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Kristen McCarty
United States
Pennsylvania
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Everyone loves a rags to riches story, right? The hero or heroine starting out with next to nothing and by the end of the story living the life of luxury through hard work, talent determination, and perhaps a bit of luck. Railways of the World is a bit like a rags to riches story. Players build a railroad empire from nothing, hoping to by games end, have been the one who made the best decisions, delivered the most goods, and captured the most of the railroad market.
Components
The components of Railways of the World are amazing! The base game comes with two maps. Be warned you will need a large table for these maps. The smaller map of Mexico is 4.75"x24.5" and the larger map is a 30" x 36" map of Eastern U.S. It takes up most of our kitchen table.
You also receive 217 doubled- sided hexagonal track tiles. These are either straight, curves, or crossings. 150 Control locomotives (25 in each player color). 125 goods cubes in five colors, 54 Bond Certificates in 3 denominations, 12 new city tiles (3 x yellow, 3 x black, 3 x blue and 3 x purple), paper money in 3 denominations, 1 score track, 2 Golden Spike tiles, and a drawstring bag.
The cards that come with the game are a Start Player Card, 12 Railroad Baron Cards, and 37 Railroad Operations Cards and Engine Cards levels 1 to 7.
My favorite part are the 24 empty city markers, in four different styles. There is a water tower, rairoad crossing sign, a roundhouse, and
Object of the Game
The players who is able to score the most victory points by delivering the most goods, receiving points from special cards, and possibly meeting their hidden Baron objective will win the game.
Set-up
I know in other posts I praised games for their quick set-up time. Railways of the World certainly isn't the longest game to set up but it does take a bit of time. This does not take away from the enjoyment of the game. It just usually means, it isn't a game that gets played on a week night.
The first thing I like to do is place the goods cubes on the board. We store them in the bag so its easy to set up the cubes. Each city on the board has a number printed on it. Simply draw the number required and put them on the board. A special note for two is three player games is that one less goods cube is placed. Cities marked one still receive one good.
The track tiles should be placed in easy reach of all players. We like to keep ours in the bag and pass it around. Place the new city tiles near the board and take out the number of empty city markers needed for the end game. The number needed varies depending on the map being played and the number of players so consult your rulebook for this information.
Each player then receives the 25 control locomotives in their player color, a Level 1 train card, and a player aide card. Players may also receive two Railroad Barons cards and choose one. These cards add a hidden scoring element to the game allowing players to score extra points if they meet their barons objectives by the end of the game.
Place one locomotive of each players color on the score track. and depending on the map being played you may want to use one for the turn order track. Use an empty city marker (I like to use the roundhouse) for the round order track as well. You may have noticed that players haven't received any money. No, this isn't a mistake, you start with no money.
Players then bid to be the first player, starting with the youngest player. Whomever bids the most takes the first player card. Since you start with no money players must take bond certificates. For each bond the player takes he receives $5,000 from the bank. You can take as many bonds as you want but you can never get rid of bonds. They also cost the player one victory point per bond at the end of the game.
Game Play:
Each turn of the game involves three phases:
Phase One: Auction to determine first player
Phase Two: Player Actions
Phase Three: Income and Dividends
Phase One: First Player Auction
After each turn players again auction for first player. After the first turn the player who was first player starts the bidding and it continues clockwise around the table. The minimum bid is $1,000 and any player who passes can not re-enter the auction. The winner pays his bid. If all players pass the first player card goes to the person to the left of the previous first player and they become the first player for the next round. Give the first player card to the winner and start player actions.
There are some variants in the rule book for the auction.
Phase Two: Player Actions
Phase Two is the meat of the game. There are three rounds in phase two. Its important to keep track of these rounds, with the round marker. Players may preform one action each round starting with the first player and going clockwise. The player may either: build track,urbanize, upgrade their engine, deliver one goods cube or take a Railroad Operations Card.
