''Sensible Train Spotting'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

by Sensible Software for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

computer. It is Sensible Software's last Amiga game and was available only on an '' Amiga Power'' cover disk from issue 53, dated September 1995. Because of this, it is not nearly as famous as some of Sensible Software's earlier releases, such as '' Sensible Soccer'' and ''

Cannon Fodder Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for combatants who are regarded or treated by government or military command as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where combatants are forced to deliberately ...

''. ''Sensible Train Spotting'' is the world's first ever computerized

train spotting A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter ( Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rai ...

simulator. The game takes place at a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

, with a view looking over the train platforms. Various

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

s pass through, each bearing a unique ID number. At the bottom of the screen is a checklist of train ID numbers, each of which must be selected by the player as the corresponding train appears. This must be done against a time limit, and attempting to record an incorrect number will result in a penalty. When all trains in the checklist have been spotted, the game moves on to the next level.

Controversy

Eight years later in 2003, a PC games company called Demon Star released another train spotting simulator, called '' Train Tracking''. The company claimed their game was the first ever train spotting simulator, although the gameplay is nearly identical to ''Sensible Train Spotting''. British game journalist and former Sensible Software employee Stuart Campbell reacted to this by buying a fully registered copy of ''Train Tracker'' and making it freely downloadable from his web site, daring Demon Star to take legal action.STOP THE (RIP-OFF) EXPRESS
at worldofstuart.com.

References

External links

''Sensible Train Spotting'' at the Hall of Light
*{{moby game, id=/sensible-train-spotting 1995 video games Amiga games Amiga-only games Sensible Software Train simulation video games Trainspotting Video games developed in the United Kingdom Single-player video games