Pocket Trains

By HopefulNebula | September 26, 2013

Currently 4.1/5
1
2
3
4
5

Rating: 4.1/5 (51 votes)

Platform: iOS, Android

Categories: android, free, game, ios, ipad, iphone, microtransactions, mobile, nimblebit, pixelart, rating-g, simulation, tablet

Comments (49) | Views (34,811)

HopefulNebula First we managed a skyscraper in Tiny Tower. Then we tried our hand at air traffic control in Pocket Planes. Now NimbleBit is turning us into train magnates with their newest simulation game, Pocket Trains!

Gameplay is easy to pick up, especially for fans of Pocket Planes. You start with a few engines, cars, and cities, and build your empire bit by bit as you earn coins and make deliveries. There are extra challenges and special cargo that help you advance as well. In Pocket Trains each bit of track is "owned" by a single railroad, and it costs coins to claim tracks or change who owns it. This means you'll be dropping cars off a lot so you can get that hayride car from Minsk to Rome, and it means you get to create a brightly colored map of train routes just as gorgeous as the ones in every subway station. You also have to refuel your trains, which happens automatically as they idle in the stations.

As usual with NimbleBit's games, Pocket Planes' strength is in how well it scales. Prices increase at roughly the same rate as your income and you only see train parts that are appropriate for your level, meaning that it's nearly impossible to encounter a bottleneck where you need that new, shiny engine but it would take two weeks to earn the coins for it. You can speed things up in a variety of ways by buying Bux, but there are so many ways to earn Bux that there's no reason to spend real-life money for them if you don't want to. "Balance" would be the name of the game, if the game weren't already called Pocket Trains. There are a few features (Bitbook, social elements like Pocket Planes' flight crews) that don't exist in Pocket Trains (yet) but the game is so polished and shiny and funny that it's hard to even miss them.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch, just as soon as I'm done deciding what cargo goes in it.

Pocket Trains

(iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)

Pocket Trains

(Android, Android Tablet)

NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on the LG Optimus L9. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.

Pocket Trains Walkthrough now available!

Walkthrough Guide

(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)

Pocket Trains strategy guide
Note: this guide is a work in progress; please feel free to add your own tips and tricks in the comments!

General Information

The Train Station Screen

The Jobs Screen

Tapping the "Jobs" button from any train station takes you to the Jobs screen. Shocking and unexpected, I know.
The Jobs screen has a small version of your map, a listing of jobs you can pick up, and some information on the train you're using and the station you're in.

Jobs Page Screenshot (Yes, I'm naming my trains after Crayola colors. Hush.)

Tap any of the jobs on the right to attach them to your engine. If you can't attach it for whatever reason, it'll flash red for a moment and nothing else will happen. If the job attaches successfully, its background will turn green.
Tap any job you've loaded to unload it. If there isn't room in the station's stockyard, you'll be prompted to upgrade the station for Bux.
Color coding is important in the job listing pane.

Names of cities you can deliver directly to (without claiming a section of track) are the same color as the line you're loading cars onto. All other cities are white.
The names of jobs that qualify for events are light blue.
The names of jobs that give Bux are green.
The names of jobs that give crates are yellow.

The number of coins or Bux displayed under each job—next to the total amount you'll earn for delivering that job—indicates how good a deal it is. If you have a choice, go for the jobs with higher numbers of coins/Bux. It's ultimately a better indication of value than the raw income you'll earn, because each job has a different size.
Each train is its own line; trains cannot share pieces of track. The first time you have a train go over a section of track, you will be prompted to pay coins to "claim" that track for that train's line. You can change this later by taking another train over the same section of track, but you'll have to pay again, so it pays to plan carefully!

Tracks that are in use (or that will soon be in use as another train moves) are shown in bold on the map; you can't claim them.
Cities that are the center of an event are marked with a yellow dot with an exclamation point instead of the standard red dot.
Cities receiving cargo from your train have yellow names on the map.
The more you upgrade a train station, the bigger its dot is on the map.
Making all your train lines the same color doesn't let you deliver everywhere. (I tried it; don't bother.)

