Your train is the only thing moving in the dark. Everything else wants to ride for free.
The railroad is a branching line: at every fork you choose the sitting you keep — the branch you pass is left in the dark, and the train never runs back. The map panel shows each branch, what lies ahead on it, and how many steps it is to The Lasher — pick for the loot, for the calm, or for the shortest road. Every leg costs fuel + rations, and the horde tide creeps forward every time you move and in real time while you stand still. More speed power slows the creep. All branches converge on the last siding — and the Lasher is past it.
The engine makes a fixed amount of power (PU). Sliding it to speed makes the line travel faster; to weapons, your turrets fire harder. Pushing one side past the budget takes it from the other — the split never exceeds the engine's output. Leave some unallocated for extra cooling. The sliders work anywhere, anytime — even mid-fight.
Allocating 90% or more of your output starts building heat. Hull systems that overdraw their pool (armor / infirmary / turret tiers) burn heat extra fast. At 100 heat the engine overloads: a 15-second power cut and a car catches fire. Vent a car to shed heat, or leave power unallocated to cool down.
Turret fires · Infirmary heals crew · Workshop crafts repair kits, ammo batches, weapon boosts · Barracks carries passengers you can throw into melee. Your turret is ON by default (tier 1) and fires the moment it has weapon-power and a target. Station crew (Engineer, Gunner, Brawler, Medic) where they matter — use the crew strip to assign each chip to a car, and watch the little role icons appear on the cars above so you always see who is standing where. Assigning a crew member brings the car's system online — a Gunner arms the turret (tier + power), a Medic staffs the infirmary — and each car card shows a status line saying exactly why its guns/heals are or aren't running. A Gunner on the turret, an Engineer on the engine, a Brawler to meet the horde — blood and abandonment grind morale down. Clean the gory cars, repair breached hulls before they come back to bite. For a damage spike: craft a Field Weapon Boost in the Workshop, then press 'field boost' on the Turret card — +1 gun tier for 60 s.
Morale sets how hard your people actually fight — the crew chips and car cards show the live numbers. A Gunner's aim and critical chance rise with their morale (crits deal ×2.25 — and the log shouts when the rounds land true). An Engineer's hands make Field Repair Kits heal harder, point for point of their morale. A Brawler swings and leaps harder with it too. Blood, gore and abandonment grind morale down — clean the cars, heal the crew, and stop abandoning passengers.
Your Brawler fights wherever the threat is: a steady beat on the softest thing, plus a roof-leap every few seconds that slams the heaviest threat on the train — you'll see him on the roof above his car when he comes down. Station him in the Barracks and he hits +60%, every swing and every leap. And Field Repair Kits were reworked: they now patch 35% of a car's hull, kill the fire, reseal a breach and bring the car's systems back online — a stationed Engineer works them even harder.
All the controls live in the two blocks below the train — power split & crew, then the cars. Hover the ⛽⚙◉✚ chips in the top bar for what each one does.
Depots trade scrap for fuel, ammo, rations, repairs and locomotive-frame upgrades. Safe to work in — but the tide doesn't wait when you leave.
If the horde tide fills up, the train is pinned: Static Siege. The crew takes damage while the jump engine charges (45 s) — reach a full charge and the train jumps forward, the tide severed behind it. If the crew falls first, the run is over.
Victories bank achievement points. Spend them in the menu on permanent frame baselines — a stronger starting train, every run.