Sensible Train Spotting

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Sensible Train Spotting is a computer game for the Amiga, released by Sensible Software.

The game is Sensible Software's last ever Amiga game and is only available on an Amiga Power cover disk from August 1995. Because of this, it is not nearly as famous as Sensible Software's earlier releases, Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder.

Sensible Train Spotting is the world's first ever computerized train spotting simulator. The game takes place at a railway station, with a view looking at the train platforms. Various trains arrive at the platforms and leave from them, each having a unique ID number. At the bottom of the screen is a check list of train ID numbers. The player can move a selection box with the joystick, and upon spotting a train whose ID number appears in the check list, the player can press the fire button to record that train. Spotting a train with the wrong ID number is not allowed. When all trains in the check list have been spotted, the game moves on to the next level.

Years later, in 2003, a PC games company called Demon Star released another train spotting simulator, called Train Tracker, for the PC. The company claimed their game was the first ever train spotting simulator, although its gameplay was virtually identical to Sensible Train Spotting. British journalist Stuart Campbell was annoyed at this, and reacted to it by buying a fully registered copy of Train Tracker and making it publicly downloadable, free of charge, from his web site.