The entire 18xx series of games is pretty cutthroat in nature, and therefore not for the weak of heart, or the kind and gentle. The wolves in your living room will eat you for breakfast quickly as they buy and sell your stocks with wild abandon, taking their profits while you go down with your sinking ship. The only way to survive is to sell first, so positioning is everything in these games.

That being said, 1856 is one of the more forgiving of the 18xx's. This is mostly because of the unique feature of having Government Loans available to help you finance your early train purchases. I personally prefer this game over most of the others, which tend to be more structured in terms of stock availability (I like a more free-wheeling game like this one, or 1830).

With the Government Loans come eventual repayment (if you want to keep your company from being closed down), or the not-so-dreaded loan foreclosure, which winds up giving you half-shares in the largest and most powerful company in the game, the CGR (Canadian Government Railway).

In the end, this is a fun game, although the final tally usually winds up being a bit of a crapshoot, depending on exactly how many runs you get to make with your trains before they become outdated and disappear in a flash. You really have to think ahead, and not just about the mechanics of the game, but also you have to guess what your opponents will be doing in terms of stock sales, track builds, train purchases, revenue declaration, etc. If you can foresee the future, you win!