The Most Immersive RPG EVER!!!

Role-playing video games have been around since 1974 or earlier, but this game is so epic, it was here long before that, hiding underground in the shadows. Rather than turning your backyard into a fantasy acting stage or your TV screen into a cartoon battle, you turn any spare space you own into AN EMPIRE. For real. Because you play the game in the real world. Its graphics are as good as your eyes are... if you're disappointed, you only have your optometrist to blame. But being real doesn't make it not fun. This game has infinite possibilities, and is easy to pick up and play.

What could this fantastic game be?

MODEL RAILROADING.

That's what.

Model railroading is indeed a role-playing game, and one that transcends all other games of its kind. The game literally bursts forth from the computer into reality, where sight, sound, touch, and even smell pull you into an experience like no other. Yeah, uh, no comment for those of you who wish to involve your fifth sense in this epic experience.

In this game, you play the role of anyone from an empire-building millionaire tycoon to a harried railroad dispatcher on whose efforts rest the safety of a sprawling transportation network-- or, if you're handling Hazmat loads, the entire nation is on the edge of its seat, watching your every move! But how long could a game like this last, with such stunning graphics and huge scope? Well, get your mind out from under that digital rock you call home, because model railroading features unlimited replay value. Tired of slinging doublestack container trains across Arizona at 80 MPH? See if you have what it takes to move Minnesota iron ore to the docks on Lake Superior with aging, failure-prone equipment.

How well can you mod this game? How about expansions? Quit your bellyachin', we've got you covered. And you don't even need to know any complex computer coding languages! If you can do a paint-by-number, you can hack that cheap plastic boxcar into a weatherbeaten slice of reality, and all you need is a few jars of paint and a brush.
Want to lay more track? Buy some and get to work, John Henry. If it's not realistic enough for you, it's not like you have some graphics card and processor limiting you. In this world, the real world, your skills are your only limitation (aside from stuff like gravity, of course.) So goodbye, C++ and Java; Hello, reality.

There is no other gaming experience like model railroading. No blocky, pixelated graphics, no rolling dice to decide everything, and no lag at all, unless you stink at running on time. The sights come from your own eyes, so you don't just have sissy camera controls: you move and directly interact with the environment... your environment! The sounds blast out of the locomotives themselves, and if you want, you can even smell the exhaust off a passing train. Grab a switch lever with your own hand and change your track. And while you're not limited by computer hardware, you can still take advantage of it. Skip dice and let the computer generate your train orders for the day, then see if you're tough enough to carry them out safely, efficiently, and on time!
Do you have what it takes to play the game that is both digital and real? Can you create an actual object to accomplish your missions on your own infrastructure and moving your own loads? Remember, on a model railroad, you don't just play God. You ARE God. This game is not for everyone... only for the truly awesome among us.

May the Horse[power] be with you.

-Steven Goehring
Model Railroad News Associate Editor

(I hope you enjoyed this different and over-the-top look at our awesome hobby! The most fun part about this article, though, is it's all true. Feel free to leave comments with your views on this!)