Rail in the Air

What happens in play

The job is to stay on the line. You ride a cart along tracks in the air, avoid falling, and progress to new stages and maps as you go. Poki says the tracks become wilder and more dangerous, so early stretches are good for learning how the cart responds.

Movement is simple: W or Up moves the cart and S or Down brakes it. The skill is in how you combine them on turns. C changes the cart, M opens the maps, Esc exits and R respawns you if you fall, which is a useful key to know before your first mistake.

Think of each bend as a small timing question: slow down early enough to hold the line, then pick the speed back up once the track straightens.

Height is a big part of the feel. The tracks hang high in the sky, so a mistake ends in a fall instead of a simple crash. That makes the opening stages a good place to find the speed at which you can hold the line without thinking about it.

As Poki says, the tracks become wilder and more dangerous. Expect sharper bends, and expect the same corner to need a different speed on a different stage. The maps key is there to help you see where you are heading, and the cart key lets you change what you are riding.

The game is closer to a driving simulation than to an arcade racer. There is no opponent to pass, so the challenge is the route itself, and the calm of a clean run is the reward.

Keys

W / Up

Move

S / Down

Brake

C

Cart

M

Maps

R

Respawn

Esc

Exit

Ride a rail cart along tracks high above the ground.

Practical pointers

• Brake before a turn, not in the middle of it.
• Use R when a run goes wrong rather than waiting; it is faster than watching the fall.
• Open the maps to see what new stages are available once you finish one.
• Take the opening stretches slowly to learn how the cart moves before the tracks get harder.
• If a stage keeps beating you, go back to an earlier one and re-learn the feel of the brake.
• Watch the track ahead rather than the cart; the next bend is where the decision is.

Who gets the most from it

Players who prefer steady control and watching a route unfold over fast reflexes.

What may put you off

Poki may show ads before or between rounds.

As the tracks get more dangerous, repeated falls and respawns are part of the game.

The controls are keyboard letters, so a phone may feel different.

Questions about Rail in the Air

Neighbours in the box

• Carnado Stunt CarAnother driving game, with jumps and stunts instead of rails.
• MurderShares timing as the main skill.