Mashinky

The mechanics present in Mashinky for PC create an impression of a board game when looking at it from different angles, rather than an economic simulator. Instead of money, the player gathers different kinds of tokens, which are then spent on the company's development. The tokens come in several kinds, the money tokens being the most basic – the player earns them through transporting passengers and spends them on building new stations or tracks. Other kinds of tokens are more specific, as the player obtains them in a specified way and spends them on technological improvements or certain structures. For instance, each shipment of wood delivered to the sawmill gives the player a number of wooden tokens that can be used to construct wooden bridges or to equip one's roundhouse with new locomotives. Delivering fuel to the power plant earns the player the electric tokens, which allow them to create and buy engines powered by electricity. What kinds of tokens the player can obtain depends on the historical period one is currently in. Each of the seven in-game epochs introduces a new kind of token, as well as new investments.

Mashinky allows the player to view the game world from three different angles. The first is a typical for strategies, aerial view that encompasses the 3D environment of the game. Another view mode allows the player to see the game world through the eyes of a train driver. The third option is the special isometric, schematic view that depicts the world in the form of a legible net. In this last mode, where all the important information is visible, the player can lay new tracks and build structures, as well as modify the terrain with adequate tools.

Game modes

The game offers both a single-player mode (the player competes against AI-controlled companies) and an on-line multiplayer mode. Up to 8 players can have fun on procedurally-generated maps in one session.

Each session is situated within a sandbox mode allowing the player to lead their company through seven historical periods - from the era of primitive steam engines, to the period of the modern-day maglev trains.

Technical aspects

Mashinky for PC utilizes the in-house engine created by the developer in the C++ language. The engine was being created specifically for a railroad-focused, economic strategy. As a result, it provides trouble-free work of the three view modes implemented, but also has room for advanced graphical effects, such as fluent transformations of the game world from one season of the year to another. Also, the engine provides an opportunity for the fans to enrich the core game with their modifications.

A soul-jazz soundtrack accompanies the experience, which was inspired by the soundtracks of older tycoon games, and was created by a French musician known as Slikk Tim (Gary Gritness).