Once your train is all loaded up and you've set your route, tap the "Depart" button to go!

The Care and Feeding of Trains

The Menu Button (and the things it contains)

Basic Strategy/Hints

There's one piece of strategy that's important enough to make it into the in-game tutorial: Always try to have at least four stops on a train line. It drastically increases your chances of getting rare items.

Conversely, don't make your lines overly long. It's much more economical to just start a new line than it is to have a single huge one going from San Francisco to Saint Petersburg to Sydney.

In Pocket Trains, you don't have to pay for fuel, and you don't get a bonus for sending a full train to one city, so keeping your train full isn't as paramount here as keeping your plane full is in Pocket Planes. Nevertheless, it's still a very good idea. So if you're in London, and you have cargo bound for Paris and Munich, you're generally better off just taking everything to Paris and seeing what other jobs are there.
It costs coins to open a new section of track, and it costs coins to claim it, so keep that in mind when expanding. It's better to expand piece by piece than it is to buy OMG ALL THE TRACK at once.
Most of your stations should be served by more than one line. This isn't going to be possible for all the stations, of course, but it greatly speeds things up if there's more than one way to get to a city. Especially if that city is a central one.
I said it earlier in this post, and it merits repeating: Pay more attention to the number of coin or Bux symbols next to a job than to what you'll actually be paid. It's always more worthwhile to take a 1-car job for 200 coins than it is to take a 5-car job for the same amount.

That said, if you have 7 out of 8 cars attached to your train, and there's a low-rating job that's just one car going to somewhere near where you're already heading, then by all means add it! That's 20 coins you wouldn't be earning otherwise.

If at all possible, take jobs that pay in Bux, even if you have to drop the cars in a stockyard. Ditto for crates.
When you upgrade stations, focus on the ones that are served by more than one line. You'll be using the stockyards there a lot, and it's a much better investment to upgrade those stations than it is to upgrade, say, Dublin (which only has one way in or out).
If you have the fuel to spare and you'll be away from the game for a while, it can be worthwhile to make an extra stop after offloading all your cargo, and come to a stop somewhere central, so you have more chances at better jobs when you return. (If you know you'll be back at the game in half an hour, it's a waste of fuel. If you're playing just before you go to bed, then it's definitely worth it.)

That's pretty much it for now; there's certain to be more advanced strategy as people advance futher. Again, feel free to chime in with any helpful tips you might have. Also feel free to comment with your gift code (found in the "options" section of the menu) to organize trades and such.

Thanks to HopefulNebula for the strategy guide!

Posted by: Mike | September 28, 2013 10:49 PM

49 Comments

ChaoSpectre

• September 26, 2013 8:08 AM

I've been excited about this title since you guys tipped us to NimbleBit's announcement of it.

But if I pick it up, I'm going to want to also start tending to my neglected Pocket Planes airline again.

And I already have to deal with my lambdamu Pixel People, and who knows when I'm going to finish up sailing around Kairosoft's Beastie Bay (not to mention the incredible backlog of other Kairosoft titles).

There isn't enough time in the day to deal with all these casual simulations. :(

Mike

• September 28, 2013 10:49 PM

Pocket Trains strategy guide
Note: this guide is a work in progress; please feel free to add your own tips and tricks in the comments!

General Information

The Train Station Screen

The Jobs Screen

Tapping the "Jobs" button from any train station takes you to the Jobs screen. Shocking and unexpected, I know.
The Jobs screen has a small version of your map, a listing of jobs you can pick up, and some information on the train you're using and the station you're in.

Jobs Page Screenshot (Yes, I'm naming my trains after Crayola colors. Hush.)

