The 20 Most Creative Train-Themed Video Games of All Time

Battle Train (2025)

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to weaponize a train in a game show setting, Battle Train has your answer. This deck-building roguelite throws you into over-the-top matches where strategy, speed, and chaos collide. You're tasked with placing tracks, deploying traps, and launching explosive trains toward your opponent's base – all while a bombastic announcer narrates the mayhem. The card system offers incredible flexibility, letting you upgrade units and unlock wild new effects that keep each run feeling fresh. It's fast-paced, colorful, and brilliantly absurd, with just enough depth to keep competitive players coming back for more. | © Terrible Posture Games & Nerd Ninjas

Monster Train 2 (2025)

With even more factions, cards, and replay value than its predecessor, Monster Train 2 manages to evolve the genre-defining deckbuilder formula without losing its heart. Players defend their train across multiple vertical battlefields, strategically placing units across levels while managing powerful spell combos. What sets it apart is how each faction plays so differently – from swarming imps to icy control builds – keeping the gameplay loop endlessly engaging. It's clear that player feedback helped shape this sequel, resulting in a smoother experience, smarter UI, and more build variety than ever before. The addition of new progression systems and extended endgame content only cements it as a must-play for fans of tactical roguelikes. | © Shiny Shoe / Big Fan Games

Train Sim World 5 (2024)

Realism is the name of the game in Train Sim World 5, and it absolutely delivers. The developers have painstakingly recreated real-world locomotives and routes, down to the way brake systems behave under different weather conditions. For anyone who loves the technical side of railroading – managing signals, reading track gradients, perfecting acceleration curves – this is as good as it gets. There’s also a more refined tutorial system this time around, making it more accessible to newcomers while offering depth for veteran sim enthusiasts. Whether you're operating modern commuter trains or historic steam locomotives, the attention to detail makes every run feel meaningful. | © Dovetail Games

Trans‑Siberian Railway Simulator (2024)

Few games capture the sheer scale and loneliness of the open railway quite like this one. Trans‑Siberian Railway Simulator places you in the cab of a rugged locomotive traveling across Russia’s vast and unforgiving landscape. There’s a survival twist too – you’ll need to repair your engine, fend off wild animals, and brave brutal snowstorms, all while managing train logistics. It’s a fascinating hybrid of simulation, survival, and exploration, with moments that veer into almost cinematic territory. This isn’t just about driving a train; it’s about enduring a journey. | © Pentacle

Voidtrain (2023)

Drifting through a mysterious void on a cobbled-together train, you’ll scavenge materials, fend off interdimensional threats, and slowly upgrade your vehicle into something spectacular. Voidtrain feels like a surreal blend of steampunk, survival crafting, and co-op action, set against a backdrop of floating debris fields and strange creatures. It's one of those games where the atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting – the isolation, the visuals, the eerie calm between enemy encounters. Build and expand your train segment by segment, and shape your own adventure as you unravel the world’s bizarre secrets. With or without friends, it’s a journey unlike anything else on Steam. | © glee-CHEESE

Last Train Home (2023)

Set against the backdrop of post-World War I chaos, Last Train Home offers a gripping mix of real-time strategy and survival elements. You command a group of Czechoslovak soldiers stranded in Siberia, trying to make it back home by train through hostile territory. The decisions you make – managing resources, planning missions, repairing your train, and engaging in tactical combat – carry serious weight, often with dire consequences. What makes the game truly stand out is how it fuses historical storytelling with deep mechanics, creating a compelling narrative-driven experience. It’s both emotionally resonant and mechanically rich, making it one of the most unique train-themed games available today. | © Ashborne Games

Railroader (2023)

