Yesterday I went along to the launch party of Railways of the World: The Card Game. As may be expected from the title, it has strong ties to the Railways of the World series of games (RotW, Europe, England & Wales, Western US), but borrows some mechanisms from Ticket to Ride (BGG entry) as well. I also have more interest in this title, as it was co-designed by my good friend Steve Ellis, owner of Rainy Day Games, a local gaming store in the Portland area. Oddly enough we played Railways of Europe just this last Tuesday, with me winning by a single point over JD in a rather epic game, so the main mechanisms were very much in my head.

RotW:TCG comes with 110 cards representing track, stations, and engine capability, a bunch of standard Euro cubes for goods to be delivered, plastic trains for each of the 4 players, a central starting hub, and a score board. A player’s turn allows an action from 5 possible options, then the drawing of cards to hand. The 5 actions are:

  • Build a link – play a station and a number of track cards with a value equal to or greater than the station value; a link must extend from the central hub or an existing station; if the latter, it must match the color track on the edge of the existing station; the track and the station being played must match colors. You score points for the track value, so it can be worthwhile to play extra track, beyond the minimum. One fewer cubes than the station value, drawn from the bag, are placed on the station.
  • Deliver a cube – move a cube from one station to another; the first link must be owned by the current player; the number of links may not be more than the current number of engine cards in play by the current player; the color of the cube must match the station being delivered to; you cannot move a cube through a station matching the cube color; the current player scores 1 for each link moved through, and other players score 1 for each of their links used.
  • Play an engine card – play an engine card from hand to expand the number of links a cube may be delivered through; optionally, the player may also take the ‘Deliver a cube’ action, as above
  • Discard a card – this allows the player to draw a card to replace it, or draw a cube from the bag to replenish a station.
  • Pass – the player takes no action

The final part of the turn is to draw cards. There are 3 face up cards, and the player may draw 2 cards from the discard, face-up or face-down piles, or any combination. However, if an engine card is taken from the face-up display then that is the only card that may be taken in the turn. There is a hand limit of 13 cards.

All pretty simple really. The card drawing is straight out of Ticket to Ride, and the actions are pretty close to the RotW mechanisms. The only real challenge is remembering that the colors have to match when building links.

Scoring at game end is gained for the number of engine cards played, control of the stations (player with highest number of owned track cards connected to a station scores the station value, with friendly ties), and bonuses for sets of cubes delivered.

I played only part of one game, but enough to like what I was seeing. I really enjoy the RotW/Age of Steam/Steam lay track/deliver goods style of games, so this is right up my alley. I’m told that it plays in around 30-45 minutes, and is for 2-4 players. Interestingly, the designer said he prefers it for 2-3 players, but two of the players in my game said they preferred it with 3-4 players. I’ll have to try both. The cards and pieces are clean and functional, a very pleasant graphical design. One thing I did note, however, is that it can take up a considerable amount of space, so a decent sized table is recommended.

The only downside is that it’s from Eagle/FRED/Funagain, so you will not be surprised to learn that the price is set at a rather steep $38.00. Given the small, and rather cheap feeling, cards, cheap plastic trains, and simple cubes, and that it’s a 30-45 minute game, a price point nearer $30 would have been a better choice. Ah well, RDG were offering a launch price of  $30, so that made it palatable. Even though I liked it, and know the designer, I would have baulked at paying the full $38.

Those in my gaming circle can expect to see it on a gaming table in the very near future!