Tap any of the jobs on the right to attach them to your engine. If you can't attach it for whatever reason, it'll flash red for a moment and nothing else will happen. If the job attaches successfully, its background will turn green.
Tap any job you've loaded to unload it. If there isn't room in the station's stockyard, you'll be prompted to upgrade the station for Bux.
Color coding is important in the job listing pane.

Names of cities you can deliver directly to (without claiming a section of track) are the same color as the line you're loading cars onto. All other cities are white.
The names of jobs that qualify for events are light blue.
The names of jobs that give Bux are green.
The names of jobs that give crates are yellow.

The number of coins or Bux displayed under each job—next to the total amount you'll earn for delivering that job—indicates how good a deal it is. If you have a choice, go for the jobs with higher numbers of coins/Bux. It's ultimately a better indication of value than the raw income you'll earn, because each job has a different size.
Each train is its own line; trains cannot share pieces of track. The first time you have a train go over a section of track, you will be prompted to pay coins to "claim" that track for that train's line. You can change this later by taking another train over the same section of track, but you'll have to pay again, so it pays to plan carefully!

Tracks that are in use (or that will soon be in use as another train moves) are shown in bold on the map; you can't claim them.
Cities that are the center of an event are marked with a yellow dot with an exclamation point instead of the standard red dot.
Cities receiving cargo from your train have yellow names on the map.
The more you upgrade a train station, the bigger its dot is on the map.
Making all your train lines the same color doesn't let you deliver everywhere. (I tried it; don't bother.)

Once your train is all loaded up and you've set your route, tap the "Depart" button to go!

The Care and Feeding of Trains

The Menu Button (and the things it contains)

Basic Strategy/Hints

There's one piece of strategy that's important enough to make it into the in-game tutorial: Always try to have at least four stops on a train line. It drastically increases your chances of getting rare items.

Conversely, don't make your lines overly long. It's much more economical to just start a new line than it is to have a single huge one going from San Francisco to Saint Petersburg to Sydney.

In Pocket Trains, you don't have to pay for fuel, and you don't get a bonus for sending a full train to one city, so keeping your train full isn't as paramount here as keeping your plane full is in Pocket Planes. Nevertheless, it's still a very good idea. So if you're in London, and you have cargo bound for Paris and Munich, you're generally better off just taking everything to Paris and seeing what other jobs are there.
It costs coins to open a new section of track, and it costs coins to claim it, so keep that in mind when expanding. It's better to expand piece by piece than it is to buy OMG ALL THE TRACK at once.
Most of your stations should be served by more than one line. This isn't going to be possible for all the stations, of course, but it greatly speeds things up if there's more than one way to get to a city. Especially if that city is a central one.
I said it earlier in this post, and it merits repeating: Pay more attention to the number of coin or Bux symbols next to a job than to what you'll actually be paid. It's always more worthwhile to take a 1-car job for 200 coins than it is to take a 5-car job for the same amount.

That said, if you have 7 out of 8 cars attached to your train, and there's a low-rating job that's just one car going to somewhere near where you're already heading, then by all means add it! That's 20 coins you wouldn't be earning otherwise.

If at all possible, take jobs that pay in Bux, even if you have to drop the cars in a stockyard. Ditto for crates.
When you upgrade stations, focus on the ones that are served by more than one line. You'll be using the stockyards there a lot, and it's a much better investment to upgrade those stations than it is to upgrade, say, Dublin (which only has one way in or out).
If you have the fuel to spare and you'll be away from the game for a while, it can be worthwhile to make an extra stop after offloading all your cargo, and come to a stop somewhere central, so you have more chances at better jobs when you return. (If you know you'll be back at the game in half an hour, it's a waste of fuel. If you're playing just before you go to bed, then it's definitely worth it.)

Thanks to HopefulNebula for the strategy guide!

mrmaxmrmax

• October 6, 2013 10:41 PM

I am enjoying this game except for train breakdowns. I was worried I'd run out of parts fixing all the trains and I didn't want to spend coins to fix anything, so I found an awesome solution: I just keep it broken. So what if a route takes 15 minutes instead of 7?

