Something Random, a new studio founded by the creators of Superhot VR (2017), announced a pint-sized train simulator game simply called Toy Trains.
The miniature track-building game is all about connecting up disparate pockets of tiny people on the map with a variety of pieces, providing both basic and specialized bits so you can chug your way around or over obstacles.
Here’s how project lead Marcin Jóźwik describes it:
“At its core, it’s a game about making connections. On the gameplay side, we pair little houses with construction sites in order to build meeting places for inhabitants of that world – Railies. On the story side, it’s about the need to uphold connections with other people, even when it proves hard. The theme radiates even outside the game itself. Our goal was to make something that can connect various generations. A title that can be enjoyed by kids, their grandparents, and everyone in between.”
While it’s set to be Something Random’s first game as a studio, the team’s founding members all previously worked at SUPERHOT.
“The design principles in both games are basically the same,” explains Cezary, the team writer/designer. “We’re always laser-focused on delivering gameplay that is easy to understand, fluent, devoid of any unnecessary fluff. If the player is not having fun within the first 15 seconds of the game – we failed at our job.” The other thing that connects those games is that both of them make time stop – but in a very different sense.
Toy Trains is set to launch on Quest 2/3/Pro via App Lab, PSVR 2, and SteamVR headsets on January 16th, 2024. You can download a free demo now on Steam for PC VR headsets.
Update (9:00 AM ET): A previous version of this article didn’t include info on the planned Quest release.