# Train Tracks Puzzle

> Train Tracks Puzzle (https://traintrackspuzzle.com) is a free website for the Train Tracks logic puzzle, also known as Tracks or Rail Tracks. The player lays one unbroken railway from an entrance to an exit on a square grid; the number beside each row and column says how many of its squares hold track, and a few squares start with a piece already placed. The site offers unlimited play at 5×5, 7×7 and 9×9, a daily puzzle with a leaderboard, printable puzzle sheets with answer keys, a free solver for puzzles from other sources, and written solving guides. No account is required.

## Pages
- [Play Train Tracks online](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/): Free Train Tracks puzzle in the browser, three sizes, no sign-up.
- [Easy 5×5](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/train-tracks/easy): Small board for beginners: three lives, two hints.
- [Medium 7×7](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/train-tracks/medium): The standard size, with longer railways and more forks.
- [Hard 9×9](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/train-tracks/hard): The biggest boards, for experienced solvers.
- [Daily puzzle and leaderboard](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/daily): One puzzle per size each day, the same for everyone, with a leaderboard of times.
- [Leaderboard](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/leaderboard): Fastest Daily times by size and the most puzzles solved, for today, yesterday, this week, this month and all time.
- [Train Tracks solver](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/train-tracks-solver): Free solver for any Train Tracks or Connect Tracks puzzle, 4×4 to 9×9; enter clues, get the full answer.
- [Printable Train Tracks puzzles](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/printable-train-tracks-puzzles): Print or save as PDF: up to 12 puzzles per set in three sizes, with an answer key; every puzzle is solvable by logic alone.
- [How to play](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/how-to-play-train-tracks-puzzle): The rules and a first walkthrough.
- [Puzzle Madness alternative](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/puzzle-madness-train-tracks-alternative): How this Train Tracks-only site compares with the Puzzle Madness Train Tracks page.
- [About](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/about): What the site is and what it offers.
- [Contact](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/contact): Email for questions, bug reports and puzzle ideas.
- [Privacy policy](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/privacy): What is stored: an anonymous player ID, results and anonymous analytics. No accounts, no ads.
- [Terms of use](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/terms): Terms for the website and iPhone app.

## Guides
- [How to Solve Train Tracks Puzzles: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/how-to-solve-train-tracks): A complete step-by-step method for solving Train Tracks puzzles: cross out the zeros, fill the full lines, use the border rule, grow the line from the entrance and finish with a count-and-cross loop.
- [Train Tracks Strategy: 7 Techniques for Harder Puzzles](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-strategy): Seven solving techniques for Medium and Hard Train Tracks puzzles: the border rule, dead-end elimination, clue arithmetic, forced corners, bottlenecks, bulk crossing out and solving before drawing.
- [Train Tracks for Beginners: Your First Puzzle in Five Minutes](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-for-beginners): New to Train Tracks? Learn the rules, the controls, how Easy, Medium and Hard differ, your first moves and the mistakes to avoid on your first puzzle.
- [How to Solve the Daily Train Tracks Puzzle Faster](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/faster-daily-times): How to climb the Daily Train Tracks leaderboard: read the board first, cross out in bulk, solve the whole route before you draw, avoid wasted lives and build a routine that improves your time.
- [Train Tracks Puzzle Rules: The Complete, Simple Rulebook](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-puzzle-rules): The full rules of the Train Tracks (railway) logic puzzle: the entrance and exit, row and column clues, the six piece types, what makes a board valid, and how lives and scoring work here.
- [Train Tracks Clue Numbers Explained: How to Read the Edges](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-clue-numbers-explained): What the numbers beside a Train Tracks grid mean, how to turn them into placed track, how row and column totals check each other and how small and large clues each constrain the line.
- [Train Tracks Medium (7×7): How to Solve the Middle Difficulty](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-medium-7x7-guide): A practical approach to Medium 7×7 Train Tracks boards: why they feel harder than Easy, a three-phase method, where to look when stuck and how to pace yourself with three lives.
- [Train Tracks Hard (9×9): Strategy for the Biggest Boards](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-hard-9x9-guide): How to solve Hard 9×9 Train Tracks puzzles with only three lives: eliminating squares first, splitting the board into regions, using the totals to catch errors and drawing the route last.
- [8 Common Train Tracks Mistakes (and How to Stop Making Them)](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-common-mistakes): The eight mistakes that cost most players lives and time in Train Tracks, from ignoring the border rule to guessing at forks, each with an explanation of why it happens and a concrete fix.
- [Advanced Train Tracks Techniques: Bottlenecks, Run Lengths and Loop Avoidance](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-advanced-techniques): Advanced Train Tracks solving techniques for boards that resist the basics: forced paths through bottlenecks, run-length reasoning, loop and stray-piece avoidance, clue pairing and parity-style checks.
- [How the Daily Train Tracks Puzzle and Leaderboard Work](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/daily-train-tracks-how-it-works): How the Daily Train Tracks puzzle works: one board per difficulty shared by every player, new boards at midnight UTC, no hints, anonymous leaderboard times, streaks and sharing your result.
- [Train Tracks vs Sudoku, Nonograms and Other Logic Puzzles](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-vs-other-logic-puzzles): How Train Tracks compares with Sudoku, Nonograms and other grid logic puzzles: what each asks of you, how long a puzzle takes, what skills they use and which suits you best.
- [Train Tracks Puzzles for Kids and Classrooms](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/train-tracks-puzzle-for-kids-and-classrooms): Why Train Tracks works for kids and classrooms: simple rules, visual logic and short puzzles, with a step-by-step way to teach it, the skills it practises and ideas for lessons and group play.
- [Games Like Connect Tracks: The Same Puzzle, Plus Alternatives You Can Play Free](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/guides/games-like-connect-tracks): Connect Tracks is the classic Train Tracks logic puzzle. Learn how it plays, play the same puzzle free in your browser, use a solver when you're stuck, and see the best similar games.

## Other languages
The whole site, including every guide, is also available in German, French and Spanish, with translated page addresses.
- [Deutsch](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/de): home page
- [Deutsch solver](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/de/train-tracks-loeser): solver
- [Deutsch guides](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/de/ratgeber): guides
- [Français](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/fr): home page
- [Français solver](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/fr/solveur-train-tracks): solver
- [Français guides](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/fr/guides): guides
- [Español](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/es): home page
- [Español solver](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/es/solucionador-train-tracks): solver
- [Español guides](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/es/guias): guides

## Optional
- [Full text of this site's guides](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/llms-full.txt): every guide in plain text
- [Sitemap](https://traintrackspuzzle.com/sitemap.xml)