When my lines start intersecting continents, maybe I'll feel differently, but I'm casual enough in this game that the longer wait frees me from sitting and watching the trains.

kurtis.jong12

• October 7, 2013 12:38 AM

hey looking for metro, national express parts. or any train parts that you dont need, my GC is Zultanite12

andrew.larned

• October 7, 2013 8:38 AM

One tiny comment about the walkthrough. It states that "The more you upgrade a train station, the bigger its dot is on the map." I don't think that's actually true. The dots on the map that are bigger are the ones where there are jobs waiting to be picked up.

On the article screenshot, Paris has a bigger dot. That could happen when a job was picked up in Amsterdam, but needs to go to Glasgow. It was taken along the light blue line to Paris, and is waiting for the magenta line to pick it up.

I've found that the stations I upgrade tend to be the ones that have waiting jobs, but once those waiting jobs get moved out, the dot shrinks back down.

It's a useful indicator when you're looking at the main map because you can find out where you might've forgotten about a stranded job.

kurtis.jong12

• October 7, 2013 11:22 PM

hey need some train parts my gift code is L9NY

kurtis.jong12

• October 8, 2013 10:02 PM

Hey have some stuff to trade. looking for regional,metro, and global express parts. i have up for grabs an rio grande part or 2dragonbreath parts. mesage me or whatevs my Gift code is L6NY. and any parts u dont want throw them this way :) thanks

HopefulNebula

• October 10, 2013 12:08 AM

Andrew, you're absolutely right! The only large stations on my map were the ones I had upgraded, and I made the wrong assumption. I'll edit that in the next version of the strategy guide. :) Thanks for letting me know.

helencao1

• October 11, 2013 12:01 AM

ZFM4 GIFT CODE, would appreciate extra gifts you may have. Thanks

anghelic.tarot27

• October 18, 2013 6:11 AM

my gift code is 2TRNS any gift would do as i just started today

mcorpus118

• October 18, 2013 5:09 PM

K3WX is my code if you would like to donate ANY parts!!!! Thanks!!!!

https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawnVnvx5gVd8EY9_WOFmUxQnHmaiIWUOZjU

• October 20, 2013 10:39 AM

does anyone have parts for the the bluebell steamer--also how to upgrade to a bigger engine

Filipe Bueno de Lima

• October 24, 2013 3:23 PM

I can exchange gift please add at facebook and my code is 14TLQ

Volen

• October 27, 2013 5:27 PM

I have express parts of all types up for trade. Also will trade Zephyr or Standard parts for Mallard, Daylight or Century Limited.

Wayne Hazle

• October 29, 2013 7:41 PM

Need Zephyr parts, either PETA or Tera
Also need 3 dragon breath

Ask me for what you need

Volen

• October 30, 2013 8:44 PM

Wayne,

I have both Peta and Tera Zephyr parts. Also have Dragon. Breath parts.

Could use Mallard, Daylight or Century Limited parts.

Wayne Hazle

• October 31, 2013 1:11 PM

Golden, how about 3 dragon breath for my 3 mallard?

Also

2 Tera for 2 of my century limited. My code is 3HBP

Let me know if that is good and your code

Wayne Hazle

• October 31, 2013 6:36 PM

Not Golden... Volden

Can we do the trade above?

Volen

• October 31, 2013 9:54 PM

Wayne,

Both trades sound good to me. We have traded before gift code is Q7VF.

Volen

• November 1, 2013 2:33 AM

Wayne,

Parts sent.

Wayne Hazle

• November 1, 2013 2:54 AM

Volen, I will be rising in the morning and doing my gifting. Thanks

Wayne Hazle

• November 1, 2013 1:21 PM

Volden, I had to give up one of my Mallards yesterday morning. Just sent you my last two. Also sent you my last two century limiteds.

