Choo-Choo Charles

AdventureGoogle PlayApp Store

6.7~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.8·5K+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-09-21

Screenshots

Charles, the spider-legged train, roaring at a settler in the dusk

The player's yellow engine on the tracks with a virtual stick and buttons

A dark tunnel ahead of the train with the fire button on the right

Inside the cab looking out through the windows with a lever on the left

A burning shack beside the tracks at night

The Upgrades screen with 493 Scraps and train health at 100 per cent

About Choo-Choo Charles

Choo-Choo Charles is Two Star Games' 2022 horror hit — a spider-legged train hunts you across an island while you drive your own engine, loot scraps, arm it with turrets and take the settlers' quests toward a final duel — ported to iPhone in June 2026 for $4.99 and to Android for $2.50. No ads, no purchases, about three hours. Fans who beat it on PC and Switch bought it again; the one request in nearly every review is controller support.

Game information

DeveloperGavin Eisenbeisz

Version1.0 (Android) · 1.0.3 (iOS)

Size1.3 GB (Android) · 1.8 GB (iOS)

Price / In-app$4.99 on iOS · $2.50 on Android

Contains adsNo

In-app purchasesNo

Content rating18+

Requires (Android)Android 5.0+

Requires (iOS)iOS 12.0+

Offline modeYes — paid single-player game

Interface languagesEN

Store rating4.8 from 43 ratings

Installs5K+

Updated by developer2026-07-16

Data checked2026-09-21

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-09-21. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Choo-Choo Charles Review: The Spider Train, $4.99, Waiting for a Controller

A Train You Drive, a Train That Hunts You

The premise carried a one-person studio to a viral hit: Charles is a bloodthirsty locomotive with spider legs, and you are on his island in a rickety engine of your own. Missions send you along winding tracks, switching points by hand — the moments on foot are when Charles is most likely to be waiting — and looting Scraps to bolt turrets and armour onto your train; settlers trade weapons for favours, and the main questline ends when you summon Charles to a mortal duel. Gavin Eisenbeisz's Two Star Games made the original for PC in December 2022; the iOS port arrived June 7, 2026 and Android on June 10. The App Store reviews are a fan reunion — a June 9 five-star waited four years, an August 7 player has beaten it four times on PC — and a June 9 review sets expectations exactly: short, a bit janky, worth the $5, not for people scared of spiders or trains. Rated 18+ and Mature 17+, English only.

Thumb Controls, a Stutter After Updates, and Nightmare Mode That Will Not Start

Controller support is the review thread on both stores: a June 19 App Store five-star wants its Backbone to work, a September 8 three-star says the touchscreen sucks and a pad would make it a perfect five, and the most-voted Google Play review, August 11 with 14 votes, from a Switch and PlayStation owner, has a hard time moving with the mark-one thumb and notes mild lag. Bugs are few but real: a June 9 review had the tip-over button hidden while shooting Charles, fixed by June 23 per the same reviewer; a July 9 four-star cannot start Nightmare mode, which always loads Normal; and the second most-voted Play review, August 2 with 33 votes, reports that a few updates after launch a horrible stutter snaps the camera from forward to the ceiling. An August 15 Play five-star calls it an awesome port that runs smoothly on a Galaxy S20. Ratings: 4.8 from 44 App Store ratings, 4.1 from 350 Play reviews.

$4.99 on iPhone, $2.50 on Android, Nothing Else

The economy is a price tag, and the Android one is oddly low: the App Store lists Choo-Choo Charles at $4.99, Google Play at $2.50, and neither has ads or a loot-box flag. Google Play's listing shows an in-app purchases badge that the August 15 reviewer says is wrong — the upfront price is the whole cost — and its data-safety card lists nothing collected or shared; Apple lists no tracking. The iOS install is 1.8 GB on iOS 12 or newer, a low floor, and Android needs only 5.0; version 1.0.3 on iOS dates from July 16 with bug fixes. There is no controller support on either platform yet. Prices are regional.

Pros

A one-of-a-kind horror premise — a spider train — from the PC original, intact
Drive, upgrade and arm your own train between missions and settler quests
One price — $4.99 on iPhone, $2.50 on Android — no ads, no purchases
Runs smoothly on a Galaxy S20 and needs only iOS 12 or Android 5.0
4.8 on the App Store from fans buying it a second time

Cons

No controller support — the request in nearly every review
A camera stutter after post-launch updates, per a 33-vote Play review
Nightmare mode that loads Normal instead, per a July review
Short and a bit janky, by its own fans' account

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Verdict

A 6.7: a short, strange, genuinely tense horror game sold for the price of a coffee, ported faithfully and played on the wrong input. Take it if you want the spider train in your pocket and can steer with thumbs for three hours. Skip it until controller support arrives if that is how you play, or if the post-update stutter is still there when you read this.

Gameplay7Tense track-switching and train upgrades toward one duel; short and janky, per fans.

Controls5Touch that reviewers on both stores want replaced by a pad; a stutter bug after updates.

Replay value4One island, one Charles, a Nightmare mode that is not working.

Graphics & sound7The island at dusk and Charles's scream, on phones down to iOS 12.

Monetisation9Pay once, own it — a $2.50 Android price that fans call worth every penny.

6.7out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

Frequently asked questions

Can you play Choo-Choo Charles offline?

Yes — it is a paid single-player game with no ads, no online mode and nothing collected per Google's data-safety card. Once the 1.8 GB install is on the device, Charles hunts you anywhere.

Is Choo-Choo Charles free?

No. It is $4.99 on the App Store and $2.50 on Google Play, paid once, with no in-app purchases — the Play Store's purchases badge is wrong, per an August 2026 reviewer who paid only the upfront price. No ads either. Prices vary by region.

What phone do you need for Choo-Choo Charles?

iOS 12 or newer with 1.8 GB free, or Android 5.0 or newer — very low floors. An August 2026 reviewer runs it smoothly on a Galaxy S20. The thing missing is a controller: no Backbone or Bluetooth pad support on either store, per reviews from June to September.

Can you play Choo-Choo Charles with friends?

No. It is single-player on every platform — you, your train and Charles — with no co-op, multiplayer or leaderboards. It is rated 18+ and Mature 17+, so not one for the youngest fans of the meme.

How long is Choo-Choo Charles?

Short — a June 2026 reviewer's word — around three hours for the main questline on other platforms, with side quests and full upgrades adding a little. Nightmare mode would add a second run, but a July reviewer could not get it to start on mobile.