Arcade Whale
Arcade Whale OriginalMade in-house, free to play
Railroot
- Developer
- Arcade Whale
- Genre
- Strategy
- Released
- Updated
- Platforms
- Browser (desktop, mobile, tablet)
- Orientation
- Portrait or landscape
- Players
- Single player
How to play
Desktop Drag stop to stop · 1-4 line · T tram · U undo · G zone (Endless) · Routes selects mode · Menu pauses
Touch Drag and tap
About Railroot
Railroot is a free browser tram-routing game about bringing a small toy town to life. Its six authored jobs give you a finish line: connect every stop to a running network, carry the requested number of riders, and serve every destination shape. The first tram is already moving when you arrive. Extend its line to the unlinked neighbourhood, send the spare tram down the route, and watch passengers make the trip. Completing the job opens the next route in your book.
Each rider wears the shape of the stop they want: a circle, triangle, square or plus. Trams pick passengers up, carry them, and transfer them automatically between colours at a shared stop. Drawing a line alone is not enough: it needs a tram, and separate lines need a common stop to form one network. The job hint explains what is still missing, while the rider goal at the top shows how far you have come. Houses fill out around stops as real passengers arrive.
The jobs introduce different routing decisions rather than merely adding more people. First connection teaches extending a working line. Market day adds a square destination. One bridge gives you two shores and just one crossing, so you have to decide where the network joins. Transfer square requires two running colours with a shared stop. Your next district pauses to offer two neighbourhood locations: choose which side to develop, then connect the new plus stop. Around the hill makes you route through a chain of stops around terrain that cannot be crossed.
Campaign resources are assigned by the job, rather than inherited from permanent depot purchases. There is no countdown to finishing. Crowded stops still warn you with a filling ring, however, and later jobs can end if the queue stays over capacity too long. The first two jobs protect you from a congestion loss for the first three minutes while you learn. Finishing needs actual deliveries and a connected running network; simply accumulating a large number on an isolated line will not clear a job.
Open Routes to replay a completed job or enter Endless, the original growing-town mode. In Endless, new districts appear each week, usually beside a line with the most delivered passengers. A zoning stamp lets you choose another patch of meadow instead. Weekly tickets add trams, carriages, bridges, line colours, zoning stamps or the later express rule. Festivals, maintenance, night traffic, new neighbourhoods, snow and strikes challenge a network as the town expands.
Campaign progress and the old Endless coins, records and town unlocks are saved locally on the same device. Nothing needs to be downloaded and no account is required. On desktop, drag from a line end to a stop, use 1 to 4 to choose a colour, T to add a tram and U to undo. G arms a zoning stamp in Endless. On a phone the same actions use drags and buttons. Pause through the shared Menu control.
Frequently asked questions
How do I win a Railroot job?
Connect every stop in one network of lines that have running trams, carry the rider target, and deliver at least two riders to every destination shape. Transfer square also needs two running colours meeting at a stop and two actual rider transfers. Your next district needs a neighbourhood choice and a connection to the new stop. The hint names the missing condition. A completed job opens the next route.
Why are my passengers not moving?
Their badge is their destination shape. Check that a line reaches that shape, that a tram runs on the line, and that different colours share a transfer stop. A drawn line without a tram cannot move anyone. Long routes may need a second tram to prevent passengers waiting through an entire return trip.
Can I still play the original growing town?
Yes. Open Routes during a job and choose Endless, or select Endless after a job. The original weekly growth, upgrade tickets, zoning stamps, events and lifetime town unlocks remain there. Completed jobs can be replayed from the route book.
How do bridges and hills work?
Every river crossing uses a bridge from your budget. The One bridge job starts with one, so crossing at several places is not an option. Lines cannot pass through the central hill in the last job; route around its sides instead. In Endless, extra bridges can arrive as weekly tickets.
Does losing erase my progress?
No. Completed jobs stay open and you can retry the current job. The first two jobs protect against congestion loss for three minutes; later jobs end if a crowded stop stays over capacity long enough. Existing Endless records, coins and unlocked towns remain in local storage.
Does Railroot work with touch controls?
The game supports dragging between stops and tapping line, Tram, Undo and Routes buttons. Keyboard shortcuts are 1 to 4 for colours, T for trams, U for undo and G for zoning in Endless. The shared Menu handles pausing. It runs in the browser and saves progress on your device.
Is Railroot like Mini Metro?
Yes, in the basic idea: every stop has a shape, riders want a stop with their shape, and you draw lines so trams can carry them there. It is our own game, not the official Mini Metro. Railroot is set in a toy town with trams, has six authored jobs with a real finish line, one shared bridge to plan around and transfer stops between colours, and then an Endless mode. It is free in your browser with no download.
