Train Yard Builder has lovely potential

Everyone loves trains, right? Or is that one of those things guys get as they're rapidly approaching middle-age and refuse to face the facts?

Whatever the reason, trains are cool. I love them. Both in reality and in model kits. Now, I can't build them in real life, mostly because they take up a ton of space. I also have cats and ADHD, both of which are incompatible with precision hobbies.

So, whenever a new hobby builder comes around, I'm excited. A digital train set takes way less space than a real one, and I can buy all the additions for it with fake currency without any semblance of guilt.

I spent a good month with Train Yard Builder, and while I'm enamored by certain aspects of it, I'm somewhat less than enthused about the big picture. It's not a bad game by a long shot, but fiddly controls and unintuitive mechanics keep me at arms length from total enjoyment.

There's a campaign of sorts, but it's quite sparse. You receive and fulfill requests from clients, each with specific tasks regarding new models, landscapes, and so on. Some may take only minutes to complete, others can last hours. There's a lot of painting, fixing, and remastering in store, and for those who just want to zone out and tinker with virtual toys, Train Yard Builder delivers a nirvana.

It's just a shame that painting itself isn't as fun as it sounds. But, then again, I can't think of how they could have made it any better. In a VR setting, you could get away with motion controls for brush strokes and the like. But with a mouse, it becomes a fiddly endeavor that will frustrate more than anything else.

So Train Yard Builder goes for the straightforward solution. You pick colors, hues, and tones, and then press paint. Voilà. You're done. Yes, you can fiddle with the toggles to your hearts content. But there's something missing about the process that takes away a major part of what I love about models. In the end, things rarely look like you've had a hand in making them. It's a reminder that for all its wonder, Train Yard Builder can't escape the fact that it's only a digital reproduction of an idea.

The dioramas and museum pieces are more involved, and, as such, more fun. In the campaign mode you're limited to strict displays and layouts, but it's good tutorial for the sandbox mode later on.

It's also here that Train Yard Builder reveals its depth. From buildings to minute details like benches, signs, trees, and shrubs, everything has a purpose. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do, Train Yard Builder lives up to the idea that only the sky is the limit.

There's great pleasure in the rhythm to the gameplay loop. In the sandbox mode, you have free rein to do as you please, and how much or little you want to do is entirely up to you. For me, finding the rhythm of the gameplay loop that worked for me was enormous fun.

I like to start with the big pieces and feel out how much space I have. I envision great stretches of railroad thundering across open plains and winding into mountainous regions before pulling into town; or a skyline peeking out from behind a ridge peppered with trees.

Slowly, that vision materializes, and it's always a thrill. At its best, Train Yard Builder captures the childlike joy in just building something, anything. It gives power to the player by handing them tools and rarely saying no.

But it does come with limitations. As of now, there aren't that many pieces to play around with, even though a community is building around the game. The UI also proves to be a hassle, often getting in the way of something as simple as moving pieces around.

At first, it's not entirely clear how to use certain functions, and it takes some time to figure out the tool set before you can really let your imagination soar. It's not necessarily a knock at the game. After all, it's already a niche title for a highly specific audience. But it is a point you should consider if you're looking for something that's just casual fun. Train Yard Builder sits at a weird crossroad between minutiae and accessibility.

There's also limited variety to tasks in the main campaign mode, and I found myself rarely returning to it once I'd seen a few of the missions.

Where the fun really is, and where the limitations are most felt, is the sandbox mode. There's a lot to explore to start with, but if you really get into Train Yard Builder, you're bound to hit the wall sooner than later.

And yet, despite this, I find it hard to be too harsh on the game. After all, it provides me with exactly the kind of childlike thrills that I'd want out of it. I love building railroads that could never work in reality, and then driving my locomotives around on them. I adore the chill, almost cozy feel to the experience.

Should Train Yard Builder continue updating as it already has, I hope it takes the time to ease off on certain repetitive tasks. It could also clean out the UI some. If not, I'll live and still enjoy what there is. But mostly, I just wish it will get more content in the future. After all, as all model builders know, the more you build, the more you want to expand.