Full disclaimer: I intended to have this review up back on Halloween but I was ill and could not finish and so decided to take my time to revise the review further
Draknek and Friends have put out some amazing games over the years, with simulation games and strategy puzzle games involving monsters. Some of the developers best known games are its train games like Cosmic Express, and so Draknek and Friends have released a third train game that also makes use of the developer’s fondness for monsters. What resulted is one of the best games yet from Draknek and Friends, and a blast to play.
Far from being just Cosmic Express with a horror themed skin, Spooky Express quickly shows itself to have its own identity with mechanics that are well handled and set it apart in a good way, with quite a bit of addictiveness. The challenge is there, but it is not a major frustration the way Cosmic Express could be, and has a better balance to it.
I should note that just because this is a monster themed game, does not mean Draknek and Friends went for scares, as this is still a family friendly game. The goal is still to place tracks between specific start and end points in each level, while delivering passengers to corresponding destinations. For instance, zombies want to go to graves, and vampires to coffins, and each passenger must be satisfied to complete the level.
You need to be careful as you cannot cross your own track, so you need to plan things out well to get things done. It helps that there is a surprising amount of variety each level, with some increasing the challenge in unique ways. For instance, some levels have specific choke points to force you to move a certain way, while others will need you to carefully manage different combinations of passengers to ensure you can reach every area.
There is a hint system in Spooky Express but it is handled in a way that may not be satisfying. You can get one hint per level which shows up in the form of segments of ghostly track that gives you an idea of what t do. The issue is that sometimes the hints just do not prove that helpful and can even confuse you because there are sometimes multiple possibilities for what the hint means.
One thing that Spooky Express excels in is its aesthetic which manages to set the game apart. Every passenger feels well thought out, like how the vampires and zombies act, and the levels are full of horror easter eggs and elements that will delight all. Draknek and Friends really put in a lot of work making this game feel like its own thing, and they succeeded. Draknek and Friends also managed to maintain its attention to detail, with every aspect feeling right, including keyboard shortcuts for function and care in making clear how the trains work.
The art direction, as mentioned, is fantastic, but so is the audio. The music soundtrack feels like a perfect fit for a spooky good time, and there is a lot of great variety to listen to and it blended well with how the trains moved through the stages. It helps that the animations of the monsters are adorable during this time.
Spooky Express is paced perfectly with its campaign and puzzles, but even after the main campaign there are a lot of optional puzzles you can do. There is also a bit of a story told through vignettes, and while they are not much, they do add to Spooky Express’s charm. I do feel a bit more could have been done, but for what it is, it is fine.
Ultimately Spooky Express is just a fun game that will be perfect for those who love puzzle games with a wide variety of difficulty levels for the stages that is enough to keep you engaged. The puzzles keep changing things up in interesting ways, and it uses its Halloween theme well even if there was potential for more to be done with it. Still, this is one of the best train puzzle games yet and Draknek and Friends did a great job here and clearly pushed themselves to try and top previous works. This is perfect not just for spooky season, but for any time of the year when you want some spooky fun with trains.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
