Derail Valley

Very nice and realistic but i have too much earwax.

I thoroughly recommend this Train Simulator, to any that either likes train simulators or wants to branch out into the world of rail and locomotives (Steam, Diesel Electrics, Diesel Mechanical, Diesel Hydraulic, or (EV) Electric. There are 3 playable modes Easy (relaxed), Standard (more involved financially) and Realistic ( more financial than standard). All have differing delivery time bonuses as per playable mode. Shunting jobs ,Freight Delivery jobs, Military Jobs, and Logistical collection or Logistical delivery jobs. All jobs go to or involve working in various industry locations. There are cities, Iron Mines, Coal Mines, Steel Mill, Sawmill, Forestry industries, Manufacturing and town facilities, Oil Fields, Oil Refinery, Food town and factories, Goods town and factories, Farm, Harbour (Docks), and a Coal Power Plant. All the above industries will have a selection of jobs to be taken as mentioned above. As you progress you will need to gain certain Licences for the Locomotives that are in the game (free to drive after purchasing the required License in-game). Also licenses to transport certain items and their types. You also need to refuel and repair the locomotives you drive around in. The Loco's do take damage and can be costly to repair if you damage or derail them. There are also Locomotives that you can find, collect, restore for your personal fleet. The icing on the cake is the Locomotives that you find and restore, and the sheer fact that the Open Simulated environment is so stunningly beautiful work of art both graphically and picturesque. All in one very elaborate map. Not to mention all the Locomotives can be modded with gadgets for (QOL) Quality of Life effects or game-play.
10/10 for the creators, Developers, and all you drivers, (without which there would be no game).

Great game, I've played it in both VR and regular keyboard. It's a very great game if you just want to see a bunch of stuff and collect a bunch of Trains. I put 265 Hours into the game and I'm still playing it even as I write this lol.

most train sim games have you sitting in a bolt for bolt recreation of a vast variety of locomotives, and then you get to go up and down a single corridor of track. but they may have dozens of different corridors, none of which interconnect. all of which cost a $3.50 DLC, but you feel like the whole game is compartmentalized nonsense. this is an open world train sim... sure the trains look like a generic open sourced copy of soviet bloc europe, as well as the "cities" with their soviet bloc housing, but ignore that and have a fun time!! i DO wish there were knuckle couplers, and more train variety, and a "home base roundhouse" where all your trains hang out and you can base your operations from but it isnt stopping me from playing too much lol

Derail Valley is an exceptionally engaging game. It feels like a Train Sim World or Train Simulator that has been adjusted to be a better game than a documentation of real-life locomotives and routes. Instead, it brings the model railroading feel into those experiences. Rather than arbitrary scenarios, the career system provides a steady selection of train jobs from hauling to shunting to maintenance actions, and lets the need to do those things to advance in the career mode and unlock new and interesting trains emergently provide the "scenarios" that other games just drop you into. The customization options also make locomotives feel distinct both in appearance and functionality.

The practical upshot is that this very much is the game I had been dreaming about for years without realizing it. The generic locomotives and roadnames and the exaggerated grades serve more to emphasize the challenges inherent in railroad operations, rather than detract as one might expect. Continuing to push my boundaries in tonnage hauled, locomotives used, and routes run keeps the game interesting.

This is an awesome game with amazing updates and support from the team. I can only recommend this one!

This game tickles my brain like no other game. I love this game and hope to see more content added. It's a great horror game without even being a horror game. It gets creepy at night when you are hauling alone, it makes you wish the train doors had locks. Just your weak headlight and lantern and shadows for miles on a dark and stormy night. Anyway... the game is amazing and I'm going to spend a lot more time playing it. It's worth the 40 bucks and more if they added DLC like a extra map or more trains.

How this game is still in early access? Game is amazing. great graphics. can't wait to addons or expansions. maybye economy?

A really nice train simulator where you can try out operating a train and transporting and coupling train cars.

