Steam's Train Fest is currently running across the platform, spotlighting rail simulators, train-themed games, and everything in between. It's a genuine celebration of the railway experience. The problem? Real trains are not romantic. They're delayed, overcrowded, and aggressively beige. And Train Sim World DLC knows this better than anyone.
Get 1-month GTA+ subscription with pre-order.
Pre-Order GTA 6 Now
What Train Fest actually looks like on Steam
Steam's Train Fest pulls together a broad collection of rail-focused titles, from the deeply technical to the more casual end of the spectrum. Unrailed 2: Back on Track sits comfortably in the event's lineup, bringing its frantic co-op track-laying chaos to players who want trains but definitely not realism. If you're jumping into that one, the Unrailed 2: Back on Track stations and cartridges guide is worth bookmarking before you start, because the upgrade system has more depth than the game's chaotic surface suggests.
The headline act for simulation purists, though, remains Train Sim World. The series has built a reputation for obsessive authenticity, and the DLC catalogue now stretches across dozens of real-world routes.
The DLC that captures how miserable trains actually are
Here's the thing: Train Sim World's appeal has always been its commitment to the mundane. You're not dodging explosions or racing against the clock in some arcade fantasy. You're managing timetables, watching signal lights, and occasionally sitting behind a freight service for six in-game minutes because the network is backed up.
That's not a criticism. That's the point. The DLC routes based on real commuter corridors nail the specific flavour of rail travel that anyone who has ever stood on a rain-soaked platform at 7:43am will immediately recognise. Tight curves, unremarkable stations, the gentle existential dread of a service that is running but not quite on time.
The contrast with how Train Fest markets the railway experience is pretty stark. The sale banners lean into the adventure and grandeur of rail. The actual simulation content leans into dispatch delays and cab signalling systems. Both are valid. One is just considerably more honest.
Trains in games beyond the simulator shelf
Not every game in Train Fest treats the locomotive as a serious piece of infrastructure. Far Far West uses train wrecks as full quest content, with the Trackwreck questline built entirely around finding derailed engines scattered across the map. If you're working through that, the Far Far West all train wreck locations guide covers every site you need to find, and completing it unlocks access to the Far Far North map.
That's a very different relationship with trains than Train Sim World offers. One treats them as tragic, mysterious relics. The other treats them as a 125-tonne vehicle you are personally responsible for delivering safely to the next station.
Why the simulation side of Train Fest deserves more credit
There's a version of Train Fest discourse that treats the simulation entries as the boring cousins of the more exciting train-adjacent games. That reading misses what makes something like Train Sim World genuinely compelling to its audience.
The DLC model, for all the complaints about its cost, functions as a living atlas of real-world rail infrastructure. Each route pack is a detailed recreation of a line that exists, with authentic rolling stock and operational logic. For players who find that kind of fidelity satisfying, Train Fest is the one time of year the broader gaming community pays attention to what they've been doing quietly for years.
What most players miss is that the simulation genre and the more action-oriented train games are pulling in completely opposite directions on purpose. One is about mastery through patience. The other is about spectacle. Train Fest, to its credit, makes room for both.
For more on the train-adjacent games featured across the event, the gaming guides hub has coverage on several titles appearing in Train Fest this week.