Build Track: You need to connect cities in order to deliver cubes and earn victory points. A tile or series of tiles that connect one city to another is called a link. When you build track the ends of the track must line up so that the railroad forms a continuous line. The first tile laid must connect to a city or the end of an incomplete track. During the action all the tiles laid must connect to that track. You may build up to four tracks during each turn.
When you have built four tracks or connected a city to another city stop building. You can not build more than one link in a single action. If a player is unable to finish a link after the third round that link is lost and all the tiles are removed. The players does not get any money back for the lost track.
How much it costs to lay the track depends upon the terrain. Open terrain "green hexes" cost $2,000. Any water (ocean or river) in a hex increases the cost to $3,000. Mountain hexes (with a white dot) cost $4,000. If a ridge (dark brown line) is crossed then the cost is increased by an additional $4,000.
When you build a track be sure to place one of your control locomotives. The train color shows the owner. Once a link is completed it can not be removed. Players may build a criss-cross track over other players tracks. This does not cost any extra.
Urbanize: If a player wishes they may take one available New City Marker and place it on any gray city for $10,000. They may then drawn two random goods cubes from the bag and add them to the city. If the city was empty the empty city marker is removed.
Upgrade Engine: The player may also choose to upgrade their engine. This cost varies. The cost to upgrade is shown on the bottom right hand corner of the new Engine Card. Upgrading an engine allows players to deliver their goods further. The level represents the maximum number of links a player may deliver his good. For example a level 4 engine may deliver one goods cube to a city a maximum of 4 links away.
Deliver Goods Cubes: Another action that may be chosen is to deliver one goods cube. The goods cubes must be moved along a complete link to a city that is the same color as the cube being delivered (yellow cube to a yellow city). The cube may be moved a number of links up to the the level of the players engine. The cube can not pass through the same city twice. A cube must also stop moving once it reaches a city of the same color. When it is delivered remove it from play and place it back into the bag.
After the goods cube reaches its destination, determine who gains income from the delivery. A player gains one point on the income track for each complete link he owns ,that the cube travelled along. This means that goods can travel over links of other players. If that happens that player will collect the points for their link. The first link used must be owned by the active player.
The points are recorded on the income track. When all goods are moved out of a city place an empty city marker in that city. The type doesn't matter.
Take a Railroad Operations Card: Before the start of the game each of the three start cards are placed face-up, next to the game board. It is easy to find these cards because they are marked with a gold "S" is the bottom left-hand corner. Then the deck is shuffled and a number of cards equal to two times the number of players is drawn from the deck and placed face up next to the game board. These cards are the one available for players. At the end of each turn, and after the Income and Dividends phase, one new cards is placed face-up next to the board.
All the cards have a symbol on the bottom right-hand corner. Each symbol is associated with a special rule or rules for that card.
Green Circle: These cards cannot be selected, but give a benefit to the first player to accomplish the goal printed on the card. Once the goal is accomplished, the card is removed from play. An example of this type of card would be the "Service Bounty Cards" that give a bonus for the first player to deliver a cube to a certain city.
Purple Diamond: Once selected, these cards may be used by the owing player once per turn. This use does not count as an action. An example would be "Perfect Engineering" that allows players to build up to five track segments to a single link, once per turn.
Red "X": When selected, these cards must be used immediately and then discarded. An example would be the "New Industry Card" that allows players to place a new city in a gray city of their choice.
Hand of Cards: These cards may be kept by the player until needed. Once used, the card is discarded. The use of the card does not count as an action An example would be "Tunnel Engineer" that allows mountains and ridges to be half price on a future build action.
No Symbol: This card is kept face-up in front of the player, who gets a benefit of the card for the rest of the game. An example would be the "Hotel Cards" that give players points on the income track for each good delivered by any player to a certain city.
