Train Sim World devs announce Thomas the Tank Engine game 'powered by Train Sim World' and the true train sickos are down: 'It will make 9 trainzillion dollars'

If you were a child at one point, you may remember Thomas the Tank Engine. What started as a series of extremely British children's books has turned into a venerable, extremely British fixture of pop culture thanks to the beloved TV show—and now, Thomas and co. are getting their very own train sim game from Dovetail Games, the studio behind Train Sim World.

Announced Thursday with a cutesy reveal trailer, Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor features a fully explorable version of the island all those smiling metal creatures inhabit. You can "take the controls" of Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Emily, and Diesel, and enjoy the island of Sodor across a few modes: character-specific "stories," mini games, and then the stuff I assume the sickos are after: timetable mode, where you "run trains on normal days up and down the line," and free roam, where you just futz about with the game's systems at your leisure.

If you're wondering what sort of systems a game based on a children's book series would even have to offer, we don't know a ton yet, but the game's Steam page boasts that Wonders of Sodor will combine "the unparalleled detail and realism of Unreal Engine and Simugraph with accessible controls." That's right: it's "powered by Train Sim World," the long-running simulation series that's six games and hundreds of DLC addons deep.

Fans of the friendly train have taken to social media to share their excitement. "Game of the year," proclaimed AutumnTheGay in a post on X. "It will make 9 trainzillion dollars and change the industry forever." On the same thread, user Oblivion3435 stated, "Can't wait to see how this turns out. I'm actually down to try it out as an old fan of the series." Trying out their comedy chops, user LanoomAES commented, "Eh, looks a little too on rails."

What I've learned through all this is that Thomas the Tank Engine has freight carfuls of diehard fans who are easily spotted on social media picking apart the trailer and beseeching the devs to add their favorite characters. My algorithm has started serving me all sorts of memes and in-jokes within the Thomas the Tank Engine community that I don't understand a word of, and I couldn't be happier.