Sweet Transit, a city-building game that’s focused squarely on trains, will be pulling into Steam’s Early Access station this summer, but you can get an early taste of that transport goodness right now, thanks to a free demo that’s launched as part of the Steam Next Fest.
As we’ve noted, Sweet Transit is a kind of throwback to the old Transport Tycoon games, and its being built by one of the artists from Factorio, Ernestas Norvaišas. It has a very pleasant ’90s aesthetic, and it’s an interesting mix of almost Anno-style city building with the more complex scheduling and route construction and management found in the Transport games.
There’s quite a bit going on in Sweet Transit, and the demo includes a four-part tutorial that guides new players through the ins and outs of building a village, connecting various sites with train routes, expanding your operations, and scheduling trains. You’ll need to provide food and shelter for your workers, and make sure everything is linked up by roads and rails.
Here’s the latest trailer:
Sweet Transit begins simply, but as you expand from a single warehouse, things rapidly become more complex. Eventually you’ll oversee the changeover from steam to diesel-powered locomotives, and new developments in technology will open up new economic opportunities for your settlements and network – but only if you’re prepared to retool and rethink your business.
Publisher Team17 has announced that Sweet Transit will hit Early Access on Steam July 28, so you’ve got some time to get acquainted with it in the new demo before it departs on the next leg of its development voyage.