Locomoto is a train management adventure with Animal Crossing vibes and Minecraft-like crafting that's already claimed hours of my time

I start out my adventures in Locomoto by essentially pinching a train from a surly goat called McGruff. I know that sounds bad, but before you judge me, I'm doing it on the instruction of a raccoon known as Finley… and if I'm ever going to trust anyone, it's the trash pandas of the animal kingdom that I've always had a great affinity for. And anyway, it's all in the name of a good cause. There's a struggling town nearby that Finley wants to help out, and after appointing me in the role of the new train conductor, they ask me to get it in motion so we can pick up the future mayor who's hopefully going to set the town to rights.

Once I've cleared some boxes off the track at this rather rundown-looking station where McGruff lives, I'm shown the ropes of how to run the rail vehicle, from filling the engine with coal, to boarding my passenger (and partner in crime) Finley by carrying their luggage to a vacant seat inside. Then, all that's left to do is use a map in the front carriage to set my destination and pull a lever to get going. Before I know it, we're headed to the first train stop of many I'll eventually journey to during my time in developer Green Tile Digital's delightful train management life sim. In fact, what was originally meant to be a short play session turns into a three hour-long stint as I get swept up in various quest objectives and spend a lot of time customizing my conductor and my train.

With its adorable anthropomorphic characters that bring to mind the villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and a grid-based crafting system that's reminiscent of Minecraft, Locomoto offers up just the kind of laidback experience I need right now, and there's so much to do that I know I'm going to lose hours of my time to it.

All aboard

In Locomoto, you get to make your own adorable custom character from the outset that you can style after lots of different animals. I'm a big fan of character creators, and this one has an extensive suite of options to choose from that makes my heart sing as a longtime player of games like The Sims. I spend too much time checking out the different looks and styles I can give my conductor, from a wealth of ear variations, to fur markings, eye shapes, and tails. Not to mention different clothing items.

I eventually settle on bringing to life a little bear called Herbert, who rocks a yellow cardigan and round glasses, complete with a middle hair parting that brings his look together. Happily, you can change the look of your character at any time in the game, with photobooths dotted around the station stops that will let you make change adjustments you want.

Customization is a huge part of Locomoto's appeal, and it of course extends not only to the outfits you can wear, but the look of your train both inside and out. The more you progress in the first few hours, the more options you'll unlock, such as paints and wallpaper for your carriages, to new blueprints that you can find in the world that add to the items you can craft. The crafting system is also very easy to get to grips with thanks to its grid-based nature – where you place down resources in squares in a particular layout to make a chair, or a hot cocoa machine (which every train needs).

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The bulk of the experience of playing Locomoto sees you putting coal in your engine and venturing from station to station to complete various tasks for the fellow animal characters you meet. As a laidback experience, nothing is ever too demanding, with fairly straightforward quests to complete – such as taking a passenger to a particular destination, or locating a certain object for someone. Occasionally, though, I did wish the quests provided clearer instructions, because it's not always obvious to know what to do, which can lead to some confusion at times – but it never becomes too frustrating.

In actual fact, there are so many objective and side activities to do early on that I frequently find myself falling down the rabbit hole of, "I'll just do one more task, or go to one more station before I call it night". Then, the next thing I know, hours have simply vanished as I've gotten lost in customizing my train's interior, or crafting new furniture items to deck out my carriages with. I used to call this the Stardew Valley paradox, whereby time seems to disappear as I lose myself in the pixelated farming sim's daily routine, and that same feeling is present here as I sink into many train journeys.

One of my favorite things to do so far is collect parcels from station stops that need to be delivered elsewhere. At this point, I feel like I've become a little bear postman, with parcels stacked up in my carriage that I've been dutifully delivering from place to place.

I'm only a handful of hours in so far, but Locomoto has plenty to offer right off the bat, and it's just downright adorable. If you're looking for a cute little life sim, or the words train management calls to you, you'll want to get on board with this one.

Locomoto is out now on PC. For more recommendations, be sure to head check out our Indie Spotlight series.