Trailmakers

About

"Trailmakers is a physics-based vehicle construction sandbox game, where you can build and pilot cars, planes, and boats in a variety of environments. The game features a campaign mode, rally mode to learn building, and sandbox maps for creative building. Multiplayer mode supports up to eight players for cooperative or competitive gameplay. Use various weapons and blocks to build and customize your ultimate combat vehicle."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

93%

Audience ScoreBased on 18,398 reviews

gameplay213 positive mentions

stability214 negative mentions

The intuitive building mechanics allow for hours of creative fun and experimentation.
The vibrant graphics and engaging atmosphere enhance the overall experience, making it visually appealing.
The game fosters a strong sense of community and nostalgia, encouraging creativity and collaboration among players.

The game suffers from significant technical issues, including bugs and poor optimization, which can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
Many players find the resource collection and progression systems tedious, detracting from the enjoyment of building and creativity.
The story mode is criticized for being shallow and repetitive, often serving as a framework for gameplay rather than offering a compelling narrative.

gameplay
832 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
50%
24%
The gameplay of "Trailmakers" is characterized by its intuitive building mechanics, allowing players to create a wide variety of vehicles and contraptions with ease. While many players appreciate the creative freedom and engaging physics, some express frustration with repetitive gameplay elements and technical issues, such as inconsistent vehicle handling and bugs. Overall, the game is often compared to "Scrap Mechanic," with many reviewers noting that it offers a more streamlined experience for building and experimenting with mechanics, though it may lack depth in certain gameplay aspects.
- “The vehicle-building mechanics are intuitive and satisfying, offering hours of creative fun.”
- “The building mechanics, the exploration, and the overall concept are unique and engaging, offering a lot of room for creativity.”
- “The intuitive building mechanics are easy to pick up, yet offer immense depth for those who want to push their designs to the limit.”
- “The original Trailmakers was so good, but they clearly got so much backlash from people complaining that their later installments were just sandboxes, that they overcompensated and created the most generic and unfun product that feels like it was designed by someone asking ChatGPT, 'How do I add gameplay to my sandbox game?'”
- “It feels like the brains that were behind all the critical features and mechanics of this game left the company and were replaced by people who don't bother or even know what they're doing, or even play the game themselves.”
- “The gameplay loop is a little better for casual players, but if you are looking for really complex mechanical mechanisms, I would recommend Scrap Mechanic.”
graphics
399 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
58%
3%
The graphics in the game have received a mixed but generally positive reception, with many players praising the vibrant art style and attention to detail that enhance the overall experience. While some users noted performance issues on lower-end systems, the visuals are often described as stunning and appealing, contributing to an immersive atmosphere. However, there are also mentions of optimization challenges and occasional graphical glitches that detract from the experience.
- “The graphics are gorgeous and the game world is alive, but not oppressively so.”
- “Visually, Trailmakers is stunning, with its bright colors and charming art style perfectly complementing the playful gameplay.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is fun, and the community is great.”
- “The aesthetic in Trailmakers feels alive, while Void Crew just feels cold and uninspired.”
- “The campaign was great, but the graphics could use some work.”
- “Sadly, the game is poorly optimized; I get 11 fps on minimum graphics.”
story
329 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
66%
11%
The game's story aspect has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the creative gameplay and the challenge of building vehicles for missions, while others criticize the narrative as shallow and repetitive. Many feel that the story mode serves primarily as a framework for gameplay rather than a compelling narrative, often reducing to fetch quests and basic objectives. Overall, while the sandbox elements are praised, the story lacks depth and engagement, leaving players wanting more substantial content and variety.
- “Very creative gameplay and a super good storyline.”
- “The story mode is well-paced; I admire how it motivates learning new mechanics by providing a variety of obstacles and challenges.”
- “The story is fun and requires you to think outside the box, great for creative minds and adventurers alike.”
- “The first story isn't much of a story: you're in space, then you crash.”
- “There's virtually no story; the planet is quite lifeless and mostly unremarkable.”
- “The campaign is short and sweet; they don't delay the ending. However, after collecting all salvages, you don't get a Steam achievement.”
stability
218 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
1%
98%
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with many users reporting numerous glitches and bugs that significantly impact gameplay, particularly after recent updates. While some players find the glitches amusing and even creatively inspiring, others describe them as frustrating and game-breaking, leading to crashes and loss of progress. Overall, the game is seen as a fun experience marred by its unstable performance, making it difficult for some players to fully enjoy.
