Preview code used, with many thanks to Team17.
Sweet Transit is a strategy and logistics game featuring trains and transporting people and goods. Ernestas Norvaišas (Factorio’s 3D artist and developer) is the solo developer of Sweet Transit with Team17 as publisher.
You can create intricate, railway-powered production lines in this Early Access build of Sweet Transit. As well as grow villages into thriving cities. In addition, you’ll progress through the eras, from the introduction of steam power and the invention of the combustion engine.
Play with Trains
The game introduces you to the gameplay through four tutorials, the basics, village building, expansion and signal placement. Once you play through the tutorial, you should be good to go. Unless you get confused by placing signals as I did.
That wasn’t necessarily the game’s fault; it was my fault as I couldn’t get to grips with the signals. Then all of a sudden, it clicked, and I was off laying tracks and placing signals.
Currently, the game has two maps to choose from, but since the game is in Early Access, I would expect more maps to be added at a later date. Once you take your pick from an Old World map or a Paris map, the game loads quickly.
Build a Village
There’s quite a bit going on in Sweet Transit. First, you build a village on the map, then connect various production sites such as coal, potatoes and wood via train routes to a warehouse and the town. Next, you buy and schedule trains with the appropriate carriages for freight or passenger to transport workers to the production site. In addition, you’ll need to provide food and shelter for your workers and ensure roads and rails link everything up.
The first tracks you will place go to the sawmill and the coal mine. You start with some wood but will need more wood and coal for your trains as they will only run at maximum power with enough fuel. After that, you’ll add stops at a potato farm, the quarry, and more.
Supply Goods
Part of these supply routes is freight and passenger trains because the inhabitants of your town provide the workers for the farm, logging cabin and the rest. So you have to ship workers from the village to the site to work, and when they get tired, they return to the village.
All the citizens have needs and get tired as they work. You must maintain their happiness and requirements by ensuring they have accommodation, water, food, parks and markets as you scale up your cities. Unhappy or tired workers are less productive and are detrimental to your production lines.
UI
The UI is fine, though it can get a little overcrowded during the tutorial with info pop-ups cluttering the screen. I couldn’t find anything in the game that showed me a complete list of all the trains I had running simultaneously.
However, you can zoom the camera out from the map, giving you an overview of all the stations and tracks. I’d like to see a list of all the trains I have running added to the game as it would make it easier to keep track of your trains.
Modding Support
Placing tracks is simply dragging the mouse in the direction you want the route to go. The build menus are clear and easy to understand and use. Full modding support is also present in the game, allowing you to create custom content via the Steam Workshop. You can build structures, locomotives, in-game rules, progression markers, and more.
Sweet Transit is an exciting twist to other simulation games in the same vein. Instead of continuing to expand upon a city and add transit on top of it later, Sweet Transit explores the time when cities grow from having access to trains. I’ve found my new obsession in the game as I build up my city with an ever-growing population.
I was pleasantly surprised when I played Sweet Transit, as it is much more developed than some Early Access games I have played. The game is a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the game shapes up with further updates. You can find the Sweet Transit Steam page here.
Sweet Transit is released on Steam on the 28th of July 2022, priced at US $21.99 | EU € 21,99 | UK £17.49.