Railbound Review

A Comfy Train Ride

Railbound is a puzzle game from Afterburn Games. The game features two dogs, a train conductor, and his assistant, riding the rails. Their path is blocked by missing tracks and various train-related obstructions that players must solve over 150 puzzles throughout eight worlds.

Rail Bending Puzzler

Railbound has adorable comic-style visuals with a relaxing soundtrack. The touchscreen controls make laying down, or picking up, tracks simple. Players can also reset the level or undo their previous move. There are no penalties or limits to how often players undo their moves. However, players are limited to how many tracks they can place on each level.

Players must connect all train carriages to the engine and travel to the next location. Some levels only have one train carriage, but the difficulty increases when the second and third car carriages are added. All cars must attach to the train engine in numerical order to finish the puzzle.

A brief tutorial plays when a new obstacle is introduced. Obstacles include riding through tunnels, pressing a button to activate a gate, or setting a switch to line up tracks in the right direction.

Long Ride, Little Reward

While players may want to learn more about the two dogs featured in the artwork, there is a little story. After completing each world, players receive a cute postcard. While some may enjoy the art of two dogs, their existence is quickly forgotten.

In the later levels, players get a glimpse of other characters in the world who want a ride. The characters are not a vital or necessary part of Railbound, and more focus could have been placed on the puzzle elements.

Railbound offers an alternative for those lost on the path. The hint system isn’t available by default, but players can Railbound offers an alternative for those lost on the path. The hint system isn’t available by default, but players can also activate it within the settings. There is only one hint within each level. Players will see where to place a track, but the game doesn’t give the complete solution.

Within the settings, players can unlock all levels to visit another world. This also unlocks the postcards players receive for completing words. Skipping levels is not recommended since players won’t learn how to solve unfamiliar obstacles outside introduced the level they’re introduced to.

Hold on to Your Tickets

Railbound is a premium game that costs $4.99 in the App Store. While it currently has 180 levels with more to come, it’s not worth the current price. Once all levels are complete, there is almost no replay value. The game saves all progress made after playing; once the level is solved, there’s little reason to return. Cute graphics and music do little to keep players interested.