The Great Train Robbery
The Great Train Robbery is a heist game where you never touch the controls once the action starts. A gold train is rolling toward a dusty little town, and your job is to put together a crew, kit them out and write down exactly what each person should do.
Ondřej Žára made it during a seven-day roguelike challenge, and it shows its roots in text-mode graphics drawn on a grid. Everything runs in the browser, and it is played with the keyboard alone.
How to play The Great Train Robbery
The saloon is where you hire. Every local has a price, and some names hint at a strength or a weakness, like being quick on their feet or a bit sickly. The general store sells horses and a range of guns and explosives. Each person can hold one weapon and one horse.
Next comes the hotel, which is the heart of the game. Here you give every member a starting spot in town and a ranked list of tasks. Some buildings let people walk in and out, while rooftops offer longer range and safety from punches but no way down.
When the train arrives, your plan runs on its own. Damaging a wagon enough breaks it free, gold spills out and armed guards jump down. Shots at the engine slow the train. When nothing is left to do, the game adds up your take.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start from the intro | Enter | — | — |
| Change the random town seed | E on the intro screen | — | — |
| Switch screens (map, saloon, store, hotel, start) | M, O, G, T, K | — | — |
| Choose an item from a list | Number keys | — | — |
| Reorder a selected task | Up / Down arrows | — | — |
| Pause the heist | Space | — | — |
| Help | ? | — | — |
Tips
- Think of each task list as a set of if-then rules read from the top down. A gang member does the first thing on the list that is possible right now.
- Put narrow, situational tasks above broad ones. If a general order sits on top and can always run, nothing below it will ever happen.
- Someone has to be told to pick up the gold. Leave out the collecting task and the bags just sit on the ground.
- Rooftop shooters are great cover, but they are stuck up there. Pair each one with a partner on the street who can grab loot.
- Every extra hire takes a share of the final score, even if they die, so only add people who have a clear job.
If you like The Great Train Robbery, try these
Robot CoderWriting the whole plan first and then watching it run is the same thrill, applied to a delivery robot and its loops.
Warden's DutyPrefer careful turn-by-turn choices? This prison crawl asks you to weigh health, mana and arrows before every cell you clear.
Questions
How is the score worked out in The Great Train Robbery?
Your leftover cash and the gold the crew is holding are added up and split across everyone you hired. If the gang grabs no gold or nobody survives, the result is zero.
Can I retry the same heist?
Yes. When it is over, one key reruns your exact plan in that town, another keeps the town while you rehire from scratch, and a third builds a fresh town.
Does it need a mouse?
No. Every screen lists the keys you can press, and the game reads only the keyboard. That also means it does not work on touch screens.
More like this: all adventure games · every game A–Z