- “With no glitches or collision problems whatsoever.”
- “Thanks for working hard to make it bug-free. I hate laziness in the area of programming, and you guys really did an outstanding job.”
- “The game runs great, having had even more optimizations in a recent update; I'm able to host a game with a couple of friends playing, and it runs smoothly even on my 4 core/4 thread Intel i5-7600 CPU.”
- “Normally a good game but as of March 12th the game is unfortunately very buggy due to the 2nd major update and rather unplayable.”
- “The game is full of glitches, and what is more, the devs seem to be unwilling or unable to fix them.”
- “The main thing you do in the game is build, but the builder is a buggy mess; it works enough to function, and that's it, leaving so much to be desired.”
optimization
115 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
61%
16%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting frequent crashes, poor performance on both low and high-end systems, and a general lack of polish. Users have noted that complex builds lead to performance issues, and multiplayer experiences are often marred by lag and instability. While some improvements have been made, the consensus is that the game still requires substantial optimization to enhance overall playability and stability.
- “More optimization and smoother performance would enhance the overall experience.”
- “The game is progressing for the better with beautiful graphics and good optimization.”
- “Great performance (compared to similar games and on its own).”
- “The game is horribly optimized which limits what you can do in this game, like even making a good looking and decently sized twin engine bomber like the B25 that is under the 'complexity limit' is a struggle as they are too lazy to optimize the game and instead limit the 'complexity' of our builds.”
- “Sadly, the game is poorly optimized and lags even with low settings on a powerful computer.”
- “The game is seriously unoptimized to the point that multiplayer is unplayable, at least for a somewhat low spec build that includes a GPU of GTX 1050 or down from that.”
humor
115 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
3%
The humor in this game is a standout feature, with players enjoying the chaotic and often hilarious outcomes of their creative builds, thanks to a forgiving physics engine that embraces failure as part of the fun. Multiplayer sessions amplify the laughter, as friends share their bizarre contraptions and experience unexpected glitches that add to the comedic charm. Overall, the game is described as a delightful sandbox where creativity and humor thrive, making it particularly enjoyable when played with others.
- “The physics engine doesn’t judge—it just obeys, sometimes with spectacularly unintentional results that send you cartwheeling off a cliff, laughing and screaming simultaneously.”
- “It’s the kind of game where creativity is king, failure is funny, and 'stable design' is for cowards.”
- “Watching your creation come to life—sometimes in spectacularly hilarious failures—is a big part of the charm.”
- “The April Fools' announcement was really bad and not funny at all; it actually caused me to have a panic attack. To make matters worse, the developer who made the announcement misgendered me, despite having a trans flag in their profile picture. I think I'm completely done with this game and its community.”
- “The humor in this game falls flat and often feels forced, making it more cringeworthy than entertaining.”
- “I expected some lighthearted fun, but the jokes are stale and often miss the mark, leaving me feeling more frustrated than amused.”
grinding
89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
23%
74%
The grinding aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players finding the resource collection and progression systems tedious and frustrating. Reviewers noted that the grind often detracts from the enjoyment of building and creativity, turning what could be an engaging experience into a repetitive chore. While some appreciated the game's potential and cooperative elements, the consensus is that excessive grinding hampers overall enjoyment and can make gameplay feel like a tedious slog.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “You just need to build your vehicle, no grinding, no base.”
- “Building should be fun, not tedious and finicky.”
- “The new grindy resource system slows everything down, making early-game progress frustrating instead of exciting or fun.”
- “Instead of feeling like an innovator or creator, you’re just another cog in a tedious grind of repetitive missions.”
- “Side quests get really repetitive really fast, and you will need to collect probably 1000 iron, rubber, and sulfur by the time you are at the final boss, and collecting it all is very tedious.”
music
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
46%
7%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the soundtrack as enjoyable and atmospheric, enhancing the overall experience, while others criticize it for being repetitive or too quiet. Many appreciate the sound effects, which are often described as satisfying and fitting for the gameplay, but some feel that the music lacks variety and can be easily turned off during more focused play. Overall, while the soundtrack has its highlights, it may not be memorable for all players.
- “The delightful sound effects and music enhance the atmosphere, creating an unforgettable gaming experience that keeps you coming back for more.”
