# Trainyard

> Puzzle game about drawing tracks to guide trains to stations. (iPhone/iPad app by Matt Rix.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trainyard/id348719156 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Matt Rix](https://appshunter.io/developer/348699199)
- Category: Games, Education, Board, Puzzle
- Price: $0.99
- Rating: 4.86/5 from 6,695 App Store ratings · 50 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 3.0 · 8 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2010-06-10
- Data updated: 2026-06-10
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trainyard/id348719156/reviews.md

## What is Trainyard?

New iOS 11 update coming soon! :)

Trainyard has the best user review scores on the entire App Store!

+ Innovative and challenging puzzle mechanic
+ Smooth difficulty curve
+ 100 main puzzles and over 50 bonus puzzles
+ Hundreds of ways to solve each puzzle
+ Puzzle editor: create your own puzzles
+ Retina display support
+ Easily share your unique solutions on Trainyard.ca
+ Looks GREAT on the iPad
+ Engineered for low battery usage
+ Colour-blind mode
+ Game Center support
+ A year in the making
+ Developed in my spare time (support indie games!)

[NOTE: there is a bug in iOS 8 where the game will freeze after a puzzle. To fix it, press Credits -> Rate It. You do not need to actually rate the game, just pressing that button will fix it. Sorry! ]

Stuck on a puzzle? Visit http://trainyard.ca/solutions where there are over *1.5 million* player-submitted solutions.

Trainyard is a puzzle solving game unlike any that you've ever played. It's easy to learn but very tough to master. Your job is simple: get each train to a goal station. Red trains go to red stations, blue trains go to blue stations, etc. You control the trains by drawing track for them to follow. There isn't a time limit or even a score; the only thing you need to do is figure out a solution for each puzzle. 

The first few puzzles are almost too easy, but as the difficulty increases you'll be thankful that you were able to practice the fundamentals of drawing track. As the game progresses, you'll have to use colour theory to combine trains of different colours, use timing to merge and split trains, and use every inch of your brain in your quest to beat the game. 

Find out more at http://www.trainyard.ca

Developed by Matt Rix (matt@trainyard.ca)

Proudly made in Canada.

Think you beat the whole game? Try to solve all the bonus puzzles! Done that? Try to match the track counts on http://trainyard.ca/solutions

Trainyard makes use of these excellent libraries:

+ Cocos2D-iPhone by Ricardo Quesada
+ XAuthTwitterEngine by Aral Balkan
+ Twitter+OAuth code by Ben Gottlieb
+ MGTwitterEngine by Matt Gemmell
+ ASIHTTPRequest by All-Seeing Interactive
+ SFHFKeychainUtils by Buzz Andersen
+ TouchXML by Jonathan Wight
+ FMDB by Flying Meat Inc.

## Key features

- Innovative puzzle mechanic
- 150+ puzzles
- Hundreds of solution variations
- Puzzle editor
- Color-blind mode
- Share solutions online

## What do users think of Trainyard?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Awesome game
- 👍 Challenging puzzles
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 👍 Visually pleasing
- 👍 Satisfying solutions
- 👍 Endless replayability
- 👍 Supports custom puzzles

**Cons**

- 🐛 Occasional freezing/crashing issues
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Game freezes after solving certain puzzles
- Compatibility issues with iOS 11, 12, and 13

**Most requested features**

- Update for larger iPhone/iPad screens
- More levels/puzzles

## Recent user reviews (10 of 50)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trainyard/id348719156/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Trainyard

*2019-06-23, version 1.66*

This is an awesome game! When it is updated to work with IOS 11,12, & 13 then many more users that have been denied the enjoyment of Trainyard will once again be able to play it on current IOS versions instead of being penalized when upgrading IOS to 11,12, or 13. I won't be purchasing a new IPAD until this update is completed and available for download on the Apple App Store. This is just one of many fine games that Apple made unplayable with IOS 11,12, & 13.

### 5/5 — Fantastic game! Too bad APPLE broke it.

*2019-01-05, version 1.66*

APPLE broke Trainyard.  APPLE breaking Trainyard is one of the reasons why my new phone is NOT an iPhone. I can still play this fantastic game on my old iPhone’s small screen because I didn’t downgrade to iOS 11 (or 12) on it, but I can’t play this awesome game on my iPad anymore because I foolishly downgraded to iOS 12 (from 10) and APPLE is too incompetent to keep previous apps that ran fine running fine after the foolish owner downgrades to a new version of iOS. This has happened once too many times and I’m unlikely to ever get another APPLE computer of any type.

Still, I hope for a fix to Trainyard to work around APPLE’s incompetence, so I can play this outstanding game on my iPad again.

Previous comment:

I absolutely love this game. I have only one complaint that keeps it from being five stars: I HATE the whole "unlocked" meme that somehow got started on iPhone games. If I want to try one of the harder puzzles before solving all of the easier ones, the game shouldn't be stopping me.  Right now I'm stuck on two puzzles, the only ones that are unlocked, and the game won't even let me SEE the next one until I solve BOTH of them.  This dumb system is common to a lot of iPhone games, so I can't really hold it against this awesome game, but it would sure be a better game (five stars easily) without it.

I decided that's not reason enough to complain, so I upped the rating to the five stars this AWESOME game deserves.

### 5/5 — Excellent game, even better value

*2018-12-27, version 1.66*

A unique and wonderfully engaging puzzle game with a great "experiment until you get it right" paradigm that beats the tar out of "oops I goofed, I'm ruined forever" scoring of a lot of others.  Remarkably simple to learn and deceptively challenging to master, the solution space encourages you to try to find others and explore solutions of different types, symmetries, lengths and difficulties. Hard to put down. One of the best games for the iPad.

