You’re facing off in the dark against the titular nefarious and demonic engine, armed only with a small yellow loco of your own. Exploring the island by train means you’ll run into other human residents, some of whom bestow weaponry to fight Charles upon you, while others are dangerous cultists. You’ll have to watch out for appearances from Charles though, who’ll try to end your journey permanently. Looting locations on the island grants you scraps to improve your locomotive’s armour, too, which help protect against attacks by Charles. Choo-Choo Charles was announced this time last year. It’s the work of solo dev Gavin Eisenbeisz, a.k.a. Two Star Games. In a Steam update on the game’s progress, Eisenbeisz said he’d aimed for many release dates during this year that didn’t work out, but added that the game’s now “well into its beta phase” and almost complete. “Tons of improvements and additions have been made to the game, and I’m thrilled with how it’s turning out,” Eisenbeisz said. We last saw Choo-Choo Charles during this June’s Day Of The Devs stream, when the game seemed to be coming along nicely. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m arachnophobic, so the sight of a giant, clown-faced, skittering steam locomotive barrelling at me on eight legs does give me pause for thought. I am a sucker for any game that features trains, however, so that balances things out somewhat. Choo-Choo Charles strikes Steam on December 9th. Surely this will end up being a movie? Somebody get Ringo Starr on the phone.