A very detailed simulator for those who want a more realistic experience. Devs have kept updates coming and keep making vast improvements. You can also tailor your experience to be more "arcadey" with flying cameras and UI controls for the more casual player. There are still some miscellaneous visual bugs and polygon errors in terrain, but overall a nice game to look at.

March 2025

• I bought almost everything in 110 hours, but the game is endless, you can invent customized locomotives, but it takes a while to save up money.
  
  
• The game requires interest in learning how to orient yourself, there are indexes, station maps that are not north-facing, confusing detours and yards (whether you are going to enter from the right or left, whether you are going to enter there and then leave in reverse, will there be other cars in the designated parking space?... things like that). It's good to watch videos on YT to learn, there is no other way and have friends to ask if possible, but the game is really cool as you learn.
  
  
• I liked the system of using the locomotives randomly scattered around the map and paying fees, if one of them breaks down during the trip, just teleport using the F button (without fast travel) and pay the fee and the locomotive will be new.
  
  
• The jobs pay very little even though you receive the bonus for delivery time and as you accept more than one job it becomes harder to plan. To accept more than one job, each type of locomotive, special loads, you need to buy a license for everything, so it takes a while to get it.
  
  
• The game is relatively small compared to classic train simulators, but it's a game without many rules, with very practical tools, and you can do crazy things. For example, use several different locomotives on the same load, control them one by one or, when possible, connect them via cable or wireless, installing parts that you buy in stores.
  
  
• There's also a museum, because on the map there are abandoned locomotives off the tracks (which become yours) that you need to rerail and transport to the museum, order parts, search for parts, install, refurbish and refuel. A single locomotive costs about 200k.
  
  
• But you'll have to research most of the step-by-step instructions. The game even explains them and is well translated, but I had to watch YT videos to be sure of what to do.
  
  
[*] There are some cool details, such as repairing, fueling the locomotive but forgetting to pay... You'll simply have to redo the service if you left in a hurry.

Steam Locomotives

1 Just for fun, avoid using it. There's a tutorial but accidents will still happen (it makes sounds, fire temp, water, steam, power, cocks, at first it's quite disappointing and it's quite normal), then you watch YT and get the tip from Cocks, boiler water, power in the reverser. I find the fueling boring, you can use another locomotive attached to make it easier or use the steam locomotive with the brakes practically all engaged to align the water and coal supply.

2 Steam locomotives to refurbish, I recommend getting the parts, installing, sandblasting, painting the outside inside, repairing parts and oil, then putting it to fill with water and paying, but filling the boiler takes time and you'll need to fill more water later so it will take a while until it runs out of water, then add coal. A detail about the locomotive with coal and water wagons that also need to be refurbished and are expensive, and when rerailing it you have to put it in a place where it can be properly attached and towed to the museum. Tip: always have named saves.

My Advices

1 I recommend buying it when you have time to learn (check out the game before buying), really dedicate yourself, this game demands it. Be aware that the game is not very big, but after you earn a lot of money, you will certainly want to ride the train one weekend or another, it is very nostalgic.

2 Try to obey everything so as not to have accidents, correct your mistakes. I recommend that you choose a route to save money, I used SM to GF and vice versa a lot in the beginning, then FF to HB and vice versa, HB to MB with military cargo. That was my strategy to save money. I sometimes went HB-MF...

I believe that the game has potential, it is well developed and they really love improving what we already have. There are signs of more things to come like passenger cargo, garage history, an improved house, I hope they can pull it off.

tried playing on Meta Quest 2. it gave me two options, playing it through steam Vr, or through Meta link, I chose the later when booting up the game from steam, and I couldn't move, or interact with anything. I could interact with the main menu, but after that, nothing worked, I couldn't get my character to move, it seemed as if the game wasn't sensing inputs, but the motion controls still worked, I could flail my hands around

Derail Valley is fun, and interesting both with the amount of different cargo. The landscape is well thought out, and can be difficult at times both with the loads and the locomotives depending on what you choose to use.

Would a kin this to American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator. I have not played in VR, so i can not speak to how well it does in VR.

