Comparison

Design A Train vs Design & Run Train

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Design A Train

Design and color your own trains with a variety of tools and stickers. Once complete, you can save, share, print, or integrate your creations into other train-themed games.

Highlights
  • Customize train cars and engines
  • Easy one-touch coloring
  • Add and reposition stickers
  • Assemble and rearrange full trains
  • Export to other train games
  • Save, share, and print creations
Features
Read full description

Do you love trains? Do you love coloring? Then Design A Train is the perfect app for you - or your train-loving toddler. Design A Train allows you to select a train car or engine and customize it to your heart's delight. Simply pick a train car or engine, color it in as desired with easy one-touch fill, and then add some stickers for extra fun. When you're done with your locomotive masterpiece you can save it to your device, share it with the family - or perhaps print it out for a prize place on the family fridge. FEATURES: - CUSTOMIZE & COLOR Easily add color to your train. Just tap a color from the palette and then tap your train. - ZOOM (iPhone/iPod Touch only) Easily zoom in to color some of the smaller regions. - STICKERS Browse a range of stickers and then tap to add to your train. Change your mind about a sticker? You can drag stickers to reposition them or just double-tap to delete. - PLAY WITH YOUR TRAIN Once you have customized a car or engine, you can add it to your full train and then rearrange and place your train cars as desired. - INTEGRATION WITH BUILD A TRAIN Customize your train and then with one tap, you can export your very own personal train for use with Build A Train. - INTEGRATION WITH BUILD A TRAIN PUZZLES Customize your train and select the train yard of your choice. Then with one tap, you can export your very own customized puzzle for use with Build A Train Puzzles. - SAVE, SHARE AND PRINT You can save your train cars to your device library, easily send them to friends or print them out. Note: printing is supported for devices running iOS 4.2+ that are connected to AirPrint enabled printers. "Highly recommend" - http://Best10Apps.com Got suggestions for improving Design A Train? Leave a review and let us know! We love to hear constructive feedback - it helps make the app better. -- To learn more about Playtend please visit us at http://playtend.com

About

Design & Run Train

Design and build custom trains from various parts and templates. Then, drive your creations on tracks, controlling speed, horns, and switches while experiencing realistic station announcements.

Highlights
  • Design and build custom trains
  • Control train speed and horns
  • Use railroad switches
  • Experience realistic station announcements
  • Add and remove train wagons
  • Craft train parts from brick pieces
Features
Read full description

Design & run train games allow you to play and learn everything about train craft and driving. You will learn how to control a train as it goes around a track, activate different horns, control speed, add and remove wagons, use railroad switches, listen to real train station announcements, and train riding around tracks. Design & craft all the parts of the train to ride on railway tracks. You can build unique trains by putting together pieces of colorful bricks like a puzzle. You can select from multiple varieties of classical locomotive templates, which range from old steam train to powerful diesel locomotive to modern high-speed train. Optionally, they can create entirely new designs using various brick styles and train parts. Once a train has been built, you can thus go on the railway and experience exciting train riding adventures.

Screenshots

Design A Train4 screens
Design & Run Train4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Design A Train at 71% against Design & Run Train's 0%. Design A Train also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.8) and ads (none vs shown). Design & Run Train's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99). On ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Design & Run Train is free to download; Design A Train costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Design A Train holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25 and 23 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Design A Train's written reviews are positive against 0% of Design & Run Train's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Design A Train ships an update every 2 months, Design & Run Train every 47 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Design A Train versus Design & Run Train: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDesign A TrainDesign & Run Train
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (25 ratings) — better1.8 (23 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings25 — better23
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 47 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlaytend Apps LLPFarrukh Ahmad

Customer experience

Design A Train

All ratings25 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative12.0%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral9.5%
Negative19.0%

Design & Run Train

All ratings20 ratings
Positive15.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative75.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Design A Train

No in-app purchases

None

Design & Run Train

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Design A Train free?
Design A Train costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Design & Run Train free?
Design & Run Train is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Design A Train or Design & Run Train?
Design A Train is rated higher. Design A Train averages 4.4 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Design & Run Train averages 1.8 from 23 ratings.
Do Design A Train or Design & Run Train have ads?
Design & Run Train shows ads; Design A Train does not.
Which is updated more often, Design A Train or Design & Run Train?
Design A Train ships an update every 2 months, and Design & Run Train every 47 months. Most recently, Design A Train was updated on October 23, 2026 and Design & Run Train on October 24, 2026.

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