London-based Numskull Games has released Train Valley Collection, a cartoonish railway management simulator for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

The new collection combines two previous games – Train Valley and Train Valley 2 – into a single package, along with downloadable content and over a hundred and fifty community-made levels.

The collection, which has been developed by Flazm Interactive and Blitworks, provides players with the opportunity to build and run their own railway network across a selection of different era of locomotive history.

Recent months have been kind to rail simulator enthusiasts; the iconic Flying Scotsman recently came to Train Simulator.

Unlike a traditional railway simulator, though, Train Valley Collection provides a top-down viewpoint, as the player is tasked with building and maintaining a railway on a macro level to best make use of resources and prevent collisions.

As such, the game features a bright, cartoon-inspired art style rather than striving for realism. Even so, there are over thirty locomotives and sixty train cars to try out, spread out on maps across the world.

For those looking for a history lesson, Train Valley draws from real world events for many of its missions – albeit in a very stylised fashion. The game takes place in the lengthy historical period of railway expansion between 1830 and 2020, across Europe, Japan, the USA and the USSR, and includes key historical moments such as the California gold rush of 1849 and the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin in 1961.

Train Valley 2 features more puzzle-based gameplay, as players are tasked with solving logistical challenges around transporting equipment and resources. This involves building, expanding, and maintaining a rail network while avoiding accidents and ensuring that the flow of traffic and maintenance of equipment is not overlooked.

In addition to these two games, the collection also features several of the downloadable add-ons for Train Valley 2. Passenger Flow features a series of levels built around negotiating traffic to provide passengers with a pleasant journey.  Myths and Rails focuses on tall tales from fiction, along with imaginary fantasy creatures and settings.

It’s possible to explore the game in four distinct game modes: story mode, random mode, company mode, and sandbox mode. Each bring their own unique challenges and slightly different gameplay.

While the game is available as a digital download, the physical Deluxe Edition also comes with a four-piece train display set which includes a die cast model engine and a papercraft diorama backdrop.

Train Valley Collection – Deluxe Edition is available now in Europe and will release in North America in early December 2023.