Railway Islands Review: Budget Puzzle Zen on a Shoestring

What Is Railway Islands?

Railway Islands by QUBYTE is a puzzle game where you have to move and rotate tiles to complete the track and see your train journey to the stations before exiting through a tunnel. The game starts easily enough by giving you just straight and curved pieces of track, but as the game progresses, more complex pieces of track such as bridges, ramps, crossroads and minimum usage signs are introduced. Soon a simple sounding premise starts to become extremely tricky.

Game Snapshot

Developer: Kodobur Yazilim / Rising Moon Games (console)
Publisher: QUByte Interactive
Release Date: 2021 (PC), console ports followed
Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC
Genre: Puzzle

Gameplay

The game has approximately 50 levels, along with a sandbox mode to keep players coming back for more. I tend to get fed up with puzzle games on the whole, as most of the time there’s no real challenge until the last few levels. The puzzles would be so simple that I could probably get through them in one session without breaking much of a sweat. Thankfully with Railway Islands, that isn’t the case. I’m somewhere between level 30 and 40, and some days I’m lucky to get through one puzzle in a sitting. But when it clicks and you figure it out it’s a great feeling.

Presentation

Looking at the listing on the PlayStation Store, we weren’t expecting much. The simple graphics and the low price of entry really made us question whether Railway Islands would be worth playing, and we almost didn’t pick it up. But we’re really glad that we did. Yes at times the controls can be a bit fiddly making selecting the tile you want a bit of a nightmare at times, but the real issue with Railway Islands is how it has flown so far under most players’ radar.

Scoring

Final Word

It’s been a long time since a puzzle game has been able to challenge and stump us as much as this one. Looking at the listing on the PlayStation Store we weren’t expecting much, but Railway Islands surprised us completely. Yes, the controls can be a bit fiddly making selecting the tile you want a bit of a nightmare at times, but the game’s ability to stump you and then reward you when you finally figure it out makes it well worth the low price of entry. It has flown far too far under most players’ radar.

FAQ

What type of puzzle game is Railway Islands?
Railway Islands is a tile rotation puzzle game. You move and rotate track pieces to create a complete route for your train, connecting it to stations before guiding it out through a tunnel. As levels progress, more complex track types are introduced including bridges, ramps and crossroads.

How many levels does Railway Islands have?
Railway Islands has approximately 50 main levels along with a sandbox mode that lets players create and share their own puzzles. The sandbox community content varies widely in difficulty.

What platforms is Railway Islands available on?
Railway Islands is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. It is priced very affordably at around 4.99 on console storefronts.

Useful Links

QUByte Interactive Official Site