Last updated on January 17th, 2026 at 09:59 am
Build A Train – Education Game Review
Build A Train is a Education/Family game from Playtend Apps LLP, first launched in 16th November 2010.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 67+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Build A Train Stand Out
Build A Train is the perfect virtual train set for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. It's also a universal app – buy once, play on any of your devices. Even better, all future content updates are included FREE in the full version of Build A Train.
PLEASE NOTE: Designed for kids aged 1-6.
What parents are saying:
"I got this for my train-loving 3 year old and he loves it! He loves to build the trains and fly the helicopter and my husband and I love trying to beat each other's scores! Great app!"
"My 5 year old LOVES trains and he really enjoys playing this game. Thanks for the updates. The horn and bell were a big hit."
"Great job with the update. My 6 year old had a great time trying to get enough points to unlock the tracks. My 2 year old loves the horn and the bell. Nice job."
What reviewers are saying:
"Build a Train is an entertaining app for younger children. It would be great for car rides or anytime you want to entertain your children with an imaginative game"
- TUAW.com
Build A Train "…proves that, when it comes to train-themed mobile games, the iOS platform rules the rails."
- Macworld
"Build A Train offers all the fun and excitement of a good old fashioned train set with a few added extras and the best feature of all from a mothers perspective… no mess!"
- theimum.com
"I was amazed at how quickly my 5 year old not only grasped the concept but became completely engrossed in the game. He didn't want to put it down for anything. He has always loved trains and this is the perfect type of app for him. It's challenging but he can still master it. As far as train games go (and well pretty much any kids games to be honest) this one is a big winner in our book! Completely worth the money."
- NowWhatBaby.blogspot.com
Build A Train includes the following features:
»»» Select an engine for your train.
Choose from a variety of styles, colors and design.
»»» Select the cars for your train.
Configure your train as desired — easy drag-to-reorder functionality gives you full control of your train. Simply double-tap the cars in your train to delete them. Test drive your train in a city environment.
»»» Launch game mode and drive your train. Control the switches on the track to determine where your train goes. Control the speed of your train. Pick-up cargo and collect points. Celebrate by tooting a horn or ringing a bell.
»»» Night mode feature lets you drive your train at night.
»»» Unlockable content. Start with 20 maps to play on and then collect points to unlock new bonus levels for your train including ocean, palace, pyramids, bright lights and volcano.
Want to know more?
*** SEE A VIDEO REVIEW from Apps for Children with Special Needs: http://vimeo.com/21054012
*** TRY THE LITE VERSION FOR FREE:
Just search for Build A Train Lite in the App Store.
Top 10 Educational Game
Named What's Hot by Apple
TUAW.com App of the Day
Featured in Free App Magic selection by MagicSolver.
Interested in more features? New engines, more game mechanics or trains? More worlds? QUESTIONS? Let us know by emailing: [email protected]
*THANKS for all the feedback.**
Remember — your CONSTRUCTIVE feedback helps keep quality updates coming!
This Education game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Build A Train is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 23rd September 2017
Recent improvements include:
This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.
iOS 11 compatibility updates.
Download & Availability
Build A Train is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Build A Train on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
We thought this game was taken off the App Store but no its still on seeing this game after 9 years is really a trip down memory lane :).
Coming back after a few years and wow, that hit of nostalgia when you hear the ding ding ding it just feels like a game that was made a hot minute ago. What would be a good addition to the game would be adding more trains and maps, but if you have a child who likes trains this is a great option. So happy that we opened it up again.
Im a 22 year old man we enjoy playing this awesome game.
This game is HIGHLY recommended but needs the daylight. And playtend please add the trains from train empire like for example that Irving engine we like. This is good for little kids we would totally get it.
When we were a kid we got this app and still have it! Even though Im 15! Great job! Keep up good work.
This game engages our 4 year old. Design your train, pick a layout, move the switches to pick up packages and unlock even more layouts.
This game would be awful if it were free…what a waste of $3.00.
FIX THE APP AND ADD MORE TRAINS.
Love it please add more steam trains.
Our 3 year old grandson loves this app but there is one down fall, the sound does not work. Please fix the sound and we will give this app a 5 star rating.
Great fun! Even for a 3 year old. Love to play this with our grandson.
Remember playing with trains as a kid? Imagine if you could take that train track anywhere? Or your child can? Lol Trains are fun – Building your own train, switching cars, and changing tracks is fun! This is a great app for hand eye coordination too as children learn to switch tracks to make the trains go the way they want them too. We would recommend this app to parents.
Very good for our two year old, like exporting the trains to the other game. Would lke more updates.
