18XX games
Encyclopedia
18XX games are a group of train game
s which recreate the building of railroad
corporation
s during the 19th century. Other games which use similar mechanics are also included in this category. (Many titles are out-of-print and difficult to find.)
, published 2002 by David Methany in Rail Gamer #17, designed by Antonio Leal
. It is a smaller and simpler version of Lonny's 1837, and adds some ideas from his later 1854 and Helmut's 1844.
, released 1995 (Unit 1) by Hartland Trefoil, 2000 (Unit 2) and 2004 (Unit 3) by Tresham Games, designed by Francis Tresham.
. As David Hecht's first design, it is the most conventional, and only one to use "traditional" green and brown plain track upgrade tiles. 1826 started out as "1830
on a different map", but rapidly evolved into a game of capital and technology management: the game's key decisions revolve around when to "grow" a company, and which trains to buy to optimize a company's final position.
in 1986
, and its popularity led to the creation of many other 18XX games.
in 1990 and distributed in the United States by Mayfair Games
. The game board covers most of Germany
. It was the first 18XX game use the concept of 'minor' companies, which operated like the normal stock companies (with some limitations) but are owned by a single person like a private company.
. With its complicated financial rules and very steep train gradient (i.e., the trains get very expensive very quickly), it emphasizes stock manipulation and funding train purchases over route building.
), n/m trains (which count n cities but may run through m total cities) and a simplified private company distribution. Another unusual feature is that the number of corporations, private companies, and the bank size all scale with the number of players, and the resulting game is shorter than most 18XX games.
and is set in the Mid-western United States. It retains the rules Bill introduced in 1870 for share price protection and stock redeeming/reissuing.
, released 1998 by Chris Lawson, designed by Mark Derrick and Chris Lawson
. It features a hexagonal stock market, local railways which operate on a smaller map (which takes place on two hexes of the large map), mail contracts, 150% capitalization, and player share options. There are also tunnels which allow you to build under other track and terrain features, such as avoiding small cities. The local railways eventually grow up to be regional railroads operating on the main map, and the tradeoff between getting good revenues on the local map versus getting locked out of important locations on the main map is an important decision to make.
. The game is set in Upper Canada
, including the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence River, and the Toronto
to Detroit area for southern Ontario
.
, released by JKLM Games
and Lookout Games, designed by Ian D. Wilson
, released 1995, designed by Bill Dixon and published by Mayfair Games
, Japan. The rules for 1889 are essentially the same as 1830, except on a much smaller and terrain-heavy map and different privates. The goal is to make a quick and relatively simple game which explores the history of railroads on Shikoku.
Japan
, released 1999 by Nobuhiro Izumi, designed by Shin-ichi Takasaki
and Korea
, released by Chris Lawson, designed by Dirk Clemens and Ingo Meyer
, United States and aims to provide a quicker and simpler introduction to the 18XX series. It is very similar to 18GA.
, reaching from Paris
and London
to Rome
, Budapest
and Warsaw
. 18EU is a compact game, played on four map panels. Unlike most 18XX games, there are no private companies, and before the sale of the first 5 train, share companies may only be started indirectly. When the game starts, fifteen minor companies (similar to the "forerunner" companies in 1835, 1837 and 1824) are auctioned off. These companies represent regional or private-sector rail companies. There are eight possible share companies, and before the first 5 train at least one minor company must be merged into a share company to form it.
, United States. It is very similar to Mark Derrick's 18AL and 18GA in that it is a simple game intended as an introduction to the 18XX game system for new players. Unlike 18AL or 18GA, the "ultimate" train is a 6 (or a 3E) train. This means that 4 trains never become obsolete, and the greatest difficulty in a small game (and the greatest deterrent for new players), a massive "train rush" when permanent trains are first available, is substantially mitigated.
