It’s not uncommon for a game to undergo dramatic changes before finally seeing release. Downloadable title I Am Alive, for example, began as a full retail release. Deadly Premonition? Totally started out as a PS2 game. It’s no different in the realm of smartphones, and David Marsh of NimbleBit has revealed thatPocket Planes was originally going to be Pocket Trains.
It’s not uncommon for a game to undergo dramatic changes before finally seeing release. Downloadable title I Am Alive, for example, began as a full retail release. Deadly Premonition? Totally started out as a PS2 game. It’s no different in the realm of smartphones, and David Marsh of NimbleBit has revealed thatPocket Planes was originally going to be Pocket Trains.
Were that not enough to leave you reeling with thoughts of what may have been, they also went to the trouble of posting design mockups over on the Something Awful Forums (link courtesy of PocketTactics). While we’re perfectly happy with the game Pocket Planes turned out to be, we can’t help but wonder what it would have been like to manage a Bitizen-focused railway. We assume cute, and also pixel-y.
David Marsh cited a limited potential for growth and exploration as the reason they ultimately switched to planes. It turns out trains can’t cross the ocean, which may or may not come as a surprise to you. Planes, on the other hand, totally can. That distinction is largely what makes Pocket Planes a more open game than Pocket Trains could have ever been.
Regardless of the limited scope, I think we can all agree Pocket Trains would have also been an enjoyable game. Perhaps not on the same level as Pocket Planes, but fun all the same. Just look at that pixilated train racing across a beautiful vista. Tantalizing, no?
