Ever since I was a child, I loved trains and puzzles. The idea of trains in gaming is even better, with some of the best level design and set pieces in gaming being set on trains (Golden Eye, Gears of War). And puzzles make up a core component of many great game types including adventure and survival horror games (Resident Evil and Tomb Raider). But what if you combine both trains and puzzles? Well, you get Railbound of course!
Railbound is a cute, simply satisfying and laid-back puzzler that tasks you with fitting together train tracks, and overcoming various obstacles in order to link up a number of stray carriages with a locomotive. It’s a sweet idea and the demo from the latest Steam Next Fest had us interested, but does the full game manage to keep us entertained, or does it lose steam mid-way?
All aboard for puzzle express
Railbound is an adorable puzzler that tasks players with building numerous sets of train tracks between stranded train carriages and a locomotive. It sounds simple enough, but players will have to deal with a ton of different blockers along the way. Including limited amounts of tracks, you can lay down, linking carriages in a certain order, switches that change the direction of the tracks, gates, and more. The goal remains the same throughout the campaign, but the challenge only advances with each world you visit and in some instances multiple problems at the same time!
And that’s really the gist of Railbound, and what you see is what you get. But that doesn’t mean Railbound lacks depth, charm, or enjoyable gameplay, as it has plenty of these things and a little more.
The presentation is quite darling, with an art style that makes me fondly reminisce of childhood favourite books, featuring warm colours, clean and handsome line work, and a sweet manner that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when you see it. There’s a catchy soundtrack, with light jazz tones and mellow beats that ease you as you try and solve a variation of easy-going to ultra-puzzling tasks featuring trains-related problems.
Railbound is a cosy game to dive into, making you feel at ease, as you test your lateral skills in some unique ways. Never does it demand too much from you at most times, but the fair share of tough puzzles is usually offset by the charming, warm, and brilliant art style. Never did I feel frustrated, nor was I angry when the odd puzzle got on my nerves, as I never felt that was the game’s intention. It’s a pleasant train track builder, that’s always easing the tone and never implying too much stress.
This is mainly down to the level of accessibility, which offers a nice range of changes to allow everyone to enjoy and play. I would consider myself a master puzzler, but there were a couple of moments (one or two obvious when I completed them) when I needed to skip a level, and Railbound accommodated that wish, allowing me to move on and come back later. There is a hint system, which doesn’t spell out the solution but acts to gently guide you to the goal, and of course, the UI is delightfully straightforward and easy to read.
Railbound does indeed deserve high praise for its considerate nature, ease of introducing all types of players to its world and making you feel right at home and ready to mellow out.
First class train problems
The concept of a puzzle game centred on trains might delight many, or leave others utterly confused. This could be due to thinking “How can you make a puzzle game about trains remain interesting for multiple hours? Especially over 150 levels”.
I can certainly say the developers have outshined themselves in presenting, not only a solid and fun core mechanic but also introducing new elements and dynamics throughout the 150 levels to make it stay fresh from start to end.
The first world starts off nice and easy, with players just learning the basics of track laying. You’ll be laying tracks from point A to point B, and allowing that poor stranded carriage to be reunited with that locomotive. But soon enough, you’ll see new problems come into play, such as more carriages that need to be connected in a certain order (as they’re numbered on the top), and making sure they don’t crash into one another. How to do this with a limited number of track pieces? Do you make multiple tracks of different lengths? Looping tracks and other arrangements to overcome the problem? That’s what you need to figure out.
And this core gameplay loop is later injected with other interesting components, that will offer a new type of problem. Ranging from connected tunnels to junctions which change direction when a carriage rides over a button and picks up passengers at different stops to name a few. All the challenges introduced throughout the campaign were compelling additions, and there was never a dynamic which left me wishing it was cut out. And most wonderful about Railbound in the later stages of the campaign, is how many of these different dynamics are combined to make for grander, more complex challenges which will require quite a bit of thinking power.
And there is the fascinating inclusion (if not minor) of train physics, where carriage movement and speed will factor into certain solutions. As you could build a track that allows multiple carriages to travel simultaneously, until a certain point, or after a couple of loops around the track, that they differ on routes, or go in another direction. There are a couple of solutions which require the carriages to loop the track a few times, before the physics and certain factors on the track such as switches, kick in and work the magic, and thus solve the puzzle.
I can see that many of these late-stage puzzles would be a little daunting for some players, but there are the accessibility options I previously mentioned to allow you to skip and completely ignore any puzzles you don’t like. Or get a tip from the hint system. Each world has a good selection of levels, with there being 10 main levels to solve before you can move on to the next world, with several bonus levels to unlock. Making a total number of 150 levels to overcome.
And to top everything off, there is a mysterious bonus world at the end, which will prove a real challenge, even to a lateral master.
While I thoroughly enjoyed everything, from the colourful presentation, the simple yet engaging core gameplay, and the variety of dynamics making up different challenges. I do wish there was a free-play mode, where I could build whatever, I want to go a little nut. The bonus stages do indeed give you plenty of tracks to use, but you still must complete the same goal. A free mode or even more so a mode where you could make your own puzzles would have been an exceptional cheery on a wonderful cake. I hope this is something that has crossed the developers’ minds and maybe for the sequel, they could consider this as a possible inclusion.
Overall?Railbound can be summed up with any manner of loving adjectives such as cute, heartfelt, warm, and adorable. And for good reason, as it really is a lovely game that gives you a solid core gameplay loop, pretty visuals, and a good hearty amount of lateral problem-solving featuring trains. While an extra game mode or two would have been the perfect topping on an otherwise perfect treat, Railbound is still a vastly enjoyable venture that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. The developers have done a brilliant job at designing a near-perfect puzzle game, which has so many paths it could take for a sequel. To summarise, Railbound is the darling indie game on the market right now, and one that is worth checking out.
++ Cute, and warming visual style and sound design
++ Great train theme puzzle gameplay
+ Lots of variation in problems and dynamics
+ Lots of levels to playthrough
- Lacks any interesting game modes, such as free, or map editor
An Xbox Series X/S review code for Railbound was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
