Train Journey
You wake up on an empty train.
None of its stops are your own.
How will you get home...?
Description:
Train Journey is a 16-cartridge PICO-8 game (the maximum size) about a mysterious train to which the player is seemingly bound. Travel between stops, meet unique characters, and learn their stories. Can you free yourself and return home? Or will you ride the train forever...?
Controls:
[Z/C]: Jump
[X/V]: Use Shooty (an unlockable item)
Enter: Pause
Left & Right Arrow Keys: Movement
Up Arrow Key: Interact & Shooty Up
Down Arrow Key+[X/V]: Use Shovel
The game is also compatible with most controllers.
Notes:
The Lexaloffle BBS in-browser version seems to have been much more reliable as far as preserving save data, and downloading it is also more reliable.
If you are downloading the game, it'll pull up a "name your own price" page. Don't worry, because this game is free! You can just click the "no thanks, just take me to the downloads" link at the top and download the game for free :)!
Due to the way I used PICO-8 to make this game, and as a result of the level layout, you are unable to save in any "train stop" level. The game can only be saved in the train (when the screen flashes "game saved"). Note that the candle checkpoints are only checkpoints! You will not start at the checkpoint if you restart the game, so I'd recommend playing one level at a time, when you have the time to beat a whole level in a single sitting.
Note that there may be some bugs still left in, so please let me know if you spot any! (I really need some variation in my cockroach stew I'm making)
I'll be releasing the whole soundtrack on my YouTube Channel, so go check it out if you want!
Even if you're not interested in playing, thank you so much for checking out this game!!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Release 1.5: Newgrounds update!Jun 13, 2023
- Release 1.4: Final Update?May 20, 2023
- Here's some art for the game, for fun! (not really a devlog)Jan 31, 2023
- Release 1.3: Bugfixes, Textures, First Boss, and Difficulty AdjustmentJan 05, 2023
- Release 1.2: Rebalancing, retexturing, and some fixesDec 30, 2022
- Added a Browser Version of Train JourneyDec 26, 2022
- Release 1.1: Ticket Reappearing FixedDec 26, 2022
Comments
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Wowww!! I can tell you put a ton of effort into it, it really shows! Blown away by all the different pixel art and lovely music as always. I was really thankful for the candles and onigiri because I died an unbelievable amount of times (not used to pico games + tendency to bulldoze through everything. I also died an embarrassingly large amount of times from falling. Very relieved we got a rocket powerup HAHA). Is your pfp Bunko? I noticed they both have the pink/silver bunny theme. Anyways congrats on publishing a full blown game, that requires so much perseverance and dedication!! :D
sorry for the delayed reply! thank you so much for playing!! I'm glad you enjoy it :D
Yeah the game is pretty tough so I try to be as forgiving as I can with the health and checkpoints in most places.
And yeah! My pfp on most sites is bunko, nice catch! I love bnuys.
Again TYSM!!!
Aack, if only I hadn't lost my saved game, I would've completed this game earlier.
Ahem, anyways, great game! I think this is the first non-puzzle PICO 8 game which has the longest play time. I had to complete this in single run to prevent losing save game. This game has metroidvania vibes but because it's missing one crucial element, I can't include it in my metroidvanias collection.
For game details, I'm not fond with first boss battle cause he's too unpredictable making it hard to hurt him, or I should say have him hurt. IMO it's better for him to try to jump over player most of the time and seldomly drop apple.
After getting Sooty, boss battles become more fun and balanced. It was great to defeat all of them (including the ones after The Conductor) by shooting them :D.Some of them prove to be a challenge especially that undead boss but I can manage ;).
Speaking of undead boss, I found bug in which I was told that I'm missing more pages while returning back AFTER defeating the boss.
There's another bug in which if player tries to walk left from top of station entrance in air ship station, player isn't blocked and dies.
Ah, that reminds me that rocket jumping with Tetsip was easier than with pogo rocket. Too bad that would make Bunko would cry. But she cried either way... oh well.
The free spirits part could be fun if there were more onigiris (just like in regular train levels). Refilling health during rematches was the only way to gain health there.
Alright, that's pretty long already! thanks for the great game :D, it was worth it playing it through in single sitting...well, single run.
Wow, thank you for all the feedback!!! Sorry you had trouble with the save data, I wonder what happened...? Were you playing the browser version? I don't think I've had a problem with that before. I'll look into it a bit though
I honestly wasn't going for metroidvania, but I'm glad it kinda felt like one! I enjoy the genre quite a bit
That's a good idea with the first boss, it is a little annoying to wait so long for the right attack in order to damage him
I'm glad you liked the rest of the bosses! I had fun making them!
Thanks for reporting that bug! I'll fix it right away. I know what's causing it, I just forgot to account for the case when the player is returning from the boss battle.
And I knew about the bug with the station, I just forgot to fix it! Thanks for reminding me lol.
Yeah, I wanted to make the airship level easier to traverse on the way back. And I feel like it would make some later-game platforming a little difficult if the player always had the tetsip-style rocket. That was my reasoning anyway
Thanks for the tip on the free the spirits part! I realize it's hard to avoid getting hit sometimes, so I agree that it would be appropriate to have way more onigiri pickups there. (Not sure what I was thinking, to make them so infrequent)
Thanks so much for playing! I'm really glad you liked it! And all feedback is appreciated, no worries that it was long! (And if you have anything else, feel free to mention it)
:)
This game is simply amazing in every aspect. Great job!!!
Oh!! Thank you so much!!!