, United States and aims to provide a quicker and simpler introduction to the 18XX series. It is very similar to 18AL.
area, United States. It uses basically the same rules as David G.D. Hecht's 1826 (specifically, H-trains, loans, trainless companies get merged into a government railroad) except that there are no destinations, there is only one merger, and instead of TGV trains there are Diesel trains. The map is quite different, and the private companies have the effect of altering how the map develops depending on the combinations of private companies and corporations particular players get.
. It features a government railroad that optionally absorbs only one company (with additional limits on which companies may merge into it), so it can be dangerous to plan on being able to get rid of a trainless company through merger. Like most of Mark's games, dot-towns don't count against trains, so part of the strategy is arranging to pick up as many of them as possible while still getting through important cities. In addition, there are three minor companies which operate under restricted rules in the early game.
18MEX has one of the fiercest train rushes of all the 18xx games, second only to 1841. The action start when the first 4-train is bought. This has several effects to the game. One of it is that it effectively rusts all the 2-trains. Another is the one train per turn limit is lifted, so corporations may buy as many trains as their funds and corporate charters permit on each subsequent operating round. However the real action starts when the second of the two 5-trains is bought. The next set trains is a pair of 6-trains. The first 6-train rusts all the 3-trains in play, while the second 6-train will obsolete all the 4-trains in play. The price of the next set of trains (4D-trains) is set at 700 pesos.
This fierce train rush coupled with the extremely high track building cost (98% of the board is covered in difficult terrain and some track upgrades requires money as well) will see almost half of the corporations in play unable to buy the next train when their trains become rusted at an alarming rate.
Also, there are only 11 permanent trains available but there are 8 corporations. All corporations have a train limit of 2 except for NdM which has a train limit of 3. This means that some corporations will most likely end up without any trains to operate.
and Maryland
, it is slightly more complex than either of the above.
s of an 18XX railroad game, but with an asteroid mining
theme. Its mechanics are fairly close to those of 1835, including a set of minor companies and a big merger company. Specific features are changes in the values of mines (the equivalent of cities), a small fee for companies which explore asteroïds (the equivalent of laying a tile, but needs a spaceship/train), and two different ways of starting companies (direct start with full monetary assets, or "growth companies", that start quicker but with smaller assets).
, designed by Helmut Ohley and Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler, and drawn by Klemens Franz, and published through Lookout Games
and Z-Man Games
, is a shorter (two hours) variant 18xx game set in ancient Greece
with shipping lines instead of railroads.http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/76417/poseidon
and kingdom management in ancient Mesopotamia
. It was designed by Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga and published by Splotter Spellen. As with all games in the 18XX series, play centers around ownership of valuable networks. Ur 1830BC replaces the rail networks found in most 18XX games with networks of irrigation canals, shares with parcels of land, companies with kingdoms, trains with irrigation technologies (such as reservoirs and pumps), and company presidents with kings. While typical 18XX games rail networks generate income through the operation of trains; in Ur 1830BC networks of canals and waterworks generate income by irrigating lands within kingdoms.
Train game
A train game or railway game is a board game that represents the construction and operation of railways. Train games tend to be highly involved hobby games that take several hours to play...
s which recreate the building of railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s during the 19th century. Other games which use similar mechanics are also included in this category. (Many titles are out-of-print and difficult to find.)
1800
ColoradoColorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, published 2002 by David Methany in Rail Gamer #17, designed by Antonio Leal
1824
1824 was published by Double-O Games in 2005. The game was designed by Lonny Orgler and Helmut Ohley, and is set in Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. It is a smaller and simpler version of Lonny's 1837, and adds some ideas from his later 1854 and Helmut's 1844.
1825
Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, released 1995 (Unit 1) by Hartland Trefoil, 2000 (Unit 2) and 2004 (Unit 3) by Tresham Games, designed by Francis Tresham.
1826
1826 was published by Chris Lawson in 2000 and Deep Thought Games in 2004 and set in France and BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. As David Hecht's first design, it is the most conventional, and only one to use "traditional" green and brown plain track upgrade tiles. 1826 started out as "1830
1830 (board game)
1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons is a railroad operations and share trading board game first published by Avalon Hill in 1986 based on an original design by Francis Tresham...
on a different map", but rapidly evolved into a game of capital and technology management: the game's key decisions revolve around when to "grow" a company, and which trains to buy to optimize a company's final position.