Few games capture the raw satisfaction of building and expanding a train empire quite like Railroader. This indie gem combines minimalist visuals with deeply strategic gameplay, challenging you to lay tracks, build junctions, and keep multiple trains running without collisions. It feels a bit like a puzzle game, a bit like a management sim, but with a surprising amount of depth as your network grows more complex. What starts as a chill builder quickly ramps up in intensity, demanding fast thinking and sharp spatial planning. Its no-frills approach allows the gameplay to shine, and it’s easy to lose hours perfecting the flow of your rail systems. | © Get Assembly

Choo‑Choo Charles (2022)

There’s nothing else quite like Choo‑Choo Charles. Equal parts survival horror and open-world exploration, it throws players into a bizarre world where the main antagonist is a bloodthirsty spider-train hybrid. You ride and upgrade your own train, scavenging for scrap, completing missions, and preparing to face Charles in terrifying encounters. The game’s campy premise and eerie execution struck a chord with streamers and horror fans alike, becoming something of a cult favorite. It’s not just a novelty either – there's solid exploration, resource management, and real tension behind the spooky facade. A wildly creative twist on train games that sticks with you long after the tracks end. | © Two Star Games

Railbound (2022)

This charming puzzle game trades in intensity for calm, brain-teasing satisfaction. In Railbound, you help two dogs reconnect train cars by laying down tracks across increasingly complex levels. With clean, hand-drawn visuals and a delightfully soothing soundtrack, it's easy to get lost in its hundreds of puzzles. But don’t be fooled by the cute aesthetic – later levels require serious logic and planning. Each car must arrive in a precise order, and figuring out how to manipulate switches and loops just right is deeply rewarding. It’s the kind of game that appeals equally to casual players and puzzle aficionados. | © Afterburn

Rail Route (2021)

Instead of driving trains, Rail Route puts you in the control room. As a dispatch simulator, it challenges you to design and manage a growing rail network in real time. You start with a simple track layout, but soon you’re juggling automated schedules, creating new lines, and maximizing efficiency under pressure. There’s a meditative rhythm to it all – watching your carefully orchestrated system hum along is deeply satisfying. The game also features a sandbox mode for endless tinkering and optimization, making it a dream for fans of logistics and strategy. It's a different take on the genre that celebrates the brainwork behind the scenes. | © Bitrich.info

Frostrain (2020)

Bleak, stylish, and hauntingly original, Frostrain takes place in a frozen, post-apocalyptic world where survival hinges on mobility. Your train is not just transport – it’s your shelter, supply depot, and last hope. As you move between icy outposts, you're tasked with tough choices: who to save, what to scavenge, and when to move forward. Blending elements of strategy, roguelike progression, and social simulation, the game leans heavily into moral dilemmas and resource scarcity. It's wrapped in a minimalist, gritty aesthetic that amplifies the tension and weight of every decision. Ideal for fans of games like This War of Mine, but with a locomotive twist. | © Unbound Creations

Unrailed (2020)

Few co-op games are as chaotic and joyful as Unrailed. This fast-paced multiplayer title has you and your friends racing to build tracks ahead of a constantly moving train. It's a frantic balance of chopping wood, mining stone, and placing rail segments in just the right spot – all while avoiding obstacles and managing limited resources. The game’s simple, voxel-based art style hides a deceptively tough challenge, especially on higher difficulty levels or with randomized environments. Whether you're playing with friends locally or online, it turns teamwork into pure adrenaline. Short, addictive, and endlessly replayable. | © Indoor Astronaut / Daedalic Entertainment

Zompiercer (2020)

Combining survival horror with base-building on wheels, Zompiercer puts you in control of a train traveling through a zombie-infested wasteland. What starts as a simple escape mission quickly turns into a tense battle for survival – scavenging supplies, upgrading your train car-by-car, and fending off the undead. The game offers a solid crafting system and persistent world, making each trip between stations feel high-stakes. You’ll spend as much time fortifying your mobile base as you will exploring eerie, abandoned towns. It’s still in active development, but even in its current form, it delivers a gripping, apocalyptic twist on the train sim genre. | © DDDimanN