Phase Three: Income and Dividends
After the end of the third round player collect the amount of income shown (in dollars) on the space where their locomotive is on the income track. Once the players have collected their money they must pay "bond dividends." Which means that they must pay $1,000 dollars for each bond issued to them. If the players owes more dividends than he has money, more bonds must be issued to the pay off the debt. Dividends are not paid on these new bonds issued until the next income phase.
At this time any link that was incomplete is removed. Then, the round marker is returned to the "1" space and a new turn is started.
Game End
After the predetermined amount of Empty City Makers are placed on the board, the Game ends at the end of this complete turn. Again, make sure to the check the rule book for the number.
Next, the players check the scoreboard for victory points. Players lose one victory point for each bond. If playing with Baron Cards they receive the number of indicated victory points if they were able to reach their goal. They do not lose points if they did not reach the goal. The player with the most victory points wins. If there is a tie the player with the most track links win, and if there is still a tie the player the most money wins.
My Thoughts
Like Stone Age, Railways of the World is a game that will always have a spot in my collection. It will never be my favorite game, but its definitely in my top 20. It's a game I'm always willing to play as long as I have the time available.
What makes Railways of the World so great is the simple rules and great depth of play. The rules are simple and need little review after a few plays. Even after not playing for a few months I can pull out the game and have only a few questions that would require the rule book. Usually its just to check how many empty city markers I need for the map.
Even if it the rules are simple I don't think I would recommend this game to a new player because of the depth. There is a lot to keep track of during the game. You always need to be thinking a few turns ahead and be ready with alternatives in case someone gets where you were going, before you. You also have to watch your opponents to make sure they aren't blocking you, getting close to getting a major route, or running away with the game. I feel new players may possibly be overwhelmed with all the choices and decisions.
The variable set-up and the randomness of the Railway Operations Cards always make for a unique game each time it hits the table. Re-playability is another important plus for Railways of the World. I also like the Railroad Baron cards and the hidden scoring they offer. If I know I'll be able to meet my objective it gives me hope when I'm behind on the income track.
When I first started playing I thought that I would hate the auction and bonds. I'm not a big fan of the auction mechanic in games because I usually stick to two player games and they rarely work in this situation. It's okay during the two player game. Usually we challenge and bid high the first few rounds but towards the end of the game we usually just pass it back and forth. Perhaps a variant where you have to pay no matter what would make us more competitive during the two player auction.
Depending on the map being played the bonds are not as bad as I thought. I try to not take more than two or three but I think the Western U.S. map sometimes causes me to be less cautious in order to get ahead. I had a friend who once won handedly even with taking about eight bonds, so maybe I don't need to be so cautious.
I also like that Railways of the World is a game system. The rules work on multiple maps and each new map offers some new rules and ways to play. I haven't tried them all but I really like the city spinner that let you deliver two colors of goods cubes to one city.
The last game we played with the Event Deck. My husband decided to go easy on me and took out most of the bad cards. I get flustered when bad things start to happen. I like what this added as well. It was really easy to add and made each round interesting.
The last thing I enjoy about the game are of course the components, as I already said. They are all very high quality and create a really cool picture at the end of the game. I feel like I actually have built a railroad empire. I don't like the paper money. We always use poker chips instead and its now gotten to the point that I think they actually came with the game instead of the paper money.
There are a lot of different boards available. The best for two players I think are Railways of Europe and Railways of England and Wales. These two force more competition between two players. The Eastern U.S. map if almost too big and an entire game may be played without much player interaction. I look forward to more boards coming out in the future and if anyone is listening a map of the state of Pennsylvania would be really cool, there is so much railroading history here!
Quick Stats:
Designer: Glenn Drover, Martin Wallace
Artists: Paul Niemeyer, David Oram
Publisher: Eagle Games
Number of Players: 2-6
Playing Time: 120 minutes
Expansions: Railways of England and Wales, Railways of Europe, Railways of Mexico, Railways of the Western U.S., Railways Through Time, Railways of the World Even Deck
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