Overland

A low-poly 3D train tycoon in your browser.
Design stations, lay track, run passenger service across the USA — then unlock a detailed NYC map.

Survival badges · Tycoon milestones · Global leaderboard · Autosave · Mobile-friendly

Play now →  ·  Run locally  ·  Report a bug

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Early development — cannot promise scores will remain; balance and features are still evolving. Saves, badges, and leaderboard entries are stored locally in your browser.

Features

Two maps	USA — 50 major metros. NYC — landmark stops with water crossings and bridges.
Two modes	Tycoon — milestones and win conditions. Survival — endure escalating demand and climb the leaderboard.
Deep building	Standard, high-speed, and maglev track · mid-line junctions · station capacity upgrades · train tiers.
Living network	Rush-hour demand, transfers, overcrowding pressure, demand surges, share cards, and run history.

Run locally

npm install
npm run dev

Open the printed URL (default http://localhost:5173).

How to play

1. Build stations — Station tool → click a stop. On the USA map, expand into gray metros (cost scales with city size).
2. Lay track — Pick a track type, click station to station. Tracks auto-connect through stationed cities on the line. Click an existing segment to branch via a junction.
3. Buy a train (B) — Click stops in order to set a loop route, then Done.
4. Earn & reinvest — Passengers pay fares; maintenance and ops drain cash. Upgrade track and trains in Select mode.

Track types: Standard (Tier I) · High-Speed (Tier I–II) · Maglev (Tier III only)
Tips: Network overview (O) · Past runs (clock icon) · Share your network from the HUD

Game modes

	Tycoon	Survival
Goal	Milestones + win conditions	Badges + personal best time
Fail state	Bankruptcy below −$250k	Network collapse (sustained high Lost/min)
Pressure	Linear demand growth	Compound growth, tighter crowding
HUD	Time elapsed	Survived + Lost/min + strikes

The sim clock starts when the first passengers spawn — build freely until riders appear.

Tycoon

Open Milestones (medal icon). Expand to all 50 US metros or reach $5M cash to win. Stay above −$250k or face bankruptcy after a grace period.

Survival

No bankruptcy — survive as long as you can. Lost/min above 15 for too long triggers network collapse. 16 badges across duration, skill, network, expert, and a Jack of all trades capstone. Sim-time counts (4× speed does not shorten duration badges).

Controls

Input	Action
Drag / scroll	Orbit / zoom
0	Pan map
1–6	Tools (select, station, tracks, bulldoze)
B	Train shop
O	Network overview
Space	Pause
Esc / right-click	Cancel

Progress autosaves to localStorage. New Game resets the current run; Survival badges and personal best persist.

Known quirks / troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Scores or badges reset unexpectedly	Early dev — leaderboard + local saves still evolving	See disclaimer at top; report via in-game Report bug
Leaderboard empty locally	Netlify Blobs only work on deployed site	Test leaderboard at https://overlandgame.netlify.app/
Trains stuck or paths fail	Graph disconnected or invalid route order	Re-assign route; ensure stations are connected by track
NYC water crossing too expensive	Bridge multiplier (x2.6)	Plan shorter water hops or upgrade track later
Survival collapse at ~15 Lost/min	Sustained overcrowding	Add capacity, reroute trains, or pause to replan
Red GitHub Pages badge	Environment protection on github-pages	See deployment troubleshooting below

Leaderboard (Netlify)

Survival high scores post to netlify/functions/leaderboard.js using Netlify Blobs. Local npm run dev does not persist global leaderboard entries — use the live deploy.

Deployment

Live: overlandgame.netlify.app

Pushes to main also build dist/ and deploy to gh-pages via .github/workflows/deploy.yml.

GitHub Pages setup & troubleshooting

Settings → Pages → Source: Deploy from branch gh-pages / / (root)

If you see Branch "main" is not allowed to deploy to github-pages:

1. Settings → Environments → github-pages
2. Deployment branches → No restriction (or add main and gh-pages)
3. Disable Required reviewers if enabled
4. Re-run the failed deploy

The red pages build and deployment bot job is optional; the workflow deploy is what updates the site.

Tech

• Three.js + Vite — low-poly 3D maps
• d3-geo Albers-USA + us-atlas TopoJSON
• Graph network with Dijkstra pathfinding
• Tick-based passenger simulation (decoupled from render loop)
• Icons: Phosphor (MIT) · Font: Outfit (OFL)

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.