Trainyard for iPhone. A Line Drawing Puzzle Game on the Right Tracks (Review)

Trainyard Rating: ★★★★½

The iPhone’s touch screen has made a whole new genre of games possible and they are thriving in the app store, from Flight Control and Fare City to Harbor Master and Taxi Jam these apps are creating waves in the gaming market.

The latest to jump in to the mix is Trainyard which adds a puzzle aspect to raise the bar in this already power packed area.

The task in Trainyard is to move your trains from their outlet station to their goal station while performing certain tasks along the way, from avoiding obstacles to combining and mixing trains to match the colors of their goal station.

The game starts at a nice sedate pace with a great in game tutorial to help you along the way. The tutorial both demonstrates and allows you to perform the tasks as you play the game and it jumps into whenever a new ‘puzzle’ is introduced to the game.

As you progress through the 13 cities and over 100 puzzles the complexity of the puzzles becomes harder and harder and when the mixing of colors is introduced things take on a whole new level.

Playing the game is a pleasure too. You guide your trains to their respective destinations by drawing a line with your finger and the tack is laid beneath it. Do something wrong and you can either undo your last moves or erase the whole thing by shaking your device.

The graphics and menu’s are simple, clean and easy on the eye which make the game easy to play and understanding the puzzles is simple too even if the solutions aren’t.

One of my only problems with Trainyard was the color mixing aspect of it. As someone with red/green colorblindness some of the levels took a degree of trial and error but it is good to see that the developer has recognized this and has an update planned to make the game colorblind friendly.

The game is for a single player only and while there are also no leader boards you can boast about your successes via both Facebook and Twitter.

Trainyard is part line drawing game part puzzle game and the combination has been put together beautifully in this fun, challenging puzzle game that looks both great and plays wonderfully.

Trainyard will set you back $1.99 but it will be one of the best two dollars you’ve ever spent in the App Store.

Pros

  • Perfectly pitched learning curve
  • Smooth simple controls
  • 100+ levels

Cons

  • Single player only
  • No leader boards

Price: $1.99 (iTunes Store)
Category: Games
Released: Jun 10, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.00
1.00 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)
Size: 2.8 MB
Language: English
Seller: Matt Rix
© 2010 Matt Rix
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later.

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