Lay tracks, buy trains, set their routes. Fix jams, optimise your network, repeat till dawn. Iron Roads is a top-down 2D train management game in which you can lose yourself for hours, just to ensure a touristing sheep is home in time for tea.

Here’s where you come in.

The other animals survived and thrived, but have been too afraid to travel or even leave the villages they took over.

You are tasked with getting the animals back on the tracks again. Set up train networks connecting their towns and industries. Lay tracks and set train orders to connect them as efficiently as possible. Fine-tune routes to optimise your network, minimising travel time and maximising efficiency.

Balance the challenge of setting up a new transportation system against the need to preserve the environment to avoid following the humans to their fate. Throw in some tempting offers that come your way from the corporations, mostly in the form of tempting contracts, add some stuck trains, and you'll find that all is not as simple as it looked.

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.

Transport passengers or cargo, earn money and complete tasks

Enjoy a minimalistic interface that is easy to learn, but that allows for many happy hours optimising and building your networks

Performance graphs: The main goal of Iron Roads is to optimise your network, so you may wish to use the charts to analyse data relating to your finances and passengers

Build large, complex networks. Or small-to-medium sized networks, if that's what floats your boat

1. Scenarios: Hand-crafted experiences with distinct narratives and gameplay features, featuring grants that give you focussed goals and to-do lists

2. Endless mode: A low-pressure game where you set parameters and play the way you want, using procedurally-generated maps

3. Challenges: Play time-bound challenges to compete for a spot on the highscore board