Our Roadmap for the First 6 Months After Early Access Launch

As we prepare for the launch of Early Access, we have created a roadmap for the first 6 months. While we anticipate being in Early Access for a couple of years, we are committed to providing regular, monthly updates based on feedback from our community.

Here are the updates we have planned for the first 6 months, in no particular order:

• Continued development and improvement of the game
• Adding new features and content
• Fixing any bugs or issues
• Listening to feedback and implementing changes

Our goal is to create an efficient rail network that keeps your passengers happy and on-time. Iron Roads is a top-down 2D train management game where you lay tracks, buy trains, and set their routes to create an efficient network that transports passengers and cargo between towns and factories.

Use resource tokens to run your enterprise efficiently while avoiding backlogs, jams, and angry passengers. As you succeed, you'll be recognized as the unsung train hero you know you are.

But who are your passengers? In this post-apocalyptic world, humans have been wiped off the face of the planet. The other animals have survived and thrived, but have been too afraid to leave their towns. That's where you come in. Set up train networks connecting towns and industries and watch as a new civilization grows and thrives.

Choose Between 3 Modes of Play

Iron Roads offers three different modes of play to suit your preferences:

• Scenarios: Hand-crafted experiences with distinct narratives and gameplay features
• Challenges: Play time-bound challenges to compete for a spot on the high-score board
• Sandbox mode: A low-pressure game where you set parameters and play the way you want (coming soon)

Features

Iron Roads offers a variety of features to enhance your gameplay experience:

• Minimalistic interface: Well-suited for setting up sprawling and complex networks, while being approachable for new players
• Resource management: Earn resource tokens by growing towns or completing contracts. Use your tokens strategically to expand your network and keep your erudite animal passengers happy
• Cargo transportation: Transport goods efficiently in interconnected production chains
• Research: Unlock new trains, technologies, and things to transport
• Unique music: The music in Iron Roads is a combination of notes generated from your trains and passengers, and authored melodies. The music you hear will be as unique as the layouts you build
• Performance graphs: The main goal of Iron Roads is to optimize your network, so you may wish to use the charts to analyze data relating to your finances and passengers
• Build large, complex networks: Or small-to-medium sized networks, if that's what you prefer

The demo represents a slice of the game that will arrive in Early Access on Jan 20, 2025.

Early Access Roadmap

As we continue to develop Iron Roads, we have plans to add even more features and content, including:

• More hand-crafted scenarios and timed challenges
• Multiplayer
• Mod support
• Sandbox mode: We are building a map generator so you can set the parameters and play the way you want

Please note that this is not a complete list, and we are not promising the order in which we'll add features. Our plan for each update is based on feedback from the community and the state of the game at that moment. So if there is something you'd especially like to see in Iron Roads, get in touch!

Iron Roads will not have buses, boats, planes, or any other form of transport. Our focus is on allowing you to build large networks easily, and we find 2D graphics to be better suited for that. We also want to assure our players that Iron Roads will not include NFTs, lootboxes, or microtransactions.

Inspired by Other Games

Iron Roads is being developed by a BAFTA-nominated husband-and-wife team, Marina and Duncan. We have been inspired by other games such as OpenTTD, Mini Metro, Two Point Hospital, Lets Build a Zoo, and Opus Magnum. You can find out more about us and our work on our website.

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  
• OS: Windows 10
  
• Processor: 1 GHz
  
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
  
• Graphics: Open GL 3.1+
  
• Storage: 128 MB available space
  
• Sound Card: N/A

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system