# Imperial Steam

Imperial Steam is a board game for 2–4 players. It plays in 120 minutes and is meant for ages 12 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 4. It is rated 7.1 out of 10 by 29 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $55.96 (United States).

- **Players:** 2–4 (best with 4)
- **Playing time:** 120 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 4.2 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2021
- **Categories:** Economic, Industry / Manufacturing, Trains, Post-Napoleonic
- **Mechanics:** Ownership, End Game Bonuses, Network and Route Building, Delayed Purchase, Variable Set-up, Victory Points as a Resource, Contracts, Pick-up and Deliver, Income, Point to Point Movement, Tile Placement, Open Drafting, Action Points, Turn Order: Stat-Based, Turn Order: Auction, Sudden Death Ending, Market
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.1 out of 10, from 29 reviews
- **Owned by:** 87 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 82
- **Unique players:** 144

**Designers:** Alexander Huemer

**Artists:** Andreas Resch

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gamers Guild AZ | 55.96 $ | https://gamersguildaz.com/products/imperial-steam |
| Miniature Market | 55.99 $ | https://www.miniaturemarket.com/csgis101.html |
| Board Game Bliss | 45.95 $ | https://www.boardgamebliss.com/products/imperial-steam |
| 401 Games | 61.95 $ | https://store.401games.ca/products/imperial-steam |
| Gameslore | 34.99 £ | https://www.gameslore.com/sale-items/board-games/imperial-steam-board-game.html |
| eFantasy | 79.99 € | https://www.efantasy.gr/en/products/board-games/309939-board-game-imperial-steam |
| Goblin Trader Barcelona | 24.9 € | https://www.goblintrader.es/es/inicio/45726-imperial-steam-spanish-8436578815289.html |
| Svet deskovych her | 1190 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/9873/imperial-steam |
| Zatu Games | 48.05 £ | https://zatu.com/products/imperial-steam |
| Magia de Tinta | 59.95 € | https://www.magiadetinta.com/es/juegos/7057-imperial-steam-8436578815289.html |
| TLAMA games | 1499 Kč | https://www.tlamagames.com/deskove-hry/imperial-steam/ |
| Games Empire | 103.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/imperial-steam |
| Spelexperten | 729 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/strategispel/imperial-steam.html |
| Alphaspel | 729 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/145179-imperial-steam |
| Uplay | 76.99 € | https://www.uplay.it/it/gioco-da-tavolo-imperial-steam--edizione-inglese-.html |
| Get Your Fun | 79.99 € | https://www.getyourfun.it/033959-imperial-steam-giochi-gestionali.html |

## Expansions

- [Imperial Steam: Promo](https://www.ludoya.com/games/imperial-steam-promo)

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## Rules questions

### Do I have to pay the gulden I bid in the blind‑bid for influence at game start?

No — you secretly reveal a hand of Gulden cards to place your Player Influence marker in the matching column, then you return those cards to the bank; you do not pay them (page 10).

### If I use the same Main Action tile again later in the round, is there a penalty?

Yes — before placing another Main Action hand on a tile you’ve already used this phase, you must decrease your influence 1 step for each of your Main Action hands already on that tile (page 13).

### What do I need to pay and commit when I build track?

You may place up to 2 tracks per action, must spend a total of 1 wood, 1 stone and 1 iron (whether you place 1 or 2 tracks), pay 10 guldens to each opponent who already has a track on that connection, and assign workers whose total Experience is at least the sum of the Effort numbers of the new cities (pages 14–16 and 15).

### How does the Deliver a Good free action work — do I need to spend coal and where does the good come from?

To deliver you must spend 1 coal from your board (not the landing), take one good from beside one of your workers on the map and place it on the city's Demand space, then take the payment shown on the Factory board; delivering to a Hub City also increases that city’s influence and coal deliveries can award City Key tokens (pages 26–27).

### When I buy or upgrade a train, do I get coal on the new engine?

When you buy a Steam Engine tile you take 1 coal and place it on the engine, but upgrading does not grant coal — you may only transfer a coal from the replaced engine to the new one if applicable (page 23).

### Do contracts count if nobody connects Wien to Trieste at game end?

If nobody has connected Wien to Trieste, all contracts are worthless; if at least one player connected Trieste, filled contracts earn their value and unfilled contracts cost you their value, and players not connected to Trieste must pay other players 20 guldens per traversed connection when using their track to reach Trieste (pages 28–29).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/imperial-steam)
- [Imperial Steam in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/imperial-steam)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/338760)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._