Game feels approachable with the tutorials, and the information that is provided in game. solid 8 our of 10, and you can spend lots of time in this game.

Amazing game, amazing simulation. Really nice and relaxing.

This is a very different kind of game. The technical operation of the locomotives and the multi-tasking is really well done. Open world with full mobility. The planning is very interactive for each job and after awhile the game builds up to unlocking custom work trains. You can even get a caboose that can be a travel point and a bed to change time of day. Excellent physics simulation with the weight of the cargo, traction, speed, it is top notch. I honestly can't find anything like this. The atmosphere is cold, rainy, green. The yards filled with colorful trains. The sound design compliments everything. It is a bit overwhelming to learn at first. I had no idea how trains worked. I pushed through and found the coolest freight train game ever.

If you like trains, relaxing, hauling stuff around, or any of the above, this game is for you. This game makes you really think and plan what you're doing. The progression is well-paced and the gameplay loop is pretty solid. You're always chasing after the next big haul for big money. Graphically, it might be lacking in environment textures, but the vehicles are stunning as are the physics and sound design. Strangely addicting and very entertaining. Highly recommend.

This game tickles my tism like no other game. I love this game and hope to see more content added, would love to see a DLC or Mod that adds some horror into the mix because it gets creepy at night when you are hauling alone, it almost makes you wish the train doors had locks. anyway the game is amazing and im going to spend a lot of time playing it. its worth the 40 bucks and more if they added DLC like a extra map or more trains.

This is definitely one of my new comfort games. Although already feature rich, there's definitely some things I hope to see in the future, like more "life" in the world, some better world textures etc. But the game currently is really fun and very calming. It's enough of a simulator to be immersive without being tedious, like many other rail sim games. Plus the actual (limited) crash physics are nice, in every other sim it goes 'oh no you crashed' without anything else happening. Boring! In this game you can be thrown off the rails tumbling off cliffs, or slamming into other cars destroying your train and the cargo. Explosive cars straight up explode if you you run into them hard enough or if they get thrown far enough from a derailment.

Very fun. I play this game to take my mind of current events and actually relax. It's not fast paced game, it's not action packed, it's a chill-out style rail sim where you take missions to haul cargo using several kinds of trains that you can unlock as you make more money. More trains, cargo and other features will be added in the future, and I very much look forward to see what those updates contain.

Its evident that the devs put ALOT of thought into the gameplay mechanics, every minute detail is accounted for...e.g. if you close the door of the train cab, the engine sound becomes less noisy and abit muffled.

I don't know if its realistic since im not a train driver, but I do know playing this game gives you the same feeling when you watched Thomas & Friends were you were a kid.

Not only should the devs deserve the labour of love award, this should be on the list of one of the best games in this decade.

TLDR: Gameplay 100/10, sound design 100/10, atmosphere 10/10. Graphics 8/10. Thomas & Friends for adults.

Very nice train sim! would like to see more trains in the future, and hidden trains along with unique train cars.
Graphics are nice for early access, the train functions very well, and the mission are easy to understand.

some bugs still, and would like to see a easier way to change key controls.

If you ever wanted to be a Locomotive Engineer as a little kid, look no further. This game will allow you to experience all the joy and heartbreak of taming these wonderful mechanical tempests in a teapot.

For some, I imagine this could be a very boring game. For me it is the right amount of relaxation after a hard work day. I recommend playing on Realistic difficulty, it's pretty immersive to know that one f**kup will ruin everything.

The best train sim right now. There are others, i've played them, but this right there already provides freedom and fun like no other train sim. And future roadmap will make this the ultimate train sim game!

Found this game through Squirrel youtube channel (thank you youtube for the random recommendation) and it really caught my eye. Playing it currently in Non-VR mode but looking forward to try the VR version soon.

Having a lot of fun in the first 4 hours. Was able to do some jobs and gather some licenses. Still playing with the starter locomotive. It really is just the beginning.

