Rail Nation

Rail Nation (RN) is a browser-based railroad simulator by Travian. Players lay down tracks, buy new trains, research technologies and associate with other players in order to be a part of the best-travelled city in the world.

RN looks nice, cartoony and professional, with a friendly tutorial guiding you through the basics of the game. Players then compete in a timed game world, trying to make their city flourish in order to get to the end game where 10 top cities compete for the top spot. RTS elements come as a city view that houses buildings for researching new engines and producing tracks. Planning the best route can be frustrating at times, but maneuvering the perfect one for your engines to take does bring a sort of a fuzzy warmness to one’s tummy.

RN is perfect if you have a knack for these sorts of games. On the flip side, though, the tutorial doesn't cover enough ground for newbies, plus competitive players will find the game rather cash hungry in higher levels of play. Other than that, RN is a solid & professional game that’s ‘different’ just enough to make it stick.