Project Introduction

Iron Roads is a top-down 2D train management game in which you lay tracks, buy trains, and set their routes until you have an efficient network carrying passengers and cargo between your towns and factories. Run your enterprise efficiently while avoiding backlogs, jams, bankruptcy, and 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, leaving less space for tracks. 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.

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

About Developer

We’re Marina and Duncan, and Iron Roads is being developed in its entirety by our tiny team of two. This is our third game, with our previous game, We’ll always have Paris having been nominated for a BAFTA last year. We’re focussed on exploring society's interesting challenges through meaningful gameplay, and with Iron Roads we’re doing this by making the player balance running an efficient train network against the effects that has on the communities and environment it is built on.

While we don't have defined roles, Duncan tends to be responsible for writing the engine, game design, and music and Marina does the writing and illustrations. Cowleyfornia is a nickname for the area of Oxford where we are based.

Thank you for considering us!