The game is not hard to get into, the first locomotive is quite simple, and you get multiple options along the way, from simpler to more complex systems.

I play it in VR, and it's the best simulator out there. It's like Euro/American Truck Sim but with trains.

This game is extremely fun and relaxing, and also depending on the vehicle you're using the game can go from a very calm, "enjoy the view as the train goes" gameplay you get with a smaller diesel locomotive, to a very engaging, not a second to rest type of gameplay managing a bunch of dials, fluids and coal, balancing resource usage with steam generation in a steam locomotive.

Take this as a more engaging and much more complex Eurotruck Simulator, you pick up jobs, complete them, repeat, in the meantime you can customize the locomotives, find "barnfinds" and restore them in the museum. You plan journeys, plan routes, read maps, use track schematics, etc...

10/10 game

Edit: typos

Finally a game that gives a real railroading experience with just the right amount of complexity.

100% WORTH IT worth the price its so fun you WILL be hooked and the devs are working hard to add new stuff and i seriously can not wait for the foundation 4 update my jaw actually dropped when i was reading it

Great game, I am absolutely hooked. Learning the signal changing on the map once you get the dispatch licence is the most infuriating thing I have ever attempted, but once you pick it up the game is smooth. I can not wait to see what this game holds in store. Great Job!!

I havent gotten very far but from watching others this game is fastly becoming the best train game Ive ever played.

1 of the most fun relaxing and sometimes dangerous games ive played. Its the new old people model railroading(Im old BTW). I would love to see more map and more trains/cars. Great game.

Great game with great realism! I thought long about the decision to buy this and if the game is worth. Even in the early access stage, it is worth every single bit! It combines all my dreams: I wanted to have a game with realistic train simulation with a large, beautiful world, flexible and large order acceptance possibility and modding possibility for owned trains! All in one is possible in this game!

This is a great game. It's surprisingly difficult at first, but with experience, you'll learn not to be surprised.

I decided to play this game in VR and when my first train slammed into the back of a stationary car at 75 KM/H, I honestly thought I was going to die.
10/10 game, I now play it in flat screen and I am having a great time!

This is easily the best train game I have played. The dev team keep updating and adding new content. Playing this in VR is a fantastic experience. It runs so well with no issues and the sense of realism is off the chart. Well done guys and thank you for creating this little masterpiece.

its really realistic and their are tons of trains and locations

I absolutely love Derail Valley.

I love simulators. From obscure apps simulating natural selection in single and multicellular organisms and PowderToy type chemical interaction sim, through Flatout/Wreckfest/BeamNG and Snowrunner and Train sim games all the way to KSP or "study-level" flight sims like X-Plane and MSFS2020.
When it comes to more typical gaming genres, i value sandbox-type, preferably open world (think Morrowind, Ubisoft type), nonlinear, freeform gameplay.

I did notice Derail Valley when it appeared on Steam, but at release it seemed to have too small scope to me.
I initially thought that i would get bored by such a small map, that the gameplay would be too repetitive, so i decided to wait and see. I wasn't an early adopter, but i did enjoy watching YT gameplay videos.
Much, much later i bought Derail Valley during sale, and i loved it immediately.

I consider Derail Valley to be the best railsim on the market. Yes, the scope is smaller, yes you're not driving on existing tracks, yes the gameworls seems oddly empty, since you're the only living person there, but none of that matters, because the primary gameloop is a lot of fun.
All those Train Simulators, TrainSim Worlds etc., are basically just DLC selling platforms made by extremely greedy developers.
Compare to Derail Valley, that costs a few pennies, but has a dedicated developer who keeps adding more and more features constantly AND FOR FREE, some of which add so much content/improve the game in significant way, that it could be considered a reboot/sequel/whatever.
Think Hello Games type of commitment.

Gaming on PC and consoles would be exactly the same dumpster fire that is the android gaming market, if it wasn't for indie developers like AltFuture!
Derail Valley is amazing!

