REVIEW: ‘Battle Train’ Provides Laughs and Strategic Wins

Sending locomotives careening into your opponent’s outposts, creating massive explosions, doesn’t seem like game show-quality action, but Battle Train proves there’s a first time for everything. The indie title, developed by Terrible Posture Games and Nerd Ninjas and published by Bandai Namco, combines roguelike and deckbuilding elements with a fun, engaging story and a colorful cast of characters to treat players to an unforgettable ride.

The central premise of Battle Train is that players are taking on the role of contestants on a game show of the same name. There’s a big bad who’s obsessed with trains who flies off the handle, a kind host who diplomatically handles him as best as he can, and a handful of other supporting characters you would expect to see on television. 

What makes Battle Train so enjoyable, besides the tense tactical action, is the focus on the story. In addition to the game show framing device, we also get to peek behind the curtain with the film crew creating a documentary about the show.

These story segments allow the characters to develop, but they also show us that the program is struggling to attract new viewers, especially in the younger demographic. This propels the story forward in several humorous scenes, such as when Aalvado, the self-serious champion of Battle Train, attempts to create a battlecry, or when the host of a children’s show – Todrick Turtle – tries to eliminate all conflict so everyone can be friends. As engaging as Battle Train is, these plot offerings are half the fun, making the game feel like a self-aware Saturday morning cartoon, often to great results.

Battle Train bolsters its story with humor. 

As for the actual Battle Train matches, these are turn-based forays, where combatants take turns playing cards that allow them to place tracks, deploy bombs or other destructive tools, or activate abilities that can change the course of the game. The ultimate goal is to destroy your opponent’s outposts while defending yours, both of which are placed on a grid-like battlefield. By connecting your train station to your enemy’s outpost, you can launch a train full of explosives into the structure, dealing damage and eventually wiping it off the board.

As you move through the various stages, you’ll eventually come to a boss fight, pitting you against one of the characters on Battle Train. These tougher opponents have special abilities and game boards, but defeating them gives you the chance to earn a powerful new train part. Once you’ve seen it in action, the premise is simple, but like any strategy game, there’s a world of strategy and depth to uncover.

Thanks to all the variations of tracks you can place, there are many ways to build a path to your goal, but your opponent also utilizes tracks to attack. If you or your enemy connect your tracks, you both immediately gain access to the newly connected track.

This means a resourceful foe can exploit the track you laid running past your outpost. Battle Train becomes a sort of tug-of-war where you must extend your network of tracks without leaving yourself open to attack, while also destroying your enemy’s infrastructure to keep them vulnerable.

The push and pull between you and enemies keeps everything fresh.

As you claim countless victories, you’ll also be able to visit shops, minigames, and activate story segments between battles. Minigames in Battle Train are fun diversions that allow you to flex your creative muscles in different ways, such as playing a makeshift game of Battleship or using a limited supply of tracks to reach a treasure chest. The better you perform, the more rewards you’ll receive in the form of gold, cards, and sometimes train parts, one of the most important rewards in the game.

You also gain these rewards from each battle you win. Each train part grants access to powerful passive abilities, like one that strengthens your train’s attack as it passes over straight tracks, but grows weaker with each turn. You can also purchase train parts from the shop, though there are enough different parts that you will have a hard time finding exactly the one you want between runs.

That’s what makes Battle Train so exciting, though; you’ll constantly have to pivot to make the best of your available cards, train parts, and more. In one lucky run, I had a card that allowed me to copy each ability I played that turn, and an ability card that cost nothing to play, but allowed me to draw a few cards.

This allowed me to draw dozens of cards for free, giving me the rare opportunity to defeat a boss in a single turn. These situations are rare, but when the stars align, they feel incredible, and you’ll feel very clever for discovering them.

Battle Train can give you the rush of beating a boss in a single turn, but it feels good because it’s rare.

Battle Train’s story is a big part of what makes it so special but also somewhat hurts the experience. When you play through a run, you’ll have access to a few routes with varied battles, events, and other rewards. These routes converge on a boss fight, after which the process starts anew, giving you the chance to grow stronger before each boss battle. This repeats about three times before you reach The Door, which spells the end of your run until you reach a certain point in the story.

Battle Train does very little to tell you how many story segments you need to get through the door, which can quickly become frustrating when you reach the door in three consecutive runs, only to fail to pass through. It’s vital to the story the developers want to tell, but the lack of positive feedback or indication of progress takes some of the wind out of your pirate ship-themed train’s sails.

Pacing aside, Battle Train has the opportunity to become an instant classic with its easy to learn, difficult to master gameplay. The characters, story, and the humor in general all ease the sting of defeat, but they also ensure that your victories will feel triumphant when you eventually succeed.

Battle Train is out now on PC and Nintendo Switch