Choo-Choo Charles Reviews

Choo-Choo Charles is ranked in the 11th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Travis Northup
Top Critic
4 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2022

Choo-Choo Charles is a haphazardly assembled meme-come-to-life that’s short, silly, and exceedingly dull.

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Kotaku
Top Critic
Unscored
Dec 9, 2022

But sadly, a reliance on bad stealth sections, a lack of scares, and an overabundance of upgrade materials early on derail the game and make it a rather lackluster, not very scary experience.

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6.5 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2022

Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2022

Choo Choo Charles never takes itself seriously, but there's a fun game at its core with simple yet effective mechanics.

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Unscored
Dec 9, 2022

A weird meme turned survival horror game with a compelling elevator pitch, Choo-Choo Charles sees you stalked by a half-spider, half-train monster.

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5 / 10.0
Jan 4, 2023

Choo Choo Charles reminds me of a movie by Full Moon Studios - like Demonic Toys, Hideous, or Head of the Family, it’s an entertaining “what if?” concept that just isn’t enough to support an entire piece of media. With basic gameplay comparable to any number of low budget horror titles, it’s a fun idea and absolutely nothing besides. I wish it had more to offer, but like so many joke games before it, we already got the punchline when we saw the trailer and there’s nothing the gameplay adds on top of it. To be brutally honest, Choo Choo Charles would have been better as a fake game, or at the very least nothing would have changed if it was.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2022

While it may not have a lengthy playtime or genre-defining mechanics, Choo-Choo Charles is nonetheless an impressive project created by a single person. If you're craving some dumb spooky fun centered around upgrading your own train whilst trying to derail a demon spider locomotive (a very specific craving, indeed), then look no further.

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65 / 100
Dec 11, 2022

Will there ever be another Choo-Choo Charles? I sort of hope so. Sure, this first stab at it has issues, but there’s no reason Two Star Games can’t continue to mold this into a dark horse juggernaut. It may take years, but I hope it happens. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the future of this franchise.

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6 / 10
Dec 9, 2022

Choo-Choo Charles is undoubtedly an amusing concept. But it feels more like a semi-polished tech demo than a retail experience, which isn't helped by the awful enemy logic.

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1.5 / 5.0
Dec 9, 2022

If you’re looking for a scary Spider Train experience that’ll get your heart rate going, you’re probably just better off watching that Spider-Man 2 scene where everyone keeps Peter Parker’s secret. At least that way, you’ll have seen a good movie instead of playing a video game that was simply made because the idea sounded good in theory.

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Liked
Dec 9, 2022
Choo-Choo Charles REVIEW - YouTube video thumbnail
6.5 / 10.0
Dec 10, 2022

Choo-Choo Charles will offer temporary thrills to meme-lovers or horror-fans, but doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking.

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48 / 100
Dec 16, 2022

Crude, repetitive, rarely scary, and quite often boring, Choo-Choo Charles butchers an unusual concept and only offers a few moments of mediocre tension.

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9 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2022

For what it is, you couldn’t ask a whole lot more from Choo-Choo Charles. It is a game that wants to lure you in with its silly premise and keeps you playing based on solid gameplay and good tension. You won’t get 60 hours of enjoyment out of Choo-Choo Charles, but you don’t need to. It is a good time that doesn’t pretend to be anything but.

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5.5 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2022

Undoubtedly fun for a fright night with friends or a YouTube reaction video, Choo-Choo Charles will find its place comfortably as a not-so-serious meme game with some good horror ideas. There's a charm to the whole experience supported by the fact that its short runtime means it never overstays its welcome. However, the game's shortcomings are simply too obvious to overlook. Requiring more polish, depth, and variety, Choo-Choo Charles doesn't have the longevity needed to be anything more than a fleeting piece of sharable internet entertainment.

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70 / 100
Dec 9, 2022

Whoever expects a coherent analysis of Choo-Choo Charles in this rubbish of a text box, go to the countless websites that will offer it. This is a game that has both its own personality, as well as its plethora of glitches, glitches, 'what are you doing', 'what's going on here', disgustingly basic design. Fight against a spider ghost locomotive that you are not going to kill. Limited movement, a 3D engine full of stuttering and people with eyes glued together... And this is great!... or not. But the review number stops there.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

7 / 10.0
Dec 16, 2022

Choo-Choo Charles may have its flaws, but with such an original premise, the experience, though short, is worthwhile.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

5.5 / 10.0
Jan 13, 2023

Choo-Choo Charles is a hard one to review since everything but Charles is lacking that polish in design, animation, and certain mechanics. However, it is still done well enough to stay engaging to get you to the fun moments. There aren’t any performance issues or glitches I ran into either. With its bad character models and some silly side missions, Choo-Choo Charles is simultaneously silly and scary. At one point you’ll be collecting pickles, and the next you’ll be in a heart pounding fight with a demon train engine with spider legs.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 8, 2022

Choo-Choo Charles is a brilliant proof of concept and a unique twist on the horror market. It tapped into the Thomas the Tank Engine horror games and creepypastas fairly decently, got something good out of it, and molded it into a standalone game with a (technically) original villain.

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7 / 10
Dec 9, 2022

It might not be the most refined title out there, but "Choo-Choo Charles" continues Two Star Games' trend of creating "artistic, atmospheric horror games."

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