Sid Meier’s Railroads! vs Train Manager
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sid Meier’s Railroads!
Become a railroad tycoon by building and managing intricate railway networks. Optimize routes, transport goods and passengers, and grow your profits through shrewd business decisions and innovation. Compete with historical figures to become the greatest rail baron.
- Lay tracks and design routes
- Transport freight and passengers
- Acquire patents and trade stocks
- Build or buy industries
- Compete with historical figures
- Collect 40 famous trains
- Train Table Mode for creative building
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Become history’s greatest rail baron in Sid Meier’s Railroads!, a classic of the tycoon genre now available for iPhone and iPad. In this captivating mix of model train set and railway management simulator, lay tracks and optimise routes to establish lucrative networks of cities and industries, transporting passengers, raw materials and goods across continents. Grow profits through efficiency, innovation, and shrewd business decisions as you acquire valuable patents, trade stocks, and build or buy industries. Compete with world leaders and industrial titans to achieve the ultimate goal — becoming the greatest railroad tycoon of the age! === TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Lay the foundations of your railroad empire during the Gold Rush, then unlock the full game for more maps, trains, and 16 charming scenarios spanning the golden age of rail. CREATE AN EMPIRE OF THE RAILS Carefully lay tracks and design routes to transport freight and passengers, refining and improving operations until your railroad runs like clockwork. STEAM ACROSS 16 CHALLENGING SCENARIOS Test your entrepreneurial mettle in a mix of historical and fictional scenarios, each with a distinctive map and unique objectives. Establish the first passenger line in 1830s Great Britain, stitch together the American West during the Gold Rush, or help Santa with the Christmas rush at the North Pole! COMPETE WITH HISTORY’S BEST Take on world leaders and captains of industry. Grow your business by acquiring industries and railroad-revolutionising patents, or play the stock market and buy out the competition. BRING 40 FAMOUS TRAINS TO LIFE Play with historically important engines from early steam locomotives like Stephenson’s Planet, to the high-speed French TGV, and many iterations and innovations in between. BUILD THE MODEL RAILROAD OF YOUR DREAMS Take the pressure off in Train Table Mode. No competition, time limits, or financial constraints — just all you need to create a railroad that’s as fun to watch as it is satisfying to build. === We recommend playing Sid Meier's Railroads! on iOS 15.5 or later. You need 1.7GB of free space on your device, though we recommend at least double this to avoid initial installation issues. Supported iPhones: • iPhone 6S / 6S Plus and later • Any iPhone SE • iPod Touch (7th generation, 2019) Supported iPads: • iPad mini (5th generation, 2019) and later • iPad Air (3rd generation, 2019) and later • iPad (5th generation, 2017) and later • Any iPad Pro • If you require assistance, please contact our support team at support@feralinteractive.com © 2006-2024 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Originally developed by Firaxis Games. Sid Meier’s Railroads!, Firaxis Games, 2K, Take-Two Interactive Software and their respective logos are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed for and published on iOS by Feral Interactive. iOS and the iOS logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Feral and the Feral logo are trademarks of Feral Interactive Ltd. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Train Manager
Build and manage your own railroad empire from scratch. Compete globally, schedule international routes, and track your trains live. Choose between easy or realistic gameplay modes to become a railway mogul.
