorter routes for transporting passengers and goods effectively among three to four locations was more beneficial than running extended routes. However, at times, longer routes are necessary to fulfill certain scenario objectives.

Maps in Sid Meier’s Railroads draw inspiration from real geographical regions as well as invented locations

The maps in Sid Meier’s Railroads present a captivating blend of genuine and fictional settings. Authentic maps encompass various regions across the US and Europe, mirroring the actual expansion of the railroad industry and how it bolstered these economies during the peak of the industrial revolution. Furthermore, you’ll likely find town and city names familiar, which facilitates planning and navigation.

Conversely, fictional maps may create confusion due to their unfamiliar names. However, they often present higher levels of challenge owing to their complex geography. You might find yourself planning rail routes around mountains or cutting across passes to avoid the steep costs associated with constructing bridges or tunnels. Some maps take the form of archipelagos, necessitating costly bridges over water.

All of this is complemented by the bold and often taunting remarks from AI competitors, who continuously challenge your strategies during bidding contests or when you dare to establish a station in a town they occupy. There’s also a simplified corporate element in play; you own shares in your own company while all players can invest in rival companies, aiming to eventually buy them out and either merge or liquidate the competitor’s assets. Selling stocks provides a quick way to generate funds for growth and expansion, but not without risks.

There are various difficulty levels in Sid Meier’s Railroads, which essentially dictate costs and other economic factors that shape your overall experience. Alternatively, you can adjust the routing system’s complexity, affecting how trains share track segments. Fortunately, crashes do not occur; however, trains might become delayed (occasionally indefinitely) if multiple routes try to use the same track segment without upgrading to double or triple parallel tracks.

Conclusion

Sid Meier’s Railroads — along with the complete Railroad Tycoon series — was revolutionary in the early 2000s. The recent adaptation by Feral Interactive creates an engaging simulation platform that feels remarkably contemporary for a game nearing two decades of age. What stands out most is that this experience is now available on portable devices, including smartphones and tablets.

My iPad mini (2019) effortlessly managed not only the vibrant visuals but also the continuous processing and calculations necessary for maintaining the economic and scenario elements of the game seamlessly. This provides an experience comparable to many high-end PC and console games, making it a fantastic deal, especially for avid iOS or Android gamers.