The key aspect of Derail Valley isn't variety, it's immersion. Derail Valley has solid physical simulation and hands-on approach to everything. Game loop consists of delivering freight cargo from station to station (passenger service is planned in one of the future releases afaik).
You have to do everything yourself, manually. The game doesn't simulate just the train operations, but also a little of the bureaucracy, which might seem insane, but in reality it adds to the immersion/overall fun.
You cannot just jump into the game and start driving whatever, wherever (unless you start in sandbox mode).
There is a solid progression system.
How does it work?
You get one type of basic, low-performance shunter in the beginning, you are taught how to pick up the "jobs", and how to finish them. You're also taught the basic of simple system allowing you to modify your engines in various ways.
Selecting a job isn't a manner of clicking on some menu, it's all handled within the game itself. Basically every station has a little office with a table full of binders containing job description.
You pick the job you want to do, put it inside the job validator machine, and it prints out binder with detailed info about the job (what is the time limit, what wagons you're supposed to pick up, where they're parked, what station you're supposed to deliver them to, and what wagons go to which sidings/platforms).
There are multiple types - shunting, cargo delivery (there multiple cargo types, each requiring a specific license), logistic deliveries.
Each job is rewarded with cash, which is then used to pay for cab repairs, upgrades and new licenses (the progression system, basically).
Apart from the obvious (pick up the correct wagons and deliver them to correct place without damage), you also need to pay attention to speed limits, handle the engine with care, so it doesn't get damaged.
If you drive like a maniac slipping on the rails, braking so much that there are sparks flying off of the wheels, you can damage the train so badly, that paying for the repairs costs more than what you get for succesfully completed job.
Although the graphics was on the simple side when the game released, (think solo/tiny dev team Unity game from 10 years ago type of graphics), it improved so much, that if you compare screenshots from then and now, you can barely believe it's the same game.
And the improvements are ongoing still, much more features are planned. And again, all the updates were free (i know, how sad, that something like free major updates became an exception).

Then there's more stuff to do, like restoring broken old locomotives, fixing and customizing the cabs you own, looking for hidden soundtrack tapes, and more stuff is planned for later updates.

Oh, and btw, the game can be played both on flatscreen and in VR.

Derail Valley shows us how amazing mainstream train sims COULD be, if the development was fuelled by passion for the subject instead of corporate greed.

10/10

My only gripe with DV (a minor one) - the papers that list jobs you can do, are always lying on a huge pile on the desktop, and even if you take the time to sort them out and lay them out in an organized manner, the game doesn't save their position, and upon reloading, they're back on the pile.
There's a mod that fixes that, i just hope that the dev will eventually implement that fix into vanilla game.
I think it's caused by the fact, that new jobs appear on the desk, and the amount of available jobs can exceed the available place on the table. The game does save locations of player-placed items, everywhere except the job-desks.
So, if you're OCD, it's gonna add tens of minutes to each gameplay session, because everytime you finish a job (or at least everytime when a new job is generated), the job papers are gonna get scrambled back on the pile, and you're gonna have to reorganize them again and again.

As a former railroad engineer myself, this game is pretty darn accurate. The air brakes don't behave the same way as in real life, but it's damn close. In the sandbox mode, I ran around the map linking as many DE2s as I could find and had a blast. Now in the US, to MU a set of engines usually requires 3 aux air lines, the main train brake pipe, and the MU cable. So not everything is 100% accurate, but damn it's close.

Fun way to waste a lot of time.

If you don't have this in your life, your missing out on the GREATEST TRAIN SIMULATOR GAME out there!!! Yeah it's in E.A but that's what also makes it so great. The dev support, mod support is really good. The community support for this is insanely good.
Honestly i highly recommend this product for anyone who has even a basic interest in trains.

Great game love just to just jump in a train and do some shunting or deliver cargo.
maintain the train to keep them in good condition.
steam is a lot of fun to, yes it is more challenge, but the reward you get after a heavy load is good. most of all the feeling you get when you are done is just fantastic.

great at simulating steam, can be fun and frustrating at times

Great trains simulator. I have played TrainSim5 (VR is not out yet) and it doesn't give the same realism this game does. The overall feel and immersion is great. There's so much the developers can add and it still seems like a great game. I steam to a meta quest 3 using VD and it's awesome.