- Manage your own railroad empire
- Create and schedule international routes
- Track trains live
- Realistic gameplay modes
- Manage staff and invest in companies
- Customize and upgrade trains
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Are you the next Cornelius Venderbilt and railway mogul? Can you achieve a monopoly? In Train Manager you create and manage your own railroad empire where you build it up from nothing to owning routes all over the world. Compete to be at the top of the multiplayer leaderboards and challenge your friends and other real life train managers from all over the world. REAL LIFE TRAINS AND STATIONS Utilize the power of a train tycoon simulator to create a strategy where you can become as big as real rail companies like Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, BNSF, CSX, Union Pacific, Japan Railway Company or CNRC and claim monopoly. Create, schedule and explore international routes between train stations like Shinjuku, Hamburg, London Waterloo, Grand Central Terminal, Paris Gare Du Nord, Taipei, Roma Termini or Penn Station. Track your trains live when they drive from town to city or when they are staying idle at stations. CHOOSE REALISTIC GAMEPLAY You can play on two difficulties: either EASY or REALISM. Go the easy way to lower prices and increase profits or challenge yourself with realism where you have to be the manager of the smallest things like the fuel prices and taxes. ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY Not only is it more convenient and easy to travel the railroads, but it’s also better for the environment compared to a car, ship or plane. Be a green manager and help bring more focus on transport of passengers and cargo by train. From steam engines to running on diesel to high-speed electric bullet trains - you are able to shape the future and set yourself up for success if you deploy the right tactics. Features include - Track your routes LIVE - Manage your staff - Invest in rival rail companies - Put your company on the stock market - Create or join alliances with influential managers or friends - All the most known real life locomotive types - Buy and sell used cars and caravans - Customize and upgrade your trains - And much more! Become the CEO of a vast network of railway routes and trains and strive to take over the world and realize your dreams of a monopoly. Choo choo - all aboard the train simulator! This game is 100% ad free. Note: An online internet-connection is required to play this game. Please see the Trophy Games Privacy Statement to know more about your data protection at: https://trophy-games.com/legal/privacy-statement
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Train Manager at fortnightly against Sid Meier’s Railroads!'s every 5 months. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Sid Meier’s Railroads! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Train Manager sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Sid Meier’s Railroads! against 4.8 for Train Manager. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.4K and 941 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 59% of Sid Meier’s Railroads!'s written reviews are positive against 52% of Train Manager's.
Sid Meier’s Railroads! ships an update every 5 months, Train Manager fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Sid Meier’s Railroads! | Train Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.4K ratings) | 4.8 (941 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.4% of reviews — better | 52.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.4K — better | 941 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.6 GB | 86 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Feral Interactive Ltd | Xombat ApS |
Customer experience
Sid Meier’s Railroads!
Train Manager
User reviews
Sid Meier’s Railroads!
From 1.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great game
- 👍 Faithful port of original
- 🎮 Enjoyable gameplay
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics
- 🕰️ Hours of replay value
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🔋 Battery draining issues
- 🕹️ Fiddly track laying controls
- 🤖 Subpar AI opponents
- 💰 Expensive for a mobile game
Train Manager
From 941 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good game
- 🚀 Realistic train operations
- 👍 Easy to learn
- 👍 Clear and easy to understand user interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Glitchy and buggy
- 💰 Requires paying to progress
- 🕰️ Slow pace of the game
- 🚂 Limited train selection, especially for certain regions
Bugs and requests
Sid Meier’s Railroads!
Reported bugs
3 issues- Disappearing tracks
- Routing issues and inability to connect stations
- Map freezing and becoming unresponsive
Requested features
5 requests- Larger maps
- More scenarios and campaigns
- Multiplayer mode
- Ability to buy/sell shares
- More train and engine variety
Train Manager
Reported bugs
4 issues- Endless blue screen on launch
- Game freezes or crashes
- Issues with loading and logging in
- Inability to depart trains or make purchases
Requested features
10 requests- Add more train models and liveries
- Implement sandbox mode
- Add train timetables and running maps
- Allow trains to run automatically between destinations
- Improve the ticketing system
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Add more stations and routes
- Implement a loan option
- Add station-wise earnings and data
- Allow custom route building
- Introduce a faster-than-real-time gameplay option
In-app purchases
Sid Meier’s Railroads!
- Full Game Unlock$12.99
Train Manager
- Special Deal$0.99
- Mini Package$2.99
- Rookie Deal2 variants$4.99
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Rookie Deal2 variants$5.99
- Standard Package$5.99
- Rookie Deal$6.99
- Kickstarter Package$9.99
- Journeyman Deal$9.99
- Expert Deal$22.99
- Premium Package$22.99
- Jumbo Package$49.99
- Mega Package$99.99
Questions
Is Sid Meier’s Railroads! free?
Is Train Manager free?
Which has better reviews, Sid Meier’s Railroads! or Train Manager?
Do Sid Meier’s Railroads! or Train Manager have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sid Meier’s Railroads! or Train Manager?
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