Features

App Army Assemble: Railbound - "Should you go full steam ahead with this adorable puzzler?"

We ask the App Army

App Army Assemble: Railbound - "Should you go full steam ahead with this adorable puzzler?"
|
| Railbound

Railbound is the latest puzzler from the developer of inbento and Golf Peaks. It tasks you with connecting trains by flicking various switches along the tracks. It sports a cutesy aesthetic that radiates warm and cosy vibes, but as I always say, looks aren't everything. So, we handed the game over to our App Army to see if the puzzles are enjoyable.

Here's what they said:

Sangeet Shukla

A puzzle game featuring 8 separate worlds, each with a unique setting, but the goal of connecting and severing trains between them remains the same. As you advance, the puzzles become more complex with additional railway coaches, switches, and their modifications. Graphics are straightforward but lovely, and a calming BGM enhances the experience. The controls are simple to use and include choices for reset, undo, add, and delete, however, the Android version lacks a hint button. An excellent game overall for passing the time.

Torbjörn Kämblad

Railbound is a simple enough puzzler with the goal of connecting carts to a train engine. The carts have to be assembled in the correct order, and the limitation comes in the limited number of track pieces. New obstacles are introduced as you complete levels such as underground tunnels. The levels are short but still took me some trial and error to complete. The presentation is sleek albeit there isn’t much going on. The music bored me quite quickly though. Railbound didn’t hook me, and the “one more puzzle”-urge never set in. A mid-tier puzzler in my book.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on
Robert Maines

Railbound is an isometric puzzle game where you must lay down the track on a grid to guide your railway carriages so they can connect to a locomotive so the journey across a country can continue. Once you’ve set up your routes you hit a button to see if your plan will work. Of course, things are not that simple, it is a puzzle game after all. You are limited to how many tiles of track you can lay down, the amount changes every level.

Your carriages must be connected in order (1,2,3) and must not crash or get stuck. As you progress through the game, more stuff is at with extra carriages and gates controlled by pressure pads. Good graphics, nice music and a game that is easy to get lost in as you just want to complete one more level. Gets a thumbs up from me and the hint system is there if you get too frustrated.

Pierpaolo Morgante

In this puzzle game, we need to place train tracks on a board trying to connect different cars (in a specific order) to their engine. The graphics look really good, and the overall atmosphere of the game is relaxing, aided by the soundtrack. The levels progressively increase in difficulty, starting from tutorials-like to very hard. Overall, I found the game in style with other titles from the same developers. It offers a ton of levels, but the price tag of $4.99 might be a little too much. I definitely recommend it to fans of puzzle games, aficionados of the developer, and to casual gamers alike.

Hope Sellers

The game is very pleasing with graphics and the puzzles are fun but I got stuck quick. I'm not the best at them but I’m enjoying this title. It’s very fun. I do think there should be more hints though. Great for puzzle lovers and fans of chill gameplay.

Mark Abukoff

This is a pleasant-looking puzzler, adding and manipulating tracks to get train cars attached to the engine. You start with one car and simple moves. Then more cars are added, as well as different and interesting mechanics. The puzzles start simple and gradually get a bit more complicated.

Once or twice I had to look for help online as there was no hint feature. I wouldn’t have minded that. The graphics are vibrant and appealing and the music is also very nice. The controls are simple and worked well. It’s a nice, unique (to my experience) puzzler. Happily recommend it to fans of the genre.

What is the App Army?

The App Army is Pocket Gamer's lovely community of mobile game experts. As often as possible, we ask them for their thoughts on the latest games and share them with you.

To join, simply head over to either our Discord Channel or Facebook Group and request access by answering the three questions. We'll then get you in right away.

Stephen Gregson-Wood
Stephen Gregson-Wood
Stephen brings both a love of games and a very formal-sounding journalism qualification to the Pocket Gamer team.