- “The soundtrack is really good (by that I mean all the sound in the game, not just music) like, big bulky monster truck engines sound like big bulky monster truck engines.”
- “The music in the game is serviceable, but in a game that requires planning and concentration, the music may be the first thing that the player turns off.”
- “Either no music or it's too quiet.”
- “Racing is fun though building your own karts, but the lack of music and good AI is a letdown.”
replayability
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
37%
11%
Overall, the game exhibits strong replayability, particularly praised for its sandbox mechanics, building features, and multiplayer options that encourage collaboration and competition. While some users noted thin campaign content and occasional limitations in multiplayer, many highlighted the endless creative possibilities and community engagement that keep them returning. Despite a few dissenting opinions regarding replay value, the consensus leans towards a highly enjoyable experience with significant replay potential.
- “This game has basically infinite replayability with an amazing dev team and an amazing community.”
- “I loved the replayability of the game and how they encourage modding and give credit to people using their game to build incredible things.”
- “Overall, great replayability and challenging tasks that inspire unique vehicles.”
- “This usually means there are little to no servers that are playable at more than 3 people.”
- “I did not enjoy this game at all, it has little to no replay value.”
- “Its a pretty decent game, not very replayable and there are microtransactions for a big portion of the rest of the game, but still decent.”
monetization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
23%
59%
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn significant criticism, with many players feeling it resembles a cash grab due to excessive advertising for DLCs and in-game purchases. Users express frustration over the prevalence of microtransactions and the lack of meaningful unlockables, which detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the absence of traditional ads, the aggressive marketing tactics and steep pricing have left a negative impression on many players.
- “It has no ads and the graphics are really good.”
- “I play games on PC so I don't have to endure monetization schemes.”
- “As long as it doesn't go the way of microtransactions, this will always be a go-to game for me.”
- “It used to be fun, but it has turned into a full-on cash grab. Try it out if it's on sale, but don't give in to their BS.”
- “What seals the deal for me is that instead of some optimization, quality of life improvements, and a bit of love for the game, we get stale microtransactions that should have been unlockables.”
- “After my relatively short time with the game, I can firmly say that I hate it and I'm sad I spent my money on it, because the advertising and aesthetics made me believe this is an entirely different kind of game than it is.”
emotional
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
79%
7%
14%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting its ability to evoke nostalgia and creativity, making them feel like children again. The supportive community and dedicated developers contribute to a positive experience, despite some gameplay frustrations. Overall, the game fosters a sense of joy and engagement, enhancing players' emotional well-being.
- “A heartfelt thanks to the developers.”
- “Trailmakers made me feel like a kid again!”
- “This game made me feel good about everything; it enhanced my imagination and kept my creativity awake.”
- “No one wants to harvest rocks, trees, and other resources for hours just to build for tedious fetch quests and a boring story.”
- “Janky building mechanics, an overdone and boring story, and the campaign is just about finding rocks and pushing them to a spot to win.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its engaging visuals, sound effects, and music, which collectively enhance the overall experience and encourage exploration. However, some players feel that the atmospheric mechanics could be improved, particularly regarding realism and the ability to adjust atmospheric intensity. Overall, the atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it memorable and immersive.
- “The delightful sound effects and music enhance the atmosphere, creating an unforgettable gaming experience that keeps you coming back for more.”
- “In auditory topics, it is very well done, which highlights more than all the characteristic sounds before the music, but is not left out of the play and also provides a great atmosphere.”
- “This game needs a lot more 'atmosphere' though.”
- “The game's graphics and environment design create an atmosphere that encourages exploration.”
- “Built a plane, used it in space, hit the atmosphere of a planet, broke the sound barrier fifteen times over, started tumbling, exploded and died on impact.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviewers appreciate the character design and artwork, highlighting the creative freedom and diverse camera perspectives that enhance the overall character development experience.
- “I love the artwork and character design, as well as the various camera views and the freedom to customize everything.”
- “The character development is incredibly deep, allowing for meaningful choices that truly impact the story.”
- “Each character feels unique and evolves in ways that make the narrative feel personal and engaging.”

Buy Trailmakers

78h Median play time

278h Average play time

20-380h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 84 analyzed playthroughs

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