Golden Rails 3: Road to Klondike + Collector's Edition

Two thumbs up! This is a really good time-management game from Yustas studios. This game is similar to the two Golden Rails game from last year, but it is improved in every way. It is a real change of pace from many of the other time-management games out there, in that you feel like you are actually making a dynamic difference on the map, both with the train-switching mechanism and the worker-allocation mechanism.

First of all, the levels are very interesting. Unlike in series like Hercules or Moai, you're not just fixing buildings and repairing roads; you're a railway engineer and you have to lay track, hire workers, decide where they go (the same pool of workers are used in buildings and in running around the map), and turn switch-signals so that your trains go to different places. The fact that you have to keep your tracks maintained (such as shoveling snow that keeps falling) is a nice dynamic touch.

Additionally, there is a shooting-range mini-game every 10 or so levels for those of you who like to practice for your FPS games.

You can set the level of difficulty, from Casual to Easy to Timed and so forth, depending on whether you want to earn you 3 gold stars per level or have them handed to you. This is a nice touch especially if you're old or lack dexterity or strategic thinking, or even if you're great but just want to zen out and have fun building stuff.

One improvement that I personally like over the first Golden Rails is that there is a meta-game. In two ways: first there is a train car that you can improve and decorate depending on how many gold stars you get on the various levels. Secondly, you get optional bonuses that you can use inside the levels if you want to. For example, workers are 30% cheaper to hire, or you earn 10% more money. The more levels you complete, the more bonuses you earn, and you can then go back and replay earlier levels.

There are 50 levels and 10 bonus levels. As always with these games, I recommend playing 5 to 10 at a time. Each level can take 5 to 10 minutes each, so even doing a half-dozen can take an hour. And the game is more fun if you take it as it was designed, just doing a few levels a day.

Finally, I really love the music. I would buy an OST of this music. It's just a jaunty western tune, the kind that they used to play in old cowboy movies when the goofy sidekick would do something funny, so it's very appropriate for this game.

This is a really good time-management game from Yustas studios, makers of “The Viking Brothers.” For “Golden Rail: Road to Klondike” I give two thumbs up. A definite recommendation.

This is a fun TM game requiring strategy in how you build, how many people you employ and how you distribute them. The bonuses come few and far between (purchased with stars) and you'll have to replay several of the levels to get the timing right. There are three modes of play (un-timed, normal and hard) and lots of achievements (two of which don't work). And there are these owls you have to find, which serve no purpose whatsoever, and it's annoying to have to find them, but not difficult. And personally, I really don't like superfluous, cutesy stuff.

All in all, a good game. I played hard mode and found it a satisfying challenge. But, like I said, two achievements, don't work and that's a whole lot of disappointment, and if you're OCD like me, it makes you a bit nutz. ;)