Your goal is to set up an efficient rail network that keeps your passengers happy and on-time
Lay tracks, buy trains, set their routes. Optimise your network and repeat till dawn. Run your enterprise efficiently while avoiding backlogs, jams, bankruptcy or angry passengers, and you'll be recognised for the unsung train hero you know you are.
Who are your passengers?
The humans have been wiped off the face of the planet. The other animals survived and thrived, but have been too afraid to leave their towns. Here’s where you come in.
You’ve been asked to set up train networks connecting the animals' towns and industries. To avoid following the humans to their fate, you’ll need to preserve the environment, but that is not as easy as it sounds on a map that reacts to your actions. For example, powering trains with fossil fuels allows for easy expansion, but comes at the cost of rising seas. And while there is easy money to be found serving industry over passengers, factories can quickly overwhelm the landscape, leaving little space for anything else.
Stay on the rails
Iron Roads is being actively developed, but it is currently incomplete. The demo is a slice of the game that will arrive in Early Access. You can download it and play now. If you do, we'd love to hear from you: what you liked, what you didn't and what you think we could change.
Choose between 3 modes of play
Scenarios: Hand-crafted experiences with distinct narratives and gameplay features
Endless mode: A low-pressure game where you set parameters and play the way you want
Challenges: Play time-bound challenges to compete for a spot on the highscore board
Things you can do in Iron Roads right now
Set up a fast transport network that will get your erudite animal passengers to their destination on time
Transport cargo efficiently in complex production chains
Listen to the sound of your network: Music in Iron Roads is a combination of notes generated from your trains and passengers, and authored melodies. The music you hear will be as unique as the layouts you build
Build large, complex networks Or small-to-medium sized networks, if that's what floats your boat
Features we plan to add to Iron Roads during Early Access:
This is far from a complete list, but some of the more commonly requested features on our roadmap:
Further content: Iron Roads already has a number of hand-crafted scenarios, timed challenges and an endless mode, but we plan to expand each during Early Access
Multiplayer
Mod support
Weather events that will test the resilience of your network
Press Kit
Read more about Iron Roads in our press kit.
About us
We are Marina and Duncan, a BAFTA-nominated husband-and-wife team, and we develop games and art inspired by our love for management games, literature, puzzles and travelling. While we don't have defined roles, Duncan tends to be responsible for writing the engine and game design, and Marina does the writing and illustrations. Cowleyfornia is a nickname for the area of Oxford in the UK where our little studio is based.
Get in touch at marina@cowleyforniastudios.com , or sign up for updates.