Cosmic Express Switch Review – Runaway Train

Cosmic Express is a spacial puzzle game about building tracks that bring the appropriately colored aliens to their proper housings in order for the gateways to open, which means that these trains work specifically on perfect customer service. Interesting stuff, right? Well, Draknek & Friends have ported this lovely puzzle to the Switch, and it is a nice fit for the hybrid console.

But is transporting aliens something you need to busy yourself with? Or should this crazy train just ride off the rails? Let’s find out!

As is the case with a lot of Draknek games, Cosmic Express is a puzzle title that uses tight quarters and expects you to figure out how to use the provided space properly. Since this is a space train, the goal is to connect the tracks from one end to another, but it is not as simple as drawing a straight line. You see, there are aliens waiting to be picked up, and those aliens need to be dropped off at their labeled point before the gates open and you are able to move on.

This is a wonderful puzzle game that takes an incredibly cute idea and uses it in such a way that boggles the mind. Figuring out how to arrange the track in a way that picks up the aliens in proper order so that you drop everyone off rightly en route to the exit is such a fun and exhilarating experience. Stages start out relatively simple, as you are learning the ropes making your way through what can only be described as “tutorial”-like levels. Cosmic Express really opens up once the paths start branching, and this is when things get even more interesting.

At first glance, you would not guess that this title boasts over 100 puzzles, but it does. Train tracks connect all over the galaxy and connect from one constellation area to another, with each constellation representing their own color palette and unique themes, like different obstacles and extra train cars. I was shocked by how much the map opened up the more I played, and I got giddy when I accessed my first level with two different exits, meaning two different puzzles in one stage to solve to go two different directions on the map. Excellent stuff.

The way the game plays does feel very mobile-like, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but since Cosmic Express‘s stages are slightly angled, using the joystick or D-pad to control the track building can go the wrong direction at times. Thankfully, the track editing is easily fixed when using standard controls, but even better is that the game does support touch-screen controls in portable mode, which honestly feels much more natural.

One thing that I would have loved to see is a zoom-in feature. The stages are so wonderfully detailed that I would love to get a closer look at things happening, especially the aliens as they get on and off the train. Since Cosmic Express is zoomed out a decent amount in order to see the entire stage, it is hard to fully appreciate the tiny world building that spans across the 100+ stages.

But that does not necessarily take away from the aesthetic. Cosmic Express is adorable! The use of bright and vibrant colors helps everything to pop out, and the animation for the train and all the aliens is wonderful. The soundtrack by Nick Dymond, who also did The Colonists, is the right kind of ambiance you want in a puzzle title: calm and soothing.

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Cosmic Express is a wonderful puzzle experience that takes you to infinity and beyond. It is missing a feature that I think would make it so much better and the standard controls can be a bit finicky, but overall this is an excellent game with tons and tons of mind-boggling puzzle gameplay.

This is a title that absolutely deserves to be in every puzzle fan’s Switch library, and it is one that the entire family can even enjoy together!

All aboard the Cosmic Express, a ride absolutely worth the ticket price.

Cosmic Express Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Draknek & Friends
Developer: Draknek
Release Date: September 2nd, 2021
Price: $9.99, £7.39, €8,19
Game Size: 353 MB