Lego Loco is a Lego-branded simulation game for Microsoft Windows, released in November 1998. It is a simple open-ended construction game with an emphasis on rail transport. The aim of the game is to construct a town in which Lego minifigures can live. This was the first game released by Lego Media, the publishing division of The Lego Group that was founded after the commercial success of Mindscape's Lego Island.
Development
Following the success of Lego Island, The Lego Group was still cautious about entering the gaming market, believing it could hurt or even overtake their toy sales. Around this time, the company formed their own publishing division, Lego Media International, whose goal was to work with outside developers and further explore ideas for Lego games. The first three titles developed under this initiative were Lego Creator by Superscape, Lego Chess by Krisalis Software, and Lego Loco by Intelligent Games, all released on 11 November 1998.
The concept of Lego Loco was partially inspired by an internal project from Intelligent Games, known as SNM Slave, where players could control a character who lived on their computer desktop. The company later realized that due to its inherently edgy nature, the concept wouldn't work as a marketable product, so they attempted to rework the idea of an interactable object on a desktop into something else, with the idea eventually evolving into a buildable Lego train set that would drive around the desktop screen, known as Lego Desktop Railway.
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Lego Loco was generally well received with it having been awarded two noteworthy accolades: CODIE Software Publishers Association Excellence in Software Awards - Best New Strategy and Simulation Software, and PIN Quality Mark Gold Award - Parents Information Network.
Aaron Curtiss from the Los Angeles Times said in his review that "Lego Loco is a mess. The intent was to give kids a virtual railroad to build and run. What they get is a game that made me want to tie myself to the tracks". PC Gamers Jonathan Davies called Lego Loco a "crude version of Railroad Tycoon", saying it lacked any game structure and barely resembled actual Lego train sets.