While your task is simple in nature (requiring only a mouse click here and there), it's still tricky to accomplish. Tracks become more and more convoluted and timing your stops and starts becomes increasingly difficult. Trains vary in carriage size and the meandering, interweaving tracks make it a mental challenge to pre-empt when and where each train should stop. Multiply this type of junction a few times across the same level and you have the added requirement of synchronizing 2 or 3 such situations harmoniously. If you couldn't multi-task before, you probably can now!

Bear in mind that the trains cannot be slowed down or sped up. Your only controls are to stop/start traffic at selected crossing points and later on you have to switch tracks too. For extra points, time can be sped up by holding down the space bar. A set number of trains will converge onto the map from offscreen and the level is completed when all trains again exit the screen in one piece. A rating of up to 3 stars is awarded based on how quickly you accomplished that task.

One strike and you're back to the start of the level, since even one train crash is a pretty awful disaster by any means! The other important point to note is that the timing and pattern of trains (and even their number of carriages) will differ slightly each time, so there's not much use trying to memorize the way to success. In case this all sounds worryingly difficult, be assured that the overall challenge is by no means severe. Levels are very short (usually under 1 minute), always relaxing to play and I never felt an iota of frustration while repeating levels.

Paper Train: Traffic is presented with hand-drawn, pen and paper style art. While simplistic and somewhat minimalistic, it's beauty cannot be denied. Backgrounds, trains and everything except the stop/start nodes you control are black and white, drawn over a grid like what you would see in a junior student's maths copy book. Other parts are animated nicely, such as flowing water, windmills and biplanes that make occcasional appearances. The game's six short animated sequences (which are neither grid-based nor fully 2D) are even more impressive. The soundtrack is very mellow but most importantly unobtrusive, allowing for maximum concentration on your conducting.

With a level count of 300, you're getting above and beyond your value for money with this game. Paper Train: Traffic is a relaxing, casual puzzle experience that's so easy to jump right into for a few minutes or a couple of hours. I really think almost anyone could enjoy this game, regardless of whether you usually go for casual/puzzle types or not.