Derail Valley (2019)

Immersion is everything in Derail Valley, a VR-supported train simulator that nails the feel of running freight across rugged terrain. From shoveling coal into a steam engine to mastering diesel braking systems, it offers one of the most hands-on railway experiences available. It’s not about flashy graphics or arcadey fun – this is a deep, physics-driven sim that rewards patience, precision, and learning by doing. There’s also a strong economy layer, where you earn money from jobs and unlock licenses to operate more powerful engines. For train lovers and sim fans, it’s one of the most ambitious and satisfying titles out there. | © Altfuture

Transport Fever 2 (2019)

As the name suggests, this is all about building and optimizing a massive transportation empire – and Transport Fever 2 does it better than almost anyone. While trains are the heart of the game, you also manage planes, trucks, and ships, creating fully integrated logistics networks across sprawling maps. It offers detailed economic systems, historic eras spanning centuries, and extensive mod support that allows endless customization. The visual detail is stunning, too – watching your trains glide through mountains or across bridges is oddly therapeutic. Whether you’re a fan of micromanagement or just want to create the ultimate rail network, this one delivers. | © Urban Games

Railway Empire (2018)

Ambitious and beautifully detailed, Railway Empire lets you build a railroad tycoon dream from the ground up. Set in 19th-century America, you lay tracks across growing cities, research over 40 historically accurate locomotives, and compete with ruthless business rivals in dynamic campaigns. There’s a satisfying mix of economic management and logistical strategy, from placing supply towers to micromanaging train schedules. Whether you're chasing efficiency or aesthetic perfection in sandbox mode, the game rewards smart planning and a keen eye for expansion. It’s perfect for fans of classic tycoon games, but with modern polish and depth. | © Gaming Minds Studios

Rolling Line (2018)

For anyone who ever dreamed of building a model railway in their living room, Rolling Line is pure magic. It’s a digital model train simulator where you create miniature railroads in virtual environments – complete with dioramas, towns, tunnels, and scenery you can sculpt from scratch. The best part? You can experience it all in VR, walking around your table-sized worlds like a true hobbyist god. There's a peaceful, almost meditative quality to building and running these layouts, making it more about creativity and experimentation than challenge. A labor of love that hits a sweet spot between simulation and play. | © Gaugepunk Games

Train Valley (2018)

Puzzles, time pressure, and charming aesthetics combine in Train Valley, a game that turns railroad management into a fast-paced brainteaser. You’re given a simple task – get trains from point A to point B without crashing – but with limited space, tight timing, and increasingly complex demands. Each level challenges you to lay down tracks, manage junctions, and balance multiple routes without bringing everything to a screeching halt. It’s all wrapped in a clean, toy-like visual style that makes even the most frantic moments feel playful. Accessible, clever, and dangerously addictive for puzzle lovers. | © Flazm

Mini Metro (2015)

Minimalist in design but rich in gameplay, Mini Metro turns subway planning into a mesmerizing, abstract art form. You draw routes between stations as passengers appear, adjusting lines and trains to keep your network flowing. It starts off simple, but as cities grow and demand increases, things get hectic fast – requiring fast thinking and clean design. The visual simplicity, paired with a generative ambient soundtrack, makes it both relaxing and intense in the best way. A masterclass in elegant game design, and a must-play for fans of strategy and rhythm-like pacing. | © Dinosaur Polo Club

OpenTTD (2004)

A true classic reborn, OpenTTD is an open-source remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe that has grown into a feature-rich simulation powerhouse. You manage everything from railroads and trucking lines to air and sea transport, optimizing routes and growing industries across massive maps. The pixel art charm remains intact, but under the hood is a deep, endlessly moddable system beloved by fans for decades. Whether you play solo or in massive online multiplayer sessions, it offers near-infinite complexity and replayability. It’s not just nostalgia – it’s one of the deepest transport sims ever made. | © OpenTTD Team