1829 (South) and 1829 (North)
1829 (South) was the first game in the 18XX series, published by Hartland Trefoil Ltd (UK) in 1974 from an original design by Francis Tresham. An second version, 1829 (North) was published in 1981.1830
1830 was published by Avalon HillAvalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
in 1986
1986 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1986. For video and console games, see 1986 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1986:...
, and its popularity led to the creation of many other 18XX games.
1832
1832 was published by Deep Thought Games in 2006. The game was designed by Bill Dixon and is set in the Southeastern United States. It retains the new rules Bill introduced in 1850 and 1870 for share price protection, stock redeeming, and reiussing, while adding new rules to model the mergers that shaped the South's railroads.1835
1835 was designed and published by Hans im GlückHans im Glück
Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH is a German board and card game publisher. Though many of their own games are language-independent they themselves publish only printings for the domestic market which include only German-language rules; English-language printings of their games have been published...
in 1990 and distributed in the United States by Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games is a publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games. They also license German-style board games and publish them in English throughout the world...
. The game board covers most of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It was the first 18XX game use the concept of 'minor' companies, which operated like the normal stock companies (with some limitations) but are owned by a single person like a private company.
1841
1841 was published by Chris Lawson in 1996. The game was designed by Federico Vellani with assistance from Manlio Manzini and is set in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. With its complicated financial rules and very steep train gradient (i.e., the trains get very expensive very quickly), it emphasizes stock manipulation and funding train purchases over route building.
1844
1844 was designed and published by Helmut Ohley in 2003. Peter Minder collected extensive background material and drew the map.1846
1846 was published by Deep Thought Games in 2005. The game was designed by Thomas Lehmann and is set in the Mid-western United States. It features a linear stock market (like 18291829 (board game)
1829 is a railroad operations and share-trading board game in the 18xx series, first published by Hartland Trefoil Ltd in 1974 from an original design by Francis Tresham, but is now out of print...
), n/m trains (which count n cities but may run through m total cities) and a simplified private company distribution. Another unusual feature is that the number of corporations, private companies, and the bank size all scale with the number of players, and the resulting game is shorter than most 18XX games.
1850
1850 was published by Deep Thought Games in 2006. The game was designed by Bill DixonBill Dixon (game designer)
Bill Dixon is a board game designer, who has four 18XX games published:*1832 - Southeastern United States, published in 2006 by Deep Thought Games, LLC...
and is set in the Mid-western United States. It retains the rules Bill introduced in 1870 for share price protection and stock redeeming/reissuing.
1851
TennesseeTennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, released 1998 by Chris Lawson, designed by Mark Derrick and Chris Lawson
1854
1854 was published by both Lonny Orgler in 2002 and Deep Thought Games in 2005. The game was designed by Lonny Orgler and is set in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. It features a hexagonal stock market, local railways which operate on a smaller map (which takes place on two hexes of the large map), mail contracts, 150% capitalization, and player share options. There are also tunnels which allow you to build under other track and terrain features, such as avoiding small cities. The local railways eventually grow up to be regional railroads operating on the main map, and the tradeoff between getting good revenues on the local map versus getting locked out of important locations on the main map is an important decision to make.
1856
1856 was published by Mayfair GamesMayfair Games
Mayfair Games is a publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games. They also license German-style board games and publish them in English throughout the world...
. The game is set in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, including the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence River, and the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to Detroit area for southern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
1861
RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, released by JKLM Games
JKLM Games
- Published games:, JKLM games has published:* Tulipmania designed by Scott Nicholson* Third World Debt designed by Dave Thorby* Kings Progress designed by Steve Kingsbury* Celtic Quest designed by Nigel Buckle...
and Lookout Games, designed by Ian D. Wilson
1862
1862 was designed and published by Helmut Ohley in 2002. The game covers the entire width of the United States and parts of Canada.1870
Mississippi Valley, United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, released 1995, designed by Bill Dixon and published by Mayfair Games
1889
1889 was published by both Wild Heaven Productions in 2004 and Deep Thought Games in 2006. The game was designed by Yasutaka Ikeda and is set in ShikokuShikoku
is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima , Iyo-shima , and Futana-shima...
