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Train Timetable:
This month's selection is just a small sampling
of the HUGE number of train-inspired games out there. A theme
search for "train games" on funagain
or boardgamegeek
gets you about 100 results! If a gamer on your gift list also
happens to be loco for locomotives, here are some other games
to satisfy both their obsessions.
The
Age of Steam has earned ecstatic reviews from the gaming
community. It combines economics, tactical track placement,
auctions, and goods delivery into one solid strategy game.
But be warned: the Age of Steam is an intense, braindraining
experience. Even folks who love it use words like "tough,"
"unforgiving," and "brutal."
The 18xx
series (1835,
1870,
et. al) focuses on the business side of historical railroad
expansion, with opportunities for corporate
raids and insider trades. Make contract bids and manipulate
the market for financial success.
The Empire
Builder games are sometimes called crayon-rails games,
because players build railroad track by drawing with crayon
on a plastic wipe-off board, allowing millions of track combinations.
Each game is self-contained, using the same rules but different
geography, from the Americas, Europe, Japan, India, to the
Moon and even a fantasy realm of elves and dragons.
Even Monopoly
has special rules for the four railroad properties. But if
that's not enough, there's a Lionel
Train edition of Monopoly, where the pewter tokens are
all train engines.
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August 2003: Workin'
on the Railroad
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Listen. Can you hear that? From here it 's just a low rattling-rumbling
and a weak steam whistle, the mournful wailing of a faraway
remnant of a faraway time.
But close up, it's a mass of wheels, pistons, sparks, and
metal, charging inevitably forward over rivers, through mountains,
and into the machine age.
This game night, we celebrate trains of fact and fancy, from
the realistic to the abstract to the absurd.
All aboard! It's Game Night: Workin'
on the Railroad!
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Here's a preview of some of the games that
we played.
(for more info on a game, click
on the picture)
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The great railroad companies are expanding into the west,
and as they grow, so does their stock value. Add to train
networks and grab their shares. But the most lucrative railroads
attract the most rival investors...and don't neglect the stock
of the omnipresent Union
Pacific Company-- nobody can build track for it, but
its shares are the most valuable! Although the English language
edition of this game is out of print, the German version remains
in the top thirty bestselling games of all time at funagain.
2-6 players.
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This race to connect five U.S. cities (chosen at random and
kept secret from your opponents) takes a minute to explain
and is one of the quickest-playing strategy games around.
Nominated for the Spiel des Jahres in 2002 (and one of the
three finalists!), TransAmerica
is a new favorite. See the longer writeup on the LAPC
Games Review page.
2-6 players.
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Hell's gotten pretty big, and one dude on a raft can't ferry
all the damned to their destinations. Become a conductor of
the HellRail,
and make sure the Wrathful get to the Fifth Circle and the
Squanderers end up in the Seventh. In this clever game, each
card in your hand can be used as track, cargo, or fuel for
movement. All aboard for the Great Inferno!
2-4 players.
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Okay, work with me here. You're all zombies. Cowboy zombies.
And you're out to rob that train because it's loaded with
government brains (and also cheese). Brawl your way through
the dining cars, racing for the engine. Stick the best brain
into your head and win, but watch out when the cars get uncoupled
and start dropping from the train! It's The
Great Brain Robbery!
3-7 players.
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In the year 2185, in the steam-driven titanium mine deep beneath
the surface of Io,.... oh, never mind. Steam
Tunnel is an abstract game wherein players fight for
control of winding tunnels and valuable termini. Claim tunnel
segments, or lock down a zone so no one can benefit. From
the same folks that brought you Agora,
which was a big hit at the Greek
and Rome Game Night.
2-5 players.
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I've always said that if dominos are missing anything, it's
little trains to drive across them. The
Mexican Train Game proves that someone was listening.
It's dominos with a twist: get rid of all your bones by
adding them to your track, or the track of your opponents.
I'm not sure what this has to do with Mexico, but then I'm
still not sure what Steam Tunnel has to do with the moon
of Io.
2-8 players.
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