Running the Spooky Express
Spooky Express is a route-planning puzzle game set in Trainsylvania. You lay train tracks across small isometric dioramas and then send the train along them, picking up monster passengers and dropping them where they need to go. Vampires go to their coffins, zombies go to their graves, and any humans who wander in need to be escorted away before someone snacks on them. Each level is a self-contained puzzle board, and there are more than 200 of them, spread across places like the Pumpkin Patch, the Morbid Manor and the Impish Inferno.
Two rules shape every solution. The passenger car holds one rider at a time, so the order you collect and deliver people matters as much as the shape of your route. And the track cannot cross itself, which means you have to plan the whole path before the train sets off rather than doubling back over ground you already used. Miss a stop and the run is spoiled.
Playing it with friends
The game is listed with Remote Play Together, so a group can join in over one session and take turns working through the levels. Because each puzzle is a compact diorama with a clear goal, it works well as a shared problem: one person spots a route, someone else points out where the track will collide, and the group argues over the right pickup order before laying anything down. The puzzles are short enough that passing the controls around between levels keeps everyone involved.
The tone helps too. Monsters, trains and cosy little scenes keep the mood light, and the comics by David Hellman and Zac Gorman break up the run between puzzles. Priscilla Snow's soundtrack gives each area its own atmosphere.
Before you start
Expect a logic puzzle game rather than a fast one. The difficulty comes from the two constraints, so the pace is thinking and rethinking, and levels are designed to be approachable early and more intricate later. The visual style is minimalist and cartoony with a dark fantasy flavour, and the game is aimed at a family-friendly audience despite the monster premise.
The developers state that no generative artificial intelligence was used in making the game or its promotional materials, and that they value real human labour and inspiration in their work.