, Japan. The rules for 1889 are essentially the same as 1830, except on a much smaller and terrain-heavy map and different privates. The goal is to make a quick and relatively simple game which explores the history of railroads on Shikoku.
1890
OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, released 1999 by Nobuhiro Izumi, designed by Shin-ichi Takasaki
1899
ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, released by Chris Lawson, designed by Dirk Clemens and Ingo Meyer
18AL
18AL was self-published by Mark Derrick in 1999 and later by John David Galt. It is set in AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, United States and aims to provide a quicker and simpler introduction to the 18XX series. It is very similar to 18GA.
18C2C
18C2C was published by Designs in Creative Entertainment in 2003. The game was designed by Mark Frazier and covers the entire United States and Southern Canada. This is an extremely large game that attempts to model the entire history of railroading in the United States, and accordingly takes a long time to play. It consists of a 38"x68" map, 34 public companies, 18 private companies, and 108 trains.18EU
18EU was published by Deep Thought Games in 2004. The game was designed by David G.D. Hecht, and is set in the heart of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, reaching from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. 18EU is a compact game, played on four map panels. Unlike most 18XX games, there are no private companies, and before the sale of the first 5 train, share companies may only be started indirectly. When the game starts, fifteen minor companies (similar to the "forerunner" companies in 1835, 1837 and 1824) are auctioned off. These companies represent regional or private-sector rail companies. There are eight possible share companies, and before the first 5 train at least one minor company must be merged into a share company to form it.
18FL
18FL was published by Deep Thought Games in 2006. The game was designed by David G.D. Hecht and is set in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States. It is very similar to Mark Derrick's 18AL and 18GA in that it is a simple game intended as an introduction to the 18XX game system for new players. Unlike 18AL or 18GA, the "ultimate" train is a 6 (or a 3E) train. This means that 4 trains never become obsolete, and the greatest difficulty in a small game (and the greatest deterrent for new players), a massive "train rush" when permanent trains are first available, is substantially mitigated.
18GA
18GA was self-published by Mark Derrick in 1998 and later by John David Galt. It is set in GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, United States and aims to provide a quicker and simpler introduction to the 18XX series. It is very similar to 18AL.
18GL
18GL was published by Deep Thought Games in 2006. The game was designed by Gary Mroczka and is set in the Great LakesGreat Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
area, United States. It uses basically the same rules as David G.D. Hecht's 1826 (specifically, H-trains, loans, trainless companies get merged into a government railroad) except that there are no destinations, there is only one merger, and instead of TGV trains there are Diesel trains. The map is quite different, and the private companies have the effect of altering how the map develops depending on the combinations of private companies and corporations particular players get.
18MEX
18MEX was published by Deep Thought Games in 2005. The game was designed by Mark Derrick and is set in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It features a government railroad that optionally absorbs only one company (with additional limits on which companies may merge into it), so it can be dangerous to plan on being able to get rid of a trainless company through merger. Like most of Mark's games, dot-towns don't count against trains, so part of the strategy is arranging to pick up as many of them as possible while still getting through important cities. In addition, there are three minor companies which operate under restricted rules in the early game.
18MEX has one of the fiercest train rushes of all the 18xx games, second only to 1841. The action start when the first 4-train is bought. This has several effects to the game. One of it is that it effectively rusts all the 2-trains. Another is the one train per turn limit is lifted, so corporations may buy as many trains as their funds and corporate charters permit on each subsequent operating round. However the real action starts when the second of the two 5-trains is bought. The next set trains is a pair of 6-trains. The first 6-train rusts all the 3-trains in play, while the second 6-train will obsolete all the 4-trains in play. The price of the next set of trains (4D-trains) is set at 700 pesos.