Edit:  Why hasn’t this game been updated?  I miss it.

### 5/5 — Best Game .

*2017-08-07, version 1.66*

Fun to learn, fun to play, very challenging and it gets quite complex.  The trial and error of figuring out the hard ones is more fun albeit a bit frustrating.

The game fails after each puzzle, so you have to close the app and reopen.  But from what I can tell, this is an Apple upgrade issue more than a game issue.... The game should be fixed, but it's such a good game, I couldn't doc it a star over it.

Really lots of fun.  Hours and hours and hours of fun.  There's also a free extension; or perhaps is a free learning app -- but play the other app before or after this app; it doesn't matter.  I've playing both twice -- not quite done yet.

### 5/5 — Phenomenal Puzzle Game

*2017-06-03, version 1.66*

This is a great way to pass the time and give yourself a brain aneurysm at the same time! The puzzles start out deceptively easy but get progressively insane! But with each new addition to the puzzle, your sense of pride and accomplishment increase with each success! 

I've beaten the game (finally) and I can honestly say there was only one puzzle (the second the last - Cooksville Creek) that completely stumped me. I had to look it up online. But every other solution was my own!

If you're into puzzles or trains, you've got to try this app and before you know it, you'll be encouraging your friends and family to give it a try!

### 5/5 — Still the best

*2016-09-07, version 1.66*

After all these years, still the best puzzle game in the store. Challenging and very clever. Solutions, especially to the more difficult ones, are viscerally satisfying. The ability to "clone" partial solutions is very useful and makes for less frustration as you try out possible combinations. Kudos too for designing the game so that there are always several puzzles available to be worked on as you move up the ladder of difficulty - no bottlenecks that are such a problem with other puzzle games.

### 5/5 — One of the top 10 best iOS games

*2015-08-28, version 1.66*

Hands down Trainyard is one of the very best puzzlers for iOS.

NOTE: There is a 'screen freezing' bug when playing on iOS 8 that prevents you from clicking to go to the next puzzle - You can fix it by closing the game (double tap Home and flick it off screen), reopening it, going into the menu and then the credits screen. Tapping on 'Rate It' resolves the issue. Apparently you don't need to rate it, just tap the button to resolve.

### 5/5 — Simple, challenging, fun

*2015-05-26, version 1.66*

I seldom write reviews, but this game is too great.  The idea is simple, very easy to learn the rules of how to lay the tracks.  But some of the puzzles can be amazingly complex. The engineer in me is jumping up and down to have found a game that is so simple, challenging, and yet so fun.  And easy to pick up where you left off. I've had this game for a year.  Made it through all the games, no plowing through the Worldwide games submitted by users.  Thanks Matt for a great game and for allowing users to submit their own designs.

### 5/5 — Great puzzle game that makes you think

*2015-05-08, version 1.66*

Interesting game which takes a few minutes to master each new level. To the developers: Starting with the "Cute Loop" puzzle and has continued so far with the next four puzzles as well, after solving, it freezes and you can't click on any of the buttons. I have to force close, open the game again and then click on the menu button inside the game to be able to go to the next puzzle. Hope you can fix this issue. Iphone 6 plus. Thank you.

### 5/5 — Awesome Game 👍🏆👍🏆👍🏆👍

*2015-05-04, version 1.66*

Just finished Trainyard Express this evening and although I have another great freebie game I'm playing right now............. I had to go ahead and buy the full version Trainyard!!!! It's not often I find games that get me hooked but this is one 😜that I find hard to put down!!! 
I highly recommend it to puzzle lovers and everyone👍🎉🏆!!!!!!!
I am very impressed at how long I can play it without killing my phone battery!! It's very visually pleasing as well as challenging had nice audio effects to go with it!!!  I can't say enough great things about this game!!!
Although I just started the full, paid version I'm already loving it and have not had one single problem with it!! I just wanted to mention that after noticing that other posters complained about it freezing etc!! 
PI sure hope Matt Rix comes up with another great game to keep us busy after Trainyard.......kudos 👏🏆to you Matt and all who were involved in the creation and development of this fantastic game!!! Thank you for Trainyard❗🎈😉👌

## Frequently asked questions about Trainyard

### What is Trainyard?

Trainyard is a puzzle-solving game where players draw tracks to guide trains to their corresponding colored stations. It features an innovative mechanic that is easy to learn but challenging to master, with a smooth difficulty curve.

### How many puzzles are in Trainyard?

The game includes over 100 main puzzles and more than 50 bonus puzzles, totaling over 150 challenges. Players can also create and share their own puzzles using the built-in puzzle editor.

### Is Trainyard free to play?

Based on the provided information, Trainyard is a paid application. There is no mention of free-to-play elements, in-app purchases, or advertisements.

### What platforms is Trainyard available on?

The description specifically mentions an 'iOS 11 update coming soon!' and 'Retina display support', and that it 'Looks GREAT on the iPad'. This indicates it is available on iOS devices.

### What are some common use cases for Trainyard?

Trainyard is used for engaging in challenging puzzle-solving, exercising logic and spatial reasoning skills, and exploring creative solutions to complex problems. It's also used by players who enjoy creating and sharing their own unique puzzle designs.

## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.66 — 2011-09-01

+ Make your own puzzles!
+ Achievements
+ Game Center
+ Universal (works on iPad)
+ New puzzles
+ Hundreds of other bug fixes and improvements

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## More apps by Matt Rix

- [Trainyard Express](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trainyard-express/id348724199)
- [Scorekeeper XL](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scorekeeper-xl/id463243024)

All apps by Matt Rix: https://appshunter.io/developer/348699199

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*