Would you like a daylight to make up for it?

Volen

• November 1, 2013 1:24 PM

A Daylight sounds fine to me.

Wayne Hazle

• November 1, 2013 2:11 PM

Daylight sent. Please let me know when you have everything

Volen

• November 1, 2013 3:26 PM

Filipino,

What do you have to trade?

mcorpus118

• November 1, 2013 4:18 PM

Have a dragon breath part, a couple carbon steamers, emerald and global parts, if you would like to �exchange� the code is K3WX Thanks!!!!!!

mcorpus118

• November 1, 2013 5:18 PM

ALSO, WILL TRADE SEVERAL Terabyte Zephyr parts and the Standard series parts for Century Limited and Daylight Parts (preferibly Century, but obviously still appreciated for either!!!!! ????)

Volen

• November 1, 2013 6:11 PM

Mcorpis,

What are wanting for the Carbons?

mcorpus118

• November 4, 2013 6:04 PM

Oh my bad...... Either a daylight or century limited part......

robptc

• November 5, 2013 10:28 AM

I have these parts for immediate trade.
1 bluebell steamer
1 carbon steamer
2 vanilla steamer
3 emerald steamer

I am looking for any of these parts. and will swap some of these parts if you can help me make a complete train.
9 mallard
1 national express
1 metro express
12 century limited
10 daylight
5 global express
7 rio grande standard
6 regional express

Gift code is 1M2GP

Im online 1 or 2 times a day. And any donation are always accepted.

Wayne Hazle

• November 5, 2013 2:24 PM

Has anyone actually bought one of the $40,000 crates? Is whatever inside worth that?

Volen

• November 5, 2013 8:10 PM

Mcorpus,

Your Carbons are too expensive for me.

Volen

• November 5, 2013 8:12 PM

Robotic,

Would you take a regional express for your carbon?

Kelly Dorsey

• November 5, 2013 11:03 PM

I have spent money on the special purple crates located at random stations before. The price goes up for them as you levels up. The first I bought was about 32K. Now they are about 42K. I am at level 22 or 23. The purple crate is just the same as the ones you get for completing missions or gaining levels. It is totally random. I don't spend money on them anymore because they are too expensive.

mcorpus118

• November 9, 2013 9:19 AM

Okay so parts ready for immediate trade:
4 Mallard
4 Carbon Steamer
2 Daylghts
7 for BOTH Pecos and Rio Grande Standard
1 Vanilla Steamer
2 Cherry Steamer
1 Emerald

Parts WANTED:
Century Limited
Daylight

!!!!!! ALSO WILL TRADE SEVERAL PARTS FOR THE WANTED PARTS !!!!!!!!

Volen

• November 19, 2013 7:48 PM

Mcorpus118,

Do you still have the Pecos for trade? What do you need for them? Maybe we can deal. Gift code Q7VF

mcorpus118

• November 20, 2013 6:09 PM

So actually I have nine Pecos parts, 4 for 2, I give you for 4 Pecos, you give me 2 Century Limited?

Volen

• November 20, 2013 9:04 PM

Mcorpus118,

Sorry I need my Centuries more than I need the Pecos

Wayne Hazle

• November 24, 2013 8:59 PM

Looking for:
* Petabyte Zephyr 2
Terabyte Zephyr 7
* Daylight 4
Rio Grande 4
* Gila 4
San Juan 1
Zetta Byte 2

Gift 3HBP wayne hazle at aol . com
---------------
My current inventory :

Vanilla Steamer 17 of 3
Metro Express 6 of 6
Emerald 15of 3
Cherry 13 of 3
Bluebell 11of 3
Carbon 7 of 4
National 6 of 6

