Candy Train Review

When PopCap first announced their new indie label 4th & Battery, they promised games that were edgy and experimental. Candy Train, the second release under this new brand, is neither of these things. In fact it couldn’t be more entrenched in the old and traditional PopCap ways if it tried. You see, Candy Train was originally a free PopCap Flash game on their website years ago. Now it’s on the iPhone. The good news? Candy is just as tasty as ever.

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Candy Train spills its delicious payload all over the App Store

When PopCap first announced their new indie label 4th & Battery, they promised games that were edgy and experimental. Candy Train, the second release under this new brand, is neither of these things. In fact it couldn’t be more entrenched in the old and traditional PopCap ways if it tried. You see, Candy Train was originally a free PopCap Flash game on their website years ago. Now it’s on the iPhone. The good news? Candy is just as tasty as ever.

Players in Candy Train are faced with a seemingly simply problem. A train is moving and it needs tracks underneath it if it doesn’t want to get derailed. There are tracks all over the place, but they’re strewn about all willy nilly and mostly unconnected. Players will tap on a section of track to rotate it into the direction they want. Lather, rinse, and repeat, until the eventual train crash that spills delicious candy all over the countryside.

Candy Train

There’s a little more to it than that, but honestly, not much. As players are twisting tracks, occasionally a train car will show up somewhere. Once passed, it will attach to the back of the train, upping the challenge slightly as players now have a train of a greater length to lay track for. Once they add a caboose, a station will appear for them to drop their train cars off at, earning them point and bumping them up a level. There’s also a little lever that will let you kick the train into overdrive in case you’re feeling the need for speed. And there’s even a speedy Expert Mode for those looking for a tougher challenge.

Beyond that, though, there’s no denying that Candy Train is a fairly slim package. Despite being a game that’s all about your high score, there are no social leaderboards to speak of. Game Center and OpenFeint are simply nowhere to be seen. Likewise, a few achievements might have spruced things up a bit and provided a bit of replay incentive outside of simply beating your previous scores. And the presentation? While there’s nothing wrong with how Candy Train looks, there’s nothing really remarkable about it either. And asides from the choo-choo of the train, the game is completely devoid of a soundtrack.

It’s a simple diversion, but like most PopCap offerings, it’s one that can be hard to put down. There’s nothing really spell-binding or new here (after all, we’re talking about a port of a 8 year old Flash game), but Candy Train proves to be a pretty great little distraction for those with quick fingers and a few minutes to kill. If you’re looking for you next little five minute iOS addiction, pick this one up.

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      70 out of 100
      Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.