In each level you have land with one or more masses of water or chasms. Along the chasm there will be a few anchor points where connections can be made to build the bridge from. From there the player is given freedom to create whichever construction desired.

The goal of a level is to get a train to pass over the bridge. A player wins if a bridge is built within the budget constrains that the train can pass over. The bridge is allowed to collapse, as long as the train manages to get to the other side.

If the train can't get to the other side (because the bridge has collapsed under the stress or any other reason) the player can return to the editing mode without any penalties. To help the player identify weak points, the game can be set to display under how much stress each section of the bridge is.


Bridge Builder has a few sequels created by Chronic Logic: Pontifex, Bridge Construction Set (aka Pontifex II) and Bridge It.

In 2006 Alex Austin, the creator of Bridge Builder released an updated version with more levels and additional options titled Bridge Building Game. This game is freeware, like the original Bridge Builder.

• Bridgebuilder-game.com - A large fansite
• Wikipedia entry
• Chronic logic - original developers
• Bridge Building Game - the updated version of the original