Take the A-Train III

A-Train is an economic strategy developed by Japanese studio Artdink. It puts the player in the role of urban transport network manager. Originally, the game was released in 1990. Two years later, it was ported to Amiga and PCs with MS-DOS system. Interestingly, the game released in the USA by Maxis Software is, in fact, the third installment of the series that has been on the market since 1985 - in Japan, A-Train is known as Take the A-Train III.

Mechanics

In A-Train, we are leading a railway company, and our task is to ensure that the transport network is functioning smoothly. There are several main ways to raise funds in the game. The first is passenger transport; in order for it to be as efficient as possible, we need to ensure that the line has enough trains during peak hours. The transport of goods is a slightly more difficult, but more profitable in the long term, because only by delivering them to the right places will we support the development of our city. Thanks to that, new residential buildings, offices, etc. will be built. Although the development of the city depends on the player's actions, these buildings are erected automatically by the computer as the game progresses. Later, the player will get the ability to build certain types of structures and derive certain benefits from them. Another source of profit may also be trading on the commodity exchange.

Due to the fact that we do not have any competition in the city, the game has no specific goal and can go on almost forever, as long as our actions contribute to the further development of the metropolis.

Technical aspects

A-Train, released on PC, is the first installment of the series to feature an axonometric perspective, reminiscent of the popular SimCity 2000 by Maxis. During the game, we can also observe the changing seasons - in winter, our city is covered with snow, and on New Year's Eve, residents celebrate by firing fireworks. An integral part of the game is the so-called A-Train Construction Set - an editor that allows you to modify the save game files or to create a new map from scratch.

Last updated on April 18, 2019