Rail Heads is a Windows Phone game designed to test your reflexes and ability to plan ahead. The game has you positioning railroad tracks out ahead of a locomotive you are guiding down the tracks.
Controls are simple, game play challenging (almost to the point of frustration) and there are plenty of bobble heads to unlock and choose as your gaming character. Available for low-memory Windows Phones, Rail Heads may not be the most picturesque of games available in the Windows Phone Store but could be a decent time waster to have in your gaming library.
Your main menu has options to view the online leaderboard, access to the game's store, mute the game's sound and a total for coins you collect during game play.
You also have the option to tap the side arrows to choose your bobble head character. As you begin game play, you have a rather generic male and female head to choose from. Additional heads include an alien, Viking, octopus and can be unlocked by purchasing them with your gaming coins.
Jumping into game play is simple and as you first begin playing Rail Heads a few tutorial screens will pop up to guide you through the gaming mechanics.
Game play has your locomotive traveling down a series of tracks. Within seconds, the tracks become splintered into pieces, pieces that you need to arrange to have the cart continue its course safely.
Just tap on the sections of track to rotate them clockwise, eventually things will line up and your cart won't crash. Rail sections include straight sections and curved sections. If you end up sending your cart in the opposite direction, you will need to turn it around quickly or the game will end.
The goal is to see how far you can get your cart before it crashes. Should it crash, you can use a wrench (earned through game play or bought in the gaming store) to continue play. It is a mulligan of sorts.
To help with the challenge, to the left is a red bar meter that represents your fuel. To avoid running out of fuel, you will find lumps of coal scattered about the tracks. Just run your locomotive over the coal to collect it and replenish your fuel.
As you would guess, the further your locomotive travels the faster the pace. This is where Rail Heads not only tests your reactions but also your ability to plan ahead.
Overall Impression
While Rail Heads may not be the most visually impressive Windows Phone game available in the Store, it does have a bit of appeal. While the graphics remind me a little of the old Beavis and Butt-head cartoons, game play is challenging and will keep you on your toes. Do not be surprised if for the first half dozen tries you don't get too far down the tracks.
I cannot think of any downsides to Rail Heads beyond that the game may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, that is more of an issue of personal preference than poor game design.
Rail Heads likely falls in line with other time waster games that are fun to play for a while, leave alone for a while and pick back up when the mood hits you for a simple, challenging game to pass the time with. At last check, the game pulls down a 5 star rating in the Windows Phone Store, which is about one star too high in our book.
