Łukasz Wałaszek

1. What were your first impressions when you started testing Train Rush in its early stages?

I was part of the project from the very beginning. The game had a ton of iterations and mechanism testing that is no longer there, all of them were quite enjoyable; however in the early testing the game would have taken way too long, we’re talking 6-10 hours, thus a lot of mechanism were removed, changed, tweaked to the final version it is now. When testing went into the final version of the game the feeling was that the game was complete, all mechanisms intertwined and influential, a lot of replayability and strategies to go through, the game felt complete and something I would put on a table to play with my friends outside of MTE Games.

2. Could you share a moment that was the most exciting or satisfying during the testing of the game.

For me the most exciting was reaching the point where the game felt complete, a lot of testing and tweaking went into the game to balance it out so reaching the point where it felt like a game that I would still personally buy and play even though I played the game so many times throughout the testing was both satisfying and exciting.

3. Which elements of Train Rush were standing out during the testing process? Are there any mechanics that you found the most interesting?

I feel that the overall combination of mechanics works very well, and the most exciting part of the game is the movement phase, it just feels really good to be able to complete the plan that I set up goes in motion, and there is a feeling of “Rush” in the Train Rush that I may want to do some things before other players to execute the plan.

4. Game testing can be quite challenging. Can you give an example of a situation that you found difficult, or found an unexpected challenge during testing of Train Rush?

The testing process was a quite challenging task, testing the game multiple times over and over is very tiring, but all in all it brings a lot of satisfaction when after that entire process I still want to play the game.

5. During testing were there any moments that had an influence on development and shape of the game? Were your opinions and notes influencing the evolution of Train Rush?

Overall the game evolved quite a lot, Sebastian created the core and during the testing there were a lot of things that changed, after each playthrough we gave our feedback on what were the things that felt good, bad, and gave ideas to tweak those, small example would be how the transfer stations worked, they gave a lot of different things in the early-mid version but were not intertwined with anything else, and felt quite like they didn’t belong in the game, and were extremely imbalanced. Now they have their place in the game that is significant, but not overpowered, and they do feel that they belong to the game.

6. Can you share your favourite strategies or tactics that you discovered during testing Train Rush?

My favourite strategy is to build up my train to carry the most resources and move throughout the cities as fast as possible to fulfil contracts, it is a mid-late rounds strategy with a very slow start but gives a ton of opportunities to get the points for contracts in the “late game”, it is not an easy one, but can be quite rewarding in the end, of course every strategy requires mixing in other things so there always has to be some fight in the other areas as any strategy cannot singlehandedly win the game.

7. Testing the game in different phases can be exciting but also demanding. What were your ways to handle the tiredness or challenges during night tests?

Oh boy, I would divide the testing of Train Rush into 3 stages:

1st stage feels quite exciting, there is a game to be tested, play through, get the feeling of and that’s the exciting part that someone just created something new and playing a few games feels quite good.

2nd stage was quite wearying as the game has been played so many times, and the feeling was not yet that I would want the game to print out, each game had only minor adjustments to balance things out, and trying to break the game with the same strategies over and over again, then swapping to the next one, and doing the same was a rough path. I don’t think there is an easy way to go through that stage, but spacing out the playthroughs, and getting some time off helps a lot.

3rd stage was again getting more exciting, as the game felt almost complete, and strategies balanced out, there were still some changes to be made but the game started to feel “complete” and something I would almost buy myself, and at this point it gave a lot of satisfaction to see how the Train Rush evolved.

8. What aspects of Train Rush make you want to go back to the game and test it in different ways?

Putting it simply Train Rush gives just a ton of possible strategies, and not a single path to victory, it is indeed a super heavy thinking game, the rules despite sounding terrifyingly long and complex, are actually quite simple, when I tested it with my friends at later stages of the game the explanation took me roughly 15-30 minutes for them to be able to play it to full extent, of course the first game was still usually to get the feeling of how it plays which everyone needs roughly 3 rounds to get the full scope, and for the second game they already had their own plan on what they want to do. So there is a lot of things to try, and play, and each playthrough gives the sense that the ideas of what you want and can do evolve from a simple plan “I want to do this” to more complex strategies involving checking what others can do, and how to block them, so it gives a ton of possibilities.

9. For people who will just now learn about Train Rush, is there any particular element or mechanic that you would point them as something to try out or understand?

Although the game doesn’t by itself use any innovative mechanics, it does use mostly well know ones it uses them in a way and manner that feels unique, it gives a sense of a game that you know well but in a very different setting and intertwined in a unique manner, I know all the mechanisms from other games, but personally I did not see them intertwined in such a way as in Train Rush, where everything has an impact.

10. For the last question, what would you tell the people that are waiting for the Train Rush? What advice or incentives would you give to the people who plan to dive in?

My personal advice, trying to be unbiased, for the buyers to be well informed, the game rules are manageable for everyone, but it is a heavy euro title, and I would recommend it to every heavy-euro player, of course all the players can enjoy the game thus there are a few suggestions on the optional rules for every level of player to enjoy the game.