The game is a must get for any train lover, although I do fell lonely in the world sometimes, it does make you feel like you're a train driver. It's good in flat screen but if you you have a VR headset, you won't regret it, well, I didn't :)

So far, worth the 40 bucks.
Haven't done much of the career mode yet (gonna do that later) but I can confirm that it is a little easier to play in VR. (after messing around in sandbox) It has really nice details when it comes to the locomotives and I am overall excited to fully play the career mode and be able to operate more Trains.
I will note that if you do wanna play this in VR, you might have to adjust some graphic settings.

Nice game. I like it. It runs great. Too less explanations regarding what to make it more comprehensible, but the internet is big.

Driving the steam locomotives make me feel like a little kid again, when I used to play Trainz Railroad Simulator 2007 on my Walmart Dell. Plenty of games have given me nostalgia, but I don't remember the last time a game made me emotional in that way. The devs nailed this one. Truly a masterpiece.

This train simulator is pretty amazing, I was choosing a train sim after I tried Siberian Train Simulator and was a little sceptical because sims are expensive and not always quite like a sim (overly complex). I chose Derail Valley and it is great, although I would like to see a busy train system with having to deal with other trains and avoiding/waiting for them.

I am no train buff but they do have a lot of buttons that all do stuff to keep the train running or blowing up (haven't had catastrophic failure yet). Out of all the train sims I was looking at this was the only one with a progress type system with licensing of different trains to conditions like fragile cargo/maximum cart length etc.

So the game play loop is

1- Choose contract(s)
2- Select appropriate train for the job (you unlock more as you get the licenses)
3- Pick up load(s) as the contract says (looking through a contract book is manual, flipping pages etc)
4- Deliver or unload the goods at a destination
5- Collect money and hopefully you delivered it under time for a hefty bonus of 50% of the contract price
6- Refuel/re-coal/re-water (starts expensive at first for doing it automatically, then getting a manual service license allows you to refuel manually at the appropriate station (coal tower for coal, water tower for water, gas pump for diesel etc) for half of the auto-refuel price.

You can also customise the trains you acquire with lights (different color led bars) and you can connect them to a few switches that do different things like in RUST. There are also different gauges and paint and tools to personalise your train further(I'm still experimenting and have only seen about 1/3 of the locations so I have more exploration to do before I know what's in all the shops for customisation)

I look forward to what the dev's will come up with because they are making a great sim!

With that said there are a couple things that could be better, right now in EA is does crash quite frequently and the graphics could be better. I'm confident that the dev's will deal with it before full release.

I love it and I would pay full price for it again.

9/10

EDIT game hard crashes and save files will not read. If you are comfortable with random save file perma-death then by all means enjoy random frustration from progress loss. Steam cloud sync sucks for Derail Valley, for some reason DRV can't read resync'd game files after reinstalling. The files are there but for some reason I can't load a save or continue a session.

my old pc couldn't run it but i recently got a new gaming laptop and it lags but its better than not playing at all i kinda hope it comes to switch 2 the controls are slightly confusing especially the handcar in the tutorial i had to push the handcar (well just stay off it and click on the bar though it kept trying to go back to the turntable) but besides those quirks i'd recommend this game

i love how evrything works like from the horn to the speedo and there is wheelslip too and i love the derailing physics like the dirt and water intreacting with the train and the train cars and i also love how difrent trains have unique cab designs and features and i love this game so much and i play this game almost evry day and i hope that this game will be a success and i hope evrone will enjoy this awsome game -derail vally-

A very well done simulator with no handholding or guardrails. I don't think there is another game that simulates both driving trains and working at the train yard as well as this game does. It's a pretty casual game to play that still requires 100% of your mental capacity to not screw things up. I love it.