Trainyard review: Follow That App of the Week

Simple enough to draw you in, challenging enough to keep you engrosed, Trainyard is an intelligent and wonderfully original puzzler created by a single developer, Matt Rix. It’s our Follow That App of the Week for June 25th 2011.

Love
This unusual and intriguing game challenges you to draw train tracks to guide the colour coded trains to their destination. It starts off almost too simply, but you’ll be glad of the early levels as they teach you the basic principles. Stick with it as you’ll soon be drawn into the gameplay through an increasingly difficult series of levels relying on timing, logic and even your knowledge of mixing colours, as you try and guide the right number of the right colour trains home.

The graphics are retro, but still feel very original. The 100 levels were more than enough to defeat us, with the later levels requiring some serious concentration. If you’re really stuck, you can visit the website for user-submitted solutions.

And if you’d like to try before you buy, then Trainyard Express is available with more than enough levels to sample.

Don’t love
It can be frustrating to get the track to lay out as you would like with curves often needing to be redrawn. The graphics are spartan compared to what is possible in the App Store, but in truth this is more brain food than eye candy.

Overall
If you’re looking for an original puzzler that will engage and frustrate you in equal measure for hours on end, then this is an excellent option and all the more creditable for being the work of a single developer.

Want more?

Fanboy store review: “Excellent app that keeps you from going brain-dead. Fun, addictive, and you don’t have to mortgage the farm to buy it. Appears the developer keeps it updated, and also keeps you informed. This app is a definite winner.”

Meh store review: “Challenging but boring.”

Get it: here.