Enjoyable game. Cho choo.

It's a 'strategy' game. You have to plan where you'll lay track as some direct routes can be more expensive (like hills and tunnels) than a more circuitous route. If you plan on lot of traffic then double track with frequent signals, otherwise single track is cheaper with passing tracks. I'm ex railway so I appreciate the realistic signalling and train dynamics for different types.
This is a game I enjoy just relaxing with.

Railway Empire. *Sigh* The memories this game brings me. If you haven't a resource management game before, this is a good one to train you for it. I didn't intend the pun but I'll just leave it there.

The base game takes you through the story of the first railroads of the United States. You'll learn how to set up trains and your grow your business while competing against AI rivals. (No Co-op sadly, which is a big upset to me.) To me, there are two ways to play this. 1. Just set up trains to complete the tasks before they are due and move on, or 2. Play the game in Free Mode and learn how to profit off the stock market. I know the second one sounds weird but, this games mechanics with the stock market are really impressive, and when managed right, you too can control whatever part of the USA you desire.

There isn't much on the negative side of things to say, other than the lack of a Multiplayer to me. I'd love to try and manage a railway against some friends but, I'm not against buying out AI. The DLC's are not that necessary to have. They do offer some unique features and more trains that will be familiar to any Thomas the Tank Engine fans, (yes I grew up watching Thomas, don't judge,) but other than that, they are just new regions with their own resources. You don't need to buy them to have a good time.

My sole opinion, this game is absolutely worth it to play, but it will take several hours of your day playing so, do think about saving the game session when you can.