Choo-Choo Charles

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Ride an old engine around a foggy island hunted by a spider-legged train.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (91% of 18,106 reviews); Metacritic 56 from 16 critics (PC)
Length: About 2 hours, 3 to 4 to see everything
Players: 1
Made by: Two Star Games
Released: 2022

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

No. 20 of the horror games with fog · No. 21 of the train horror games · No. 28 of the cult horror games · No. 14 of the spider horror games · No. 10 of the horror games set in mines · No. 18 of the island horror games

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop App Store Google Play itch.io

What frightens A huge spider with a grinning train for a body hunts you across a foggy island, screeching as it charges down the rails or scuttles after you on foot, and it eats people alive.
Content: jumpscares, gore, blood, violence, people eaten alive, loud sounds, spiders.

An open-world horror game by Gavin Eisenbeisz's Two Star Games in which a monstrous spider train called Charles hunts you across an island. You drive your own old locomotive along the rails, gather scrap, upgrade its guns and armour, and help the locals for better weapons until you are strong enough to face Charles. Leave the cab and Charles may already be coming for you.

About Choo-Choo Charles

Choo-Choo Charles came out on PC in December 2022 from Two Star Games, the studio of developer Gavin Eisenbeisz, who built it in Unreal Engine 4. It reached PlayStation 4 and 5 and Xbox in December 2023, Nintendo Switch in January 2024, and iPhone and Android as a mobile edition in June 2026. Its 2021 trailer went viral long before release.

You play the Archivist, called to the island of Aranearum by a friend named Eugene, who gives you a train with a mounted machine gun. The rail network is the only safe way around, and something lives on those rails: Charles, a red engine with a grinning, toothed face and long spider legs. Your yellow locomotive is your base. You drive it from station to station, get off to search camps, mines and houses for scrap, and run errands for the islanders in exchange for weapons such as a flamethrower or a rocket launcher.

The horror is Charles himself. You hear him before you see him, and then he is behind you on the track or crawling over the hill toward you while you are on foot. Each fight is a race to turn your engine and get its guns on him before he tears through your hull. The main quest sends you into mines guarded by armed cultists to find three eggs; you can sneak past them, run them over or shoot them from the train.

It is lighter and shorter than slow-burn story horror: a creature feature with a sense of humour, built around one memorable monster. Players on Steam rate it well, while critics were mixed, with some finding it closer to a rough tech demo than a full game. It suits players who enjoy jumpscares and a big creature to beat, and it works as an easy first step into horror for teenagers who can take some blood.

How to play Choo-Choo Charles

Board your locomotive and drive the tracks toward a marked mission or station.
Get off to search buildings and camps for scrap and to talk with the islanders.
Spend scrap at the train to upgrade its speed, armour and guns.
When you hear Charles, get back to the engine and face him with the guns, or keep moving if you are not ready.
Collect the eggs the main quest asks for, then summon Charles for the final fight.

Screenshots

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: the yellow train's mounted gun firing at Charles in a rainy mining camp as people run

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: a flamethrower on the yellow train blasting fire at Charles as he comes down a forest track

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: the armoured yellow locomotive in a shed beside Eugene

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: the view from the cab past the yellow boiler onto a foggy forest track, with levers and gauges

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: a water cannon on the train putting out a burning shack in the woods while a villager watches

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: the upgrade menu for the train's health, speed, damage and armour, paid for in scrap

Choo-Choo Charles screenshot: a masked figure with a rifle by a ruined stone building on a hill under a full moon in the rain

Tips

Upgrade armour early; Charles hits hard in the first fights.
Switch track junctions with care: you must get off to do it, and that is when Charles likes to arrive.
Use the map to plan routes along tracks you have already opened.
Side quests are worth it: the islanders pay with weapons like the flamethrower and the rocket launcher.
In the mines you can sneak past the cultists instead of fighting them.