We knew that Sid Meier was the lord of all Civilization, but who knew he was king of the rails, too? His team has just proved it by giving us an early look at Sid Meier's Railroads!, an easy-going rail-builder/strategy title that promises to charm you back to the Age of Steam.
The central mechanic of Railroads! is dragging and dropping track across the always-in-motion countryside, which is packed with sights and sounds worthy of a real-life basement rail tycoon. Simple mousing will push miles of rails over mountains, across river gorges and through America's amber waves of grain. Strategic placement is important, however: going across a deep valley will require a high-flying train bridge, only justified if the alternative route is more expensive or time consuming. Laying track looked extremely simple - switches, tunnels, bridges and roundhouses are automatically laid out as you expand your line.
