In a recent interview with PC Gamer, the developer and creator of Choo-Choo-Charles, Gavin Eisenbeisz, spoke about his background with the game and how he’s coping with the sudden attention his upcoming train-fighting game has been given.
Choo-Choo Charles is a game where you hop on a train and explore an island, desperately hoping you don’t run into Charles… at least not until you’re ready. Your goal is to defeat Charles, and you can upgrade your train along the way by collecting scraps and using them to improve your train’s health, speed, damage, and armor in preparation for the fight. You can also fulfill the requests of townspeople in order to get special rewards. Though we haven’t gotten tons of details, there’s been a trailer along with a Q1 2022 release specified.
After the game’s announcement, it started receiving a fair bit of attention, likely because of Choo-Choo Charles’ unique concept and design. In an interview with PC Gamer, Eisenbeisz explains that the response to Choo-Choo Charles has been both “incredible” and “overwhelming.” “It's been a little bit stressful, although I think the stress is mostly adrenaline,” he explains.
Now that he knows so many people are interested in it, Eisenbeisz plans to focus more on the game going forward. Despite it being in “very, very early development,” Eisenbeisz says, “I'm willing to put more time into it than I originally anticipated.”
That said, Eisenbeisz is working on this project alone, so it will still be a bit before Choo-Choo Charles' launch. “Ultimately, I enjoy the simplicity of game development and of working solo, specifically. I know what I need to do. I know how I need to do it. It seems to work best for me, at least at the moment.”
Choo-Choo Charles will be available on Steam starting in Q1 2022. You can learn more about the game on the Steam page, or you can read PC Gamer’s full interview with Eisenbeisz here.