Rail is a one-tap train switching game. Coloured trains come out of a tunnel one after another and roll down a little tree of tracks with three switches and four stations. Each station's roof shows the colour and shape it accepts. A tap flips the glowing switch, which is always the next one a train will reach, so the whole game is reading the next train's colour and deciding fast: flip or leave it. Send a train to the wrong station and you get a strike. Three strikes ends the run. Trains speed up, come closer together, and now and then two stations swap colours. There's a new timetable every day, with friends' ghosts playing alongside you.
How to play Rail
- Watch the next train's colour and find the matching station roof at the bottom.
- The glowing switch is the next one a train will reach. Its arrow shows where trains will go.
- Tap anywhere to flip it. Leave it alone if it already points the right way.
- Every train that reaches its matching station scores. A wrong station is a strike, and three strikes ends the run.
Tips to get a high score
- Every new train needs at least one flip, so check the top switch as soon as a train leaves the tunnel.
- Once a train passes a switch, the glow jumps to the next decision. Read ahead to the train behind it.
- Each colour also has a shape, so you can match shapes instead of colours.
- Flipping right before a train crosses shows a CLOSE! popup. Five deliveries in a row earns a coin.
- Watch for STATIONS SWAPPED! It means two roofs just traded colours.
How the timetable speeds up
Rail tightens over about the first 70 seconds. By then trains roll twice as fast, and a new one leaves the tunnel roughly every second instead of every three. For the two minutes after that, both keep creeping up by about another quarter.
Station swaps begin after your 12th delivery and then come every 9 deliveries. Any two of the four stations can trade colours, not just neighbours, so check the roof again before every decision after a swap.
The track itself never changes. The top switch picks a side: the left pair of stations or the right pair. Each lower switch then picks one station within its pair. Thinking of it as side first, then station, is quicker than tracing the whole route.
Points, strikes and a plan for long runs
Every train that reaches its matching station scores one point. A wrong station is a strike and resets your streak. Strikes never come back, so three wrong trains end the run no matter how long it's been going.
Streaks pay out in coins, one for every five deliveries in a row. The CLOSE! popup for a last-moment flip is just for show. Neither one adds points.
For a long run, think two steps ahead. Before a train reaches the top switch, know which side it needs. As soon as it crosses, look at the lower switch on that side. In any quiet moment, read the colour of the next train in the tunnel so you're never starting from scratch.
Trusting the glowing switch
Your tap always flips the switch that the nearest train will reach next. With several trains on the board, the glow can move to a different switch when another train gets closer to its junction, so glance at it right before you tap.
A train's route locks the instant its nose crosses a switch. Flipping after that only changes things for the trains behind it. Switches also stay where you leave them, so the next train may already be set the right way.
Every tap is a toggle. If you double-tap by accident, the switch goes straight back to where it was. A quick extra tap can also fix a wrong flip, as long as the train hasn't reached that switch yet.
Trains never crash or stop, so you're never waiting on them. All your attention can go into reading colours and the glow.
Daily levels and ghost races
Today's Rail level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.
FAQ
Which switch does my tap flip?
Always the glowing one, which is the switch the next train will reach soonest. You never have to aim, only choose the moment and whether to tap at all.
Do trains ever crash?
No. All trains move at the same speed and the tracks only split, so they never collide. The challenge is keeping up as they come faster.
Is it free?
Yes. Every Tapamine game is free to play in your browser with no download and no account.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tapamine is built for phones first: portrait, one thumb, and it works offline after your first visit. It also works with a mouse or the spacebar on a computer.
How do challenges work?
After a run, tap “Challenge a friend” to send a link. Your friend plays the exact same level and races your ghost — a replay of your run — to see who wins.
Add Rail to your site
Rail is free to embed on your blog, class page or website. Paste this code:
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