Why I Play Train Games: What I Look For in a Train Game
Last time I talked about the various mechanisms and merits of a few of the railroad games that I have enjoyed over the past few years. Tonight I am going to write about just what it is that I am looking for in a railroad game, and what it is I enjoy about my favorite railroad games. Each of my favorite games will not contain each of the features below, but they will contain at least two.
Feature One: Interaction
My favorite railroad games involve a heavy amount of player interaction. This interaction may be through auctions, or it may be through track placement, but the important thing is that there is a lot of it. Let's take a look at Chicago Express. Chicago Express is a game chock full of auctions, player manipulation, and cutthroat track placement by way of wasting the limited amount of track that each company has access to. Without these multiple modes of player interaction, Chicago Express would not be half the game that it is. Buying into a company early in the game and running it into the ground near the middle due to losing majority shareholder is a prime example of some of the great player interaction the game sees. Perhaps someone else has the majority of shares for a company you make very little money off of; waste a few trains and blow their chances of getting an extra dividend (money payout) due to not being able to reach Chicago. There are a lot of great interactions between the players in Chicago Express. Thus, there is very little, if any, downtime. This makes for a great play experience.
Feature Two: Tight Money Management
In addition to a hefty dose of player interaction, I expect my railroad games to require very precise money management. In a game like Chicago Express, which revolves around investing in various companies, money management is the name of the game. But what about a seemingly sedate route building game like Age of Steam?
Age of Steam, on the surface, seems like it should be a game that is pretty easygoing. You would be wrong to make that assumption. Give it a try sometime and you will find it to be a most difficult, yet rewarding, beast to tackle. Money is so tight that one mistake can be your undoing. This forces superb play on the part of each of the players. There is very little room for playing around and seeing what works. Risks will be made, but they must be of the calculated variety and they better pay off big in the event that turn out positively. There simply is not the room to throw money away on minute possibilities. Auctions are rough and it is often in the best interest of the player to simply bid the highest amount he or she is willing to pay right away. Additional loans must be accounted for carefully so that the player reaches a point of profitability earlier than the players around the table. This intensity is what drives some away from the game due to the "stressful" nature of such tight money management. I am drawn to it because of this gameplay feature. Needless to say, this specific gameplay feature is a big deal to me. I wish all economic games had this level of money management.
Feature Three: Scales Between Player Numbers Well
If I am ever to get a game that has the features I love to the table, it has to play well no matter how many players there are. Chicago Express, regrettably, does not meet this requirement. It is good with three and wonderful with four, but that is all it handles well. Age of Steam handles this requirement quite well. The sheer number of maps available for this game means that there is probably a good map out there somewhere that works for the number of players you have. I have maps that play well with anywhere from one to seven players. That is quite a feat. The game is certainly best with four or five, but the ability to play more or less well is wonderful. This means that I can get the game to the table nearly any time which leads to more repeated plays, and better players as a result. My goal being to play a handful of games a ton this year, this is a very important feature of any game for me.
Those are the three features that I look for in any railroad game that I play or buy. Hopefully, 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons will turn out to have all of the above features. If that is the case, the 18XX series of games just might be my ultimate series of railroad games. It has the mechanisms I enjoy. I hope it has the features I need.
Until next time, keep playing and keep winning!
Feature One: Interaction
My favorite railroad games involve a heavy amount of player interaction. This interaction may be through auctions, or it may be through track placement, but the important thing is that there is a lot of it. Let's take a look at Chicago Express. Chicago Express is a game chock full of auctions, player manipulation, and cutthroat track placement by way of wasting the limited amount of track that each company has access to. Without these multiple modes of player interaction, Chicago Express would not be half the game that it is. Buying into a company early in the game and running it into the ground near the middle due to losing majority shareholder is a prime example of some of the great player interaction the game sees. Perhaps someone else has the majority of shares for a company you make very little money off of; waste a few trains and blow their chances of getting an extra dividend (money payout) due to not being able to reach Chicago. There are a lot of great interactions between the players in Chicago Express. Thus, there is very little, if any, downtime. This makes for a great play experience.
Feature Two: Tight Money Management
In addition to a hefty dose of player interaction, I expect my railroad games to require very precise money management. In a game like Chicago Express, which revolves around investing in various companies, money management is the name of the game. But what about a seemingly sedate route building game like Age of Steam?
Age of Steam, on the surface, seems like it should be a game that is pretty easygoing. You would be wrong to make that assumption. Give it a try sometime and you will find it to be a most difficult, yet rewarding, beast to tackle. Money is so tight that one mistake can be your undoing. This forces superb play on the part of each of the players. There is very little room for playing around and seeing what works. Risks will be made, but they must be of the calculated variety and they better pay off big in the event that turn out positively. There simply is not the room to throw money away on minute possibilities. Auctions are rough and it is often in the best interest of the player to simply bid the highest amount he or she is willing to pay right away. Additional loans must be accounted for carefully so that the player reaches a point of profitability earlier than the players around the table. This intensity is what drives some away from the game due to the "stressful" nature of such tight money management. I am drawn to it because of this gameplay feature. Needless to say, this specific gameplay feature is a big deal to me. I wish all economic games had this level of money management.
Feature Three: Scales Between Player Numbers Well
If I am ever to get a game that has the features I love to the table, it has to play well no matter how many players there are. Chicago Express, regrettably, does not meet this requirement. It is good with three and wonderful with four, but that is all it handles well. Age of Steam handles this requirement quite well. The sheer number of maps available for this game means that there is probably a good map out there somewhere that works for the number of players you have. I have maps that play well with anywhere from one to seven players. That is quite a feat. The game is certainly best with four or five, but the ability to play more or less well is wonderful. This means that I can get the game to the table nearly any time which leads to more repeated plays, and better players as a result. My goal being to play a handful of games a ton this year, this is a very important feature of any game for me.
Those are the three features that I look for in any railroad game that I play or buy. Hopefully, 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons will turn out to have all of the above features. If that is the case, the 18XX series of games just might be my ultimate series of railroad games. It has the mechanisms I enjoy. I hope it has the features I need.
Until next time, keep playing and keep winning!
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