Open Rails Origins - 18AL is a hybrid of several game systems, most notable 18XX, Age of Steam and Chicago Express as well as some other unique twists to create a compact yet challenging train game experience.
Play begins with players participating in an auction to buy shares in one of five railroads represented in 19th century historic Alabama. Cubes are used to lay track, represent engines you have acquired and to track your income and stock price. The price you set on your initial stock purchase determines how many cubes you have to work with. Railroads may build stations to block a rival's advances, upgrade cities. Each turn your railroad may decide to save money to buy further locomotive upgrades to force your competitors to buy more expensive trains that they can't afford - or they can pay out to their investors to ultimately drive up stock price. Play moves fast and fortunes can change in the blink of an eye.
The object is to make more money than your fellow robber barons by holding the most valuable stocks and acquiring the most cash through deliveries through the game.
The game is playable for one to three players. The one player version takes about 20 minutes to play after the initial pass through the rules. Experienced players should be able to get through the two and three player versions of the game in 60-90 minutes.
This game is a print and play release of the Open Rails train game system. Poker chips, 1 cm cubes or smaller, a pair of scissors and the means to print out four sheets of 8 x 10 paper are all that are needed to play.
Please visit http://www.jkntech.com/blog/page/Open-Rails-Origins---18AL-Board-Game.aspx for game materials and more information. Blog entries detailing developing of Open Rails can be found at http://www.jkntech.com
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