Soviet city builder adds trams, metros, and ‘realistic mode’

Early access city builder Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic update 11 adds some major new features to the already obsessively detailed game. The Soviet city builder now has tram lines and underground metro systems that you can build in your city, customisable state borders, new map editor tools, and an extra-challenging realistic mode for players who are truly hardcore about their logistics systems.

Trams use light on-street rails to move passengers between stops in your city – pretty straightforward on paper, at least. They now have their own specialised roads and end-of-line stops, as well as new line stops to construct. Players can also build underground rails and stations for metro transit, and adjust the depth of the tunnels using the Q and E keys.

Naturally, since this is Workers and Resources, you can really dig into the nitty gritty and work out specific schedules and passenger permissions for each train and metro you operate.

Update 11 also adds the new realistic borders feature, which allows you to edit your republic’s border and create non-square shapes for the first time. Couple that with the new water erosion tool in the map editor, and you can achieve some pretty convincing results. The developers have included a sample map of Slovakia as a demonstration of what the new tools can do.

Also in the map editor, update 11 adds the new water erosion tool, which adds natural weathering effects to terrain.

As you might expect, the new realistic mode makes things more realistic. The way this manifests in game is that you’ll have to move everything you buy from outside your country from the border to wherever you want to use it. In other words, you can’t simply open a facility, buy a new piece of equipment or vehicle for it, and have it show up magically – all that stuff has to get there somehow, and now you’ll have to handle that yourself.

Realistic mode also disables the ability to auto-complete construction by throwing money at it.

Earlier this year, Slovakian developer 3Division released a benefit DLC to raise money for help people affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the pack pulled in $28,000 over the next two months.