Regional Express 2 of 7
Metro Express 9 of 6
Global Express 7 of 6
Daylight 8 of 12
Dragon Breath 13 of 5
Rio Grande Standard 7 of 10
Gila Standard 6 of 10
Pecos Standard 2 of 11
Terrabyte Zephyr 2 of 9
San Juan Standard 9 of 10
Dekotora 1 of 13
Petabyte Zephyr 7 of 9
Exabyte Zephyr 1 of 9
Virginia Frieghter 5 of 10
Century Limited 3 of 13
Maryland Freighter 1 of 10
Zettabyte zephyr 8 of 10
new jersey 4 of 11
deleware 2 of 10
Bullet 2 of 14

mcorpus118

• November 25, 2013 7:05 PM

Hey Wayne I need 1 Terabyte Zephyr, willing to give several others........
NEED: 5 Global Express, 3 Century, (AGAIN, will trade for several parts.......)

Volen

• November 25, 2013 7:12 PM

Wayne,

I have the Gila, Rio, San Juan and several of the Zyphers you are looking to find. Gift code Q7VF.

Tony Cain

• December 11, 2013 12:05 PM

I have fuel cars but I never see them available in my train stations. How do I add them to my trains? Thanks in advance! I am only level 15.
Tony

Wayne Hazle

• December 21, 2013 1:20 PM

Looking for Bullet, Regional Express, Exabyte and Century parts.

What do you all need out there?

Also from a strategy angle does it make sense for me to take all my old steamer parts that I will use and craft them and sell them for the cash?

Joseph McGowan

• December 27, 2013 12:02 PM

Tony,

To add a fuel car to a train, that train must be in a station. On the station screen, press the button marked "train". There will be another button that says "Fuel Car 0/1" (Or similar). Press that, and you'll be prompted to add a corresponding fuel car from your yard. Note that the fuel car has to be the same type as the engine.

Wayne Hazle

• December 29, 2013 1:54 PM

I need
Bullet 3
Maryland 2

can anyone help? What do you need?

jamesgks

• January 8, 2014 1:44 AM

Hope someone can give me 1 GILA STANDARD part, my gift code is 4BX1P, Many thanks in advance!

Wayne Hazle

• January 25, 2014 12:31 PM

Today is the day I need to get my 3 Century parts!

What do you all need out there?

Wayne Hazle

• April 12, 2014 7:58 PM

Completing my final round of building, I have Mallards, Daylights, Deketoras, Exabyte, Gila, Zettabyte, as well as the expresses, steamers and dragonbreath

Need:
Delaware 9
NJ 1
Maryland 3
Virginia 1
Pecos 8
San Juan 7
Rio 6
Petabyte 2
Terabyte 2
Bullet 4

Timsinsal

• April 16, 2014 12:00 PM

Hello, I'm just approaching level 21 and I'm becoming increasingly frustrated at the number of basic steamer parts I'm getting from "Special purple crates". I was under the impression the special crates gave only special train parts. Is this a glitch or the way it's meant to be? Thanks in advance

Update

^ Scroll Up | Homepage >

Free online and mobile games

Review

Pocket Trains

Platform: iOS, Android

Categories: android, free, game, ios, ipad, iphone, microtransactions, mobile, nimblebit, pixelart, rating-g, simulation, tablet

Pocket Trains Walkthrough now available!

Walkthrough Guide

49 Comments

HELP Jayisgames.com

Recent Comments

Game of the week

Your Favorite Games edit

Legal notice

Free online and mobile games

Review

Pocket Trains

Platform: iOS, Android

Categories: android, free, game, ios, ipad, iphone, microtransactions, mobile, nimblebit, pixelart, rating-g, simulation, tablet

Pocket Trains Walkthrough now available!

Walkthrough Guide

49 Comments

also on Jayisgames

How to Become a Legend in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Play Watermelon Suika Game

How to Win Big in 2024 | Ultimate Bitcoin Esports Guide

BC Game Crash Game Review: An Adrenaline-Fueled Game Experience

HELP Jayisgames.com

Recent Comments

Game of the week

Your Favorite Games edit

Monthly Archives

Legal notice