Train Games

Cleopatra's Caboose
Steve Zamborsky; Z-Man Games; 3-5; 75
Bizarre suggestion of trains in Ancient Egypt is not limited to that strange idea. In addition players bid for the right to use game designers as foremen which determine turn order and special ability. Track, buildings and pyramids are constructed and fruit shipped with the goal of becoming emperor. [more]

1880: China
Helmut Ohley amp; Lonny Orgler; Double-O Games; 3-7; 300+
An 18XX game set in China. Novelties include company turn order not changing with the evolving stock prices and player-manipulated ratio of stock rounds and operation rounds, e.g. dependent on when the last of a type of train is bought. [more]

New England Rails
Walter H. Hunt & Gregory M. Pozerski; Rio Grande; 2-5
Players represent railroad operations in New England states such as New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont and try to make as much as they can. Each turn features an economic condition – prosperous, normal or depressed – and global random events, some historical. There is drafting of business and action cards. Activities include building depots, claiming routes, claiming contracts and collecting subsides. Each time period offers its own game conditions as crafts and farms give way to leather and textile production. Only eight businesses can be supported so players must determine obsolescence. [more]

Poseidon
Helmut Ohley & Leonhard Orgler; Lookout Games/Z-Man Games; 2-5; 120
An 18XX-style game, but different in its sea setting. Players represent countries/peoples who explore, dispatch fleets, build trading posts and generate profits. [more]

Railroad Barons
Helmut Ohley; Lookout Games; 2; 45
In the 18XX family, but boardless and mainly about buying and selling stocks with no randomness. [more]

Spectral Rails
Morgan Dontanville; Z-Man Games; 3-4; 75
Game of ghost trains in the American Southwest. Each player uses a standard set of cards to move, picking up souls and delivering them to Ghost Towns. Movement leaves track behind which other players can use freely, but you may never travel along, until it eventually disperses. [more]

String Railway
Hisashi Hayashi; Japon Brand/OKAZU Brand; 2-5; 30
True to the title, several lengths of string in different colors are included. One is laid in a big circle to delimit the field of play. Another circle represents a mountain range, a third a river. Then each player gets a station represented by a square card. Each turn they draw another card representing a town, suburb, etc. and decide which locales they want to connect via a new string. Of course the more connections the better and some even reduce the scores of others, but it's expensive to cross others' tracks and blocking tactics are common. [more]

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