This fierce train rush coupled with the extremely high track building cost (98% of the board is covered in difficult terrain and some track upgrades requires money as well) will see almost half of the corporations in play unable to buy the next train when their trains become rusted at an alarming rate.
Also, there are only 11 permanent trains available but there are 8 corporations. All corporations have a train limit of 2 except for NdM which has a train limit of 3. This means that some corporations will most likely end up without any trains to operate.
18Scan
18Scan was published by Deep Thought Games in 2005. The game is one of the smaller 18XX titles, and was designed by David G.D. Hecht in order to introduce gamers to some of the more "exotic" systems used in other designs. 18Scan includes 1835-style minor companies, an 1835-style merger corporation, 1870-style destination rules (for the minor companies), 1856-style company flotation rules, and market-priced incremental capitalization rules as in 1851 and 1826.18TN
18TN was published by Deep Thought Games in 2006. The game was designed by Mark Derrick originally in 1996, and upon discussions with Chris Lawson it was modified and published by Chris as 1851 in 1998. The two games were sufficiently different to warrant the publication of the original.18US
18US was published in 2006 by Deep Thought Games. The game, designed by David G.D. Hecht as an "advanced" 18XX game, is set in the continental United States. Unlike 18C2C or other, similar products, it is a very compact game: the entire "Lower 48" only takes up two map panels.18VA
18VA was published by Deep Thought Games in 2005. The game, designed by David G.D. Hecht, is a smaller 18xx game, originally intended to be similar in scope to Mark Derrick's "one-state" games 18AL and 18GA. Set in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, it is slightly more complex than either of the above.
18West
18West was published in 2007 by Deep Thought Games. The game, designed by David G.D. Hecht, is set in the western United States. Many of the mechanics are quite different from other 18XX games.2038
2038 has the game mechanicGame mechanic
Game mechanics are constructs of rules intended to produce an enjoyable game or gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game...
s of an 18XX railroad game, but with an asteroid mining
Asteroid mining
Asteroid mining refers to the possibility of exploiting raw materials from asteroids and planetoids in space, including near-Earth objects. Minerals and volatiles could be mined from an asteroid or spent comet to provide space construction material , to extract water and oxygen to sustain the lives...
theme. Its mechanics are fairly close to those of 1835, including a set of minor companies and a big merger company. Specific features are changes in the values of mines (the equivalent of cities), a small fee for companies which explore asteroïds (the equivalent of laying a tile, but needs a spaceship/train), and two different ways of starting companies (direct start with full monetary assets, or "growth companies", that start quicker but with smaller assets).
Poseidon
Aegean SeaAegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, designed by Helmut Ohley and Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler, and drawn by Klemens Franz, and published through Lookout Games
Lookout Games
Lookout Games is a German board and card game publisher. The company published, among other games, the board game Agricola, which was honored with the Complex Game award by the German Game of the Year jury in 2008.-History:...
and Z-Man Games
Z-Man Games
thumbZ-Man Games is a company incorporated in 1999 in the USA to produce games. The headquarters is in Mahopac, New York, near New York City. It is named after its proprietor, Zev Shlasinger...
, is a shorter (two hours) variant 18xx game set in ancient Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
with shipping lines instead of railroads.http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/76417/poseidon
Ur 1830BC
Ur 1830BC is loosely adapted from the 18XX series, and features irrigationIrrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and kingdom management in ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. It was designed by Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga and published by Splotter Spellen. As with all games in the 18XX series, play centers around ownership of valuable networks. Ur 1830BC replaces the rail networks found in most 18XX games with networks of irrigation canals, shares with parcels of land, companies with kingdoms, trains with irrigation technologies (such as reservoirs and pumps), and company presidents with kings. While typical 18XX games rail networks generate income through the operation of trains; in Ur 1830BC networks of canals and waterworks generate income by irrigating lands within kingdoms.