Railroad Tiles, a Tiny Train, and the Quest for Perfection
Build out connected roads and tracks to create a pleasant landscape with interesting challenges to complete in Railroad Tiles.
When Railroad Tiles first arrived earlier this year, I had a wonderful time playing! It seemed like it might be a little bit on the lighter side, yet the puzzle finally drew me back to it… Onto another challenge! The light colors and charming artwork offered a very cozy sort of atmosphere, and I loved seeing the tiny vehicles again. Back to this excellent tile-laying game!
Game Overview
Game Name: Railroad Tiles
Publication Year: 2025
Designers: Hjalmar Hach & Lorenzo Silva
Artists: Francesco De Benedittis & Marta Tranquilli
Publisher: Horrible Guild
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Tiles are chosen from columns, which balance the amount with other benefits. Solo challenges provide additional goals or limitations. Creating a cohesive little space takes some effort! Cities pop up as cars, trains, and travelers take up spots to fill in the area. It’s a quick and fun sort of puzzle!
First Play
February 21, 2026
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 15, 2026
Expansions
0
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
25
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
83
Game Area
30" x 16"
Low Score
45
Ready for Train Fun
This Calico Critters family waited a little while for me to find a train game I could enjoy! Yet I think their outfits likely drew me to this one, which was the perfect choice.
Ah! Actually, this session was all about perfection… The solo challenge, that is. It requires 3 or less openings at the end. And let me tell you: That is one difficult challenge!
I started to play on a quiet evening, but ended up spending most of a weekend afternoon playing over and over again.
Perfection? More like determination! I kept these Calico Critters nearby for the moment they would celebrate a win!
Round, Round, & Round
I believe I previously made a small rules error with placing the cars, trains, and travelers: Only the pair of tokens in the waiting area of the board are used. I definitely used three!
But that didn’t really change much about my scores, for this challenge was about limiting the openings. That led me to try to build a smaller area, although I was so tempted.
How else can you achieve the world’s greatest looping track like this?! Clearly the work of a master architect. Ha ha!
Try as I might, I was approaching 20 attempts. So close so many times! It was awesome to feel so focused, though.
Finding Perfection
At last, I present my interpretation of perfection! I barely met the 3-star scoring threshold I was after, but the most important thing was that I minimized the openings.
Success! For how many times in a row I played and the number of times I came so close, I was barely frustrated.
This was all about working through the puzzle. Getting lucky played a role in some senses, yet I found myself staying engaged the whole time. Even resetting was fun!
I expected to try out multiple solo challenges, yet this was exactly as advertised: Perfection! Just an awesome time!
Rolling Through Town
There it is: My victory celebration crew! This adorable train rolled through town, not quite adhering to the tracks, but it was close enough. Look at all of the Calico Critters!
I was pretty sure the conductor was either trying to be extra stealthy, or was simply holding on while this train chugged by at its maximum speed of about 2 inches per hour. Ha!
Devoting this many consecutive plays to the same game, and even the same challenge, isn’t all that common for me.
Yet it was a great time, and even my husband remarked on how determined I was. Hurray for feeling accomplished!
The Moment of One Play Becoming Twenty-One
I’m still astonished by how many times I played this one in a row! Maybe it was just the way I was feeling, yet it felt like I had a difficult challenge I was absolutely going to overcome. Sometimes, I love that in a game. This sort of obstacle is a safe sort of one without any major consequences, but the payoff is very exciting! Working towards a win is amazing.
That’s one of the parts of this hobby I love: Struggling at times, only to accomplish something great. In the grand scheme of things this doesn’t matter in the least, but it’s that feeling of overcoming a difficulty that can be so rewarding. Often, it’s a way to get a better perspective on life or illustrate how a challenge isn’t impossible with some effort. Deep thoughts. Ha!
Session Overview
Play Number: 5-25
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 1 Win & 20 Losses
Success! There were many attempts along the way, including this play when I had a road to nowhere with all the trucks along it. Ha! I loved the literal road to this victory as it felt like I had to keep adjusting my strategy to make sure I earned enough victory points with very few openings. This victory was awesome, though, and a real cause for celebration. Absolutely a wonderful game I’ll return to, and that says a lot since I don’t own any of the expansions!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Gameplay is smooth and simple with an easy flow so the focus remains on choosing tiles and placing them well.
- Even with just the base game, there is a lot of variety in the tiles that are used and placed in different arrangements.
- Each solo challenge offers some sort of goal or limitation to change up the game in a meaningful and fun way.
- The art style is beautiful and relaxing with charming details to admire on most of the tiles as a landscape takes shape.
- Various scoring categories allow for a range of strategies as the available tiles offer interesting decision points.
- Play time is rather quick and encourages an immediate reset to play again with the engaging aspects of gameplay.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The 3-value victory point token is a little odd, and making change is more convoluted without a 5-value token.
- Some of the rulebook examples aren’t as clear as they could be when learning how to play a relatively simple game.
- Luck can play a main role, yet there aren’t a lot of ways to mitigate the worst of it beyond a couple of discarded tiles.
- Most of the iconography is easy enough, but the objective tiles can require checking the rulebook a few extra times.
Victory Conditions
Reach the 3-Star Victory Threshold
- Overall Goal Progress 35%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 70 points.
Score at least 80 points.
Complete every solo challenge at the 3-star threshold. (4/15)
Continue the Conversation
Have you had any particularly memorable plays of Railroad Tiles? Do you enjoy the different solo challenges? I wasn’t expecting to take so long to win, but all of the failed attempts just kept encouraging me to forge onward. Simply a great time with a solo game that’s quickly becoming even more enjoyable. Can’t wait to see what the next challenge has in store!
I am adding this to my list of games to buy. There is something about railroads that triggers the child in me. I think the tile laying and puzzly nature would make for a great solo game.
It’s been a lot of fun for me to play solo! Hope you have a great time with it if you eventually buy it. Good luck with some of these challenges… Particularly the perfection one!