As I look at all 5 folders worth of games on my iPhone, I see a lot of great titles. Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, Infinity Blade and Tiny Wings are just a tiny sliver of the iOS games I really enjoy and I could probably do posts on those games by themselves. This game right here, Trainyard, has been really fun and challenging for me.

The game has been out for a while, and while I’ve been playing it since it came out, recently playing on the iPad has made me rediscover just how challenging and rewarding this game can be. Watching your trains match up and make their destination is awesome enough to make you want to do the replay a couple times in fast and super-slow motion.

There are many ways to solve the bunches of Trainyard puzzles.

Trainyard puts you in a 7×7 grid with colored trains which need to be taken to a station of a certain color. At the start, it’s as basic as getting a red train to a red station just by making a direct path, but as you advance and collect stars, the complexities of Trainyard become varied in not just the path of one station, but several different stations and different colored trains. Different challenges include blending colors together (i.e. a red train and blue train meeting at the same place and time becomes a purple train), handling multiple trains leave a single station, and even taking trains thru a splitter (i.e. that purple train would separate into red and blue trains). If you mix two colors that don’t blend together, they turn brown and you’ll need to either paint them or they are as good as crashed.

You’re also limited to two tracks per grid, and you also must be mindful of which track is on top of which before you start the trains. Once a train takes a designated path, the underlying track becomes active for the next train coming thru. You’ll likely find yourself redrawing tracks and figuring out the proper track order a couple times on some tougher levels.

Bonus levels add more playing life to Trainyard

There are 14 different cities with around 7 to 9 levels per, not to mention user-made levels which really bring on the puzzled face and have you scratching your head. You can upload your own solutions, share it on FB and Twitter, and even see multiple solutions from different people play out on a computer. It’s also fun to see people who make their trains go in loopty loops just for fun. There are also Game Center achievements now in the game for those wanting more cheeves on there iWhatever device.

Trainyard sells for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store, and there is a free version called Trainyard Express.