This, the third instalment in Mike Hutton's train game series is a collaboration with Tim Franklin.
Modelled on Francis Tresham's 1829, and other games in the 18xx series, the game is set in Kent, Sussex and Surrey in the UK. Players invest in railway companies and compete to out-muscle each other in the cauldron of early British railway rivalry. But this is no place for friendly rivalry. When a town is fully occupied, you are locked out of it unless you have a friendly station token there. You can't even upgrade it to muscle your way in. You may be forced to bypass the town or city entirely.
In a major departure from other games in the series, share buying and operating companies happen in the same round. The order of companies is determined by how well they did last time. They perform their usual duties, but maintain their rolling stock at the start of their turn by upgrading their train to a better one, or paying a maintenance charge on the one they currently have. This maintenance cost ramps up to eye-watering proportions as the game progresses. The game includes a number of other innovative mechanisms for players to explore and exploit.
Revenues grow quickly, but so do running costs. Company directors need to keep investors happy, as failing to give them their due may result in hostile takeovers. If players fail to give the market its due, an investor revolt occurs, and market consolidation will force weaker companies to merge, whether players like it or not. Managing and anticipating these unpredictable changes in fortune will allow you to carve a path through the maelstrom and emerge victorious!
—description from the designer
Economic, Trains
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