Junction: Lay the rails, set the switches
Draw the track, set the switches, and dispatch the trains. Every engine to the shed of its own colour, through rails they all have to share.
How to play
A green yard seen from above, an engine shed at one edge and a row of coloured sheds at the others. Between them is open ground and your finger. Drag to lay rails, set the switches where lines meet, then dispatch the engines and watch what you built actually run.
- Drag to lay track. Sleepers and twin rails appear under your finger. Start at a shed doorway or anywhere on the ground.
- Where lines meet, a junction forms with a small brass ring. Tap the ring to set which way it points.
- Tap a piece of track twice to lift it. Lifting and redrawing costs nothing and is part of playing, not a mistake.
- Press DISPATCH. Each engine takes the rails exactly as you set them. Press HALT at any time to stop and change the yard.
- Undo and Restart are always free and always available.
You win when every engine is parked in the shed of its own colour. Each shed also carries an engraved mark that matches the mark on its engine, so the colours are never the only thing telling them apart.
Your progress is saved automatically, so you always pick up where you left off.
Why it is clever
A junction is not symmetrical, and that is the whole game. An engine arriving along a branch always joins the main line, whichever way the switch is set, because the wheels simply take it. Only an engine arriving along the main line follows the switch. So one junction can send one train left and let another through in the other direction, and two routes can share the same rails as long as they use them at different moments.
That is why the track budget matters. There are never enough sleepers for two engines to have a private line each, so the interesting question is never how to get one engine home. It is which stretch of rail both of them can use, and in what order.
Nothing in the yard ever refuses you. A route drawn wrong still runs, and the engine parks cheerfully in the wrong shed. Two engines meeting on the same rail stop nose to nose and wait, steaming, until you halt and change something. There is no fail state, no timer and no score, and every board can be solved.
Tips
- Work out where the two routes have to cross before you draw either of them. The junction is the decision. The rest is joining it up.
- A new junction keeps feeding the branch that was already there. If an engine takes a turn you did not expect, its ring is the first thing to check.
- When two engines meet head on, the fix is usually not a new route. It is making one route slightly longer so the other clears first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Junction free? Yes, completely free to play, with no account or download, in any modern browser on phone, tablet or desktop.
Does it work on mobile? Yes. Junction is built for touch as well as mouse, with the controls at the bottom of the screen where a thumb can reach them.
How do I win? Every engine parked in the shed of its own colour, in a single release.
Is every level solvable? Yes. Every board ships with a route that fits inside its sleeper budget, and the switches needed to make it work.
Stuck? Read the Junction strategy guide
Enjoy a good thinking puzzle? Try Bloom or Kaleido, or browse all Zamborin games.