I am not sure why there are so many train-based puzzle games, but often when I sit down at one, I feel as though I’ve already seen it. With Locomochi I was prepared for some simple movement puzzles, but I found that the movement and the way the characters inter reacted were different enough to make the game stand out.
In Locomochi, there are a bunch of different train stations that you need to make your way around – often going forwards, or even backward – as a train, connecting to different carriages and making deliveries along the way. The characters only speak using emojis, which makes it all feel quite fun while also not obscuring what help it is that they need from you.
One of the things that first stood out for me when I played Locomochi at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona was the train’s movement and the way that it connected to other segments of the train – you can drive backwards, connecting to different wagons from the back of your main train engine. You’ll need to abandon a mindset of there being a correct way and an incorrect way to drive around this track, as this reality isn’t a thing in the game.
This is a cozy puzzle game, where there isn’t timers or ways to get fully stuck; You can tinker around with each level instead. There are little levers and bits of the track that can be pressed and activated so that you can go through new routes or check out the end of paths that you may have discovered along the way. This also helps you figure out how to attach the different carts that need to be placed on you. It’s all just quite wholesome and well made.
Locomochi doesn’t have a release date, but you can currently wishlist the game, ahead of its release, on Steam.
