Thrillville: Off the Rails - EXCLUSIVE first look

Chances are pretty good that you didn't play the original Thrillville last year... but a whole bunch of kids sure did. So many went for the ride, in fact, that the amusement park simulator is getting a sequel this October. Thrillville: Off the Rails embraces its youth appeal by pushing everything to be bigger, wilder, sillier, friendlier and, of course, barfier.

As theme park tycoon Mortimer's trusted niece or nephew, you still hold the dream job of building, designing and test riding every attraction in his resort. Your imagination, however, will no longer be contained by the irritating limitations of reality. Or public safety.

Roller coasters can now soar twice as high as they could in the last game and, if you don't feel like fully completing the track, that's okay too. When the car reaches the point where you decided to quit, it'll simply lurch off into the air and, a moment later, crash into the ground. Sadly, the passengers survive, parachuting right back to the end of the line. Depending on their disposition, though, they can be either extremely happy or extremely nauseous about their recent brush with death.

Off the Rails is absolutely packed with entertaining ways to torment your guests. The new WHOA coasters add deviously dangerous stunts to your rides like pendulum swings, smoke tunnels and fiery hoop jumps. Stick in a cannon and your rail cars will be transformed into ammunition as they're fired across don't-look-down gaps. Our personal favorite is the broken track, which unexpectedly snaps off the main path, plummets to a lower one and jostles passengers violently the entire fall down. Best of all, you can see exactly what they're seeing with the first person perspective that's been carried over from the first Thrillville.

Charlie Barratt
I enjoy sunshine, the company of kittens and turning frowns upside down. I am also a fan of sarcasm. Let's be friends!