I fell in love with Islands & Trains the moment I saw it. This charming and cozy title was exactly what I had been searching for, and the demo delivered an impressive amount of content. Recently, the duo developers behind the game updated the demo with a delightful winter and Christmas-themed expansion. Instead of the usual sunny weather, you can now enjoy snowy landscapes, adding a festive touch to the experience.
Similar to Tiny Guilds, this game offers a creative and relaxing experience. However, in Islands & Trains, you’re tasked with building islands, not procedurally or randomly generated, but designed entirely by you. This allows you to shape the world exactly how you envision it. Once your islands are set up, you can start creating train tracks and stations to watch your trains traverse the map. To make your world even more beautiful, the game lets you add a variety of decorations, structures, and animals. I was genuinely amazed by the sheer variety of options available, from football fields and churches to wheat fields and swimming pools.
A Cozy, Unforgettable Experience
Islands & Trains is a sandbox game, meaning it offers plenty of interesting terrains and natural features to experiment with. Waterfalls, cliffs, stone walls, and other elements can be incorporated into your designs. The gameplay is simple and intuitive, you select a category, pick an item, and place it wherever you like, rotating and positioning it to your heart’s content.
In the demo, the building space is somewhat limited, but it’s sufficient to create multiple islands connected by train tracks. The train can even carry cargo, though the game’s primary appeal lies in its stress-free, relaxing gameplay. You can take beautiful screenshots, admire the vibrant colors and details, and spend a few minutes unwinding as you tinker with your creations.
The game’s cartoonish art style adds a sense of serenity and charm to the experience. It’s filled with details and thoughtfully designed structures, making it easy to lose yourself in the process of building and exploring. This title isn’t just for fans of cozy games, it’s perfect for anyone looking to take a break from fast-paced experiences like Marvel Rivals and instead immerse themselves in their own creative world. However, starting everything from scratch can be time-consuming, especially when you’re undecided about where to begin. I’m optimistic that the full version will offer this feature to make the initial setup more accessible.
A promising game, though not without its flaws
That said, there are some issues that stood out. For instance, certain textures feel out of place—like football fields looking awkward in the snow, or wheat fields appearing as plain white instead of properly snow-covered. The user interface is also intrusive, taking up a significant portion of the screen. While you can hide it by pressing F, its default positioning obstructs the view. Another annoyance is the item placement system: when you rotate the camera, the item you were holding disappears, forcing you to reselect it.
The winter update introduces many new features, including festive decorations, reindeer, Christmas trees, food stands, and more, allowing you to create a delightful mini-festival. There are also new train engines and wagons with 24 new Christmas assets and winter-themed items and buildings. I’m eager to see what the full version will offer; for now, the game has a lot of intriguing aspects. It’s easy to play, won’t waste your time, and the demo provides plenty of enjoyable gameplay.
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