2008 · Economic

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio

Players build and expand 23 historical railroad lines across the antebellum South, from Richmond to New Orleans and Memphis to Savannah. Each railroad exists as two shares — a charter share for the founder and a common share that can later be auctioned — and lines are represented on the map with colored wooden cubes placed in cities and on track intersections. On a turn a player either auctions a charter or common share, expands a line they chartered using cash, or passes. Auction winnings are spent on placing cubes ($3 per cube) and founding a line requires placement in at least two cities. Building rules forbid two lines of the same color touching and trigger new lines entering the auction pool when starting cities are reached. Players score points for founding lines, placing cubes (extra for Atlanta), and making first color-to-color connections; the game ends when players all pass or certain build conditions are met.

groupPlayers

3–5 best 4

schedulePlaying time

45–60 min

psychologyComplexity

2.8 / 5