This is a really fun app recommended by a parent. You can use this game for many different purposes and skill levels. Building a train by adding an engine and cars is easy, as you can rearrange or delete cars as desired with a tap. For younger ones, it will be fun to simply build your train and ring the bell or toot the horn while it travels the tracks. Older kids get the chance to develop their visual skills – planning, problem solving and predicting a directional outcome. The game-play consists of picking up bales of hay by programming which way your train will go. There are many different levels or maps from which to choose and/or earn. This helps to generalize learning and keep the game fresh. We would recommend for home and clinic use.
Why is our app not working since we updated for night mode.
This game is great. Our 3 year old loves it. His favorite part is building a different train each time. Bravo.
Dear Game creators, we are delighted to inform you on how lovely your game is! Thank you.
This is a very good app. Its unlike any other train app ive seen, but the app continues to crash. Please fix.
Our 4 year old loves this app! Thank you for creating. :-).
We like to select our designed engine and car to build a train and play it with our designed train our friend Johnny loves trains and maybe he like this app.
Really fun. Allows creativity and problem solving. Impressive.
Our son loves the game. Keeps him entertained.
Our son has played this on the iPhone and iPad for 2 years and he loves it. He has played it so much and it's gotten us through dinners and flights.
Our five year old has been playing with this game for two years and the app has grown with him.
This is a great game that our son enjoys. Recommend it to any child that likes to play with trains.
Our almost three year old nephew LOVES build a train on our IPad. The upgrades made it all the more wonderful. We do not buy many apps but this one was well worth the cost.
Our 3 yr old loves building the trains. He has some difficulty understanding how the lights work but loves choosing maps and making the train go faster and slower. We love the map where the horse trots down the street and would like more things like that in the other map scenes.
This one is for kiddies! Our 3 and 4 yr olds both enjoy it! Great concept, just needs more, which hopefully will happen?!?! Our kids love building their train and driving the track… Maybe add some more fun features that make noises. Bells and whistles always appeal! Also, we like how you collect train cargo for points – makes an easy fun game! But how about once u collect so many points, u can get new tracks to explore? It gets a little boring as is… Definitely a cute game! We just hope there are some good updates along the way.
Always a hit when a distraction is needed.
Easy to use. We like the stickers. We like painting cars like Ramone.
We think you get more options after you rack up the points.
Our son has been playing this app since we purchased it for a plane ride we took in December. He loves being able to make his own train, and as he's gotten older (he's been playing since he was 2.5 years old and he's now 3 and a bit) he's been able to choose the different maps and control the train better (e.g., the red/green lights, the train's speed, and the other little bits in some of the maps like the cars and the helicopters). We downloaded 12 different apps for that plane ride/trip and he played with most of them, but this is the only one he's consistently asked to play since.
Our 3 year old's only complaint is that you don't have the ability to add a back engine to very long trains.
The update deleted all the points our son already had and took away maps he had already earned. Gee, thanks. >:(.
So basically you gave us an update for an in-app purchase. Not a single new train or map. Our kids have grown bored with this app and we were hoping we'd get at least a few new maps to unlock. How disappointing.
The train app is very fun and realistic. It would be cool if you could make it so you can watch it a ground level or by on board the train.
Our preschoolers love it. Especially the boys.
This is the BEST train game out there.
Great program! Our kids love it.
Great game for young kids, and can be addictive for adults, too! Would highly recommend getting this App if you have children.
Our grandson loves playing with the trains. Loves to build the engine and cars.
Our 4 year old loves Thomas the train and this game was the cherry on top of his tran fascination. It's very easy to use.
Our 4 year old grandson loves trains and of course loves this game to pieces. It is so much fun to pick and choose the train style and the track. Way to go "Guys in the Booth".
Love the amount of choices in engines, cars, and layouts. The "extras" in the layouts give this app more depth. We would love to choose the car from the transition screen with the crane and tractor. Trains and cars don't pivot at 2 points or at least in the center as they should. Very minor stuff. We can't wait until our little one is big enough to play with us.
Our five year old son loves to play this game on our iPad.
This app is super fun no matter your age.
We just love this game and the amazing music is an extra plus. We think its challenging too. There is alot to keep it exciting.
This is a great game. It helps keep our daughter entertained and yes we get a kick out of it as well. Its a portable train layout on the go. Just need more engines and train cars. Thanks to the update u got an old British tank engine an an american 4-4-0 steam engine. Sweet update. Need to be able to pick up and drop off deliveries. Too easy to get points buy just picking up loads.
Have had fun playing with trains again. Like the different layouts available, and building trains with mixed consists. Good job.
Our son loves this game. He loves trains, but this game adds challenge to it As well.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 9
- Size: 51.61 MB
- iOS: 8.0 or later
- Languages: EN, FR, DE, JA, RU, ZH, ES
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Playtend Apps LLP
Last updated: 23rd September 2017 | Genre: Education, Family | Developer: Playtend Apps LLP