1846: The Race for the Midwest

EvEvanstar7.2

I had never played an 18xx before, but I have a lot of love for games that have been inspired by this genre. My playgroup did some research here and found this is supposed to be the best starting point. It took us roughly 3 hours for setup and rulebook with interruptions to put my children in bed when they came downstairs asking for post-toothbrushing snacks. The game itself took nearly 6 hours. (4 hours without rules on our second play) It was completely worth it. it's basically, buy stocks until everyone passes, then two action rounds, and on each action rounds you can put down two tiles for a company you own the majority of, then trace your best route, and then decide where that money goes, to the company alone or to everyone who has stock in that company (including the company itself for any unbought stocks). Throughout the game players will invest in different companies which means that your moves can help others as much as you, or they could even take control by getting more stock than you. There's also player interaction on the board where someone could cut off your route by putting a city down. The nuttiest thing that adds tension is that as the game goes, the old trains rust away, and getting caught running a company without a modern train is a major penalty. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ☆ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ★ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★★★★☆ Raw enjoyment

anandyctedstar7.0

(played on 18xx.games) After three games, this feels like a nice game, but completely void of what I like in 18xx. It is a pure optimisation engine on the map