Railbound review: a charming, first class puzzler
The sight of a two-carriage train is normally something that prompts a deep sigh of despair from me in real life. Nine times out of ten, it's a sign that something's gone wrong further up the line - that someone, somewhere, has sent out a train with half its usual number of carriages, and is therefore destined to ruin everyone's day in the process by cramming us all in like a pack of sardines.
In Afterburn's adorable train puzzler Railbound, however, two carriages are a cause for celebration. In a game that's about guiding numbered compartments onto the back of an engine (using a limited number of track tiles to get them there in the right order), two-carriage puzzles offer the perfect amount of cerebral head-scratching. They've got a bit more bite than simply guiding a single carriage to its destination, but they're not so complicated that they'll repeatedly make you reach for the hint button to help you fill in the gaps. Railbound has a tendency to be a bit too abstract in its later stages, but more on that in a sec. All you need to know right now is that there are plenty of smart ideas to wrap your head around here, and that you'll be grinning from ear to ear by the time you reach the end of the line.
