Train Tracks Hard (9×9): Strategy for the Biggest Boards
Updated October 3, 2026 · 5 min read
Hard is 9×9 with three lives. There's no room for guessing, so the whole game becomes careful elimination.
Three lives means no guessing
On Easy you can afford a mistake or two. On Hard each wrong placement is a third of your budget. Treat every piece as something you must be able to justify out loud.
Spend the first minute on ✕
Mark every zero line, then every square the border rule forbids as a straight or corner in that direction, then dead ends. On a 9×9 board this removes a large share of the grid before you place anything, and the remaining squares are far easier to reason about.
Split the board into regions
Once the ✕s are in, the open squares form separate patches. Work out which patch the line must pass through to link the entrance and exit, and which patches it can't enter. A patch with too few open squares for its clue is a sign that the track runs through it in a very specific way.
Use totals to catch errors
On a large board it's easy to misread a clue. Add the row clues and the column clues; if the totals differ you've misread one, and no strategy will rescue the board until you fix it.
Draw last
Once you have solved the route, lay it with the draw tool in one or two long drags. The pieces place themselves, so you spend your lives on nothing.