18BE Railways in the Coal Dust 2021

18BE is a one-to-five Players complex economic board game openly inspired by the share-trading and railroad operating 18xx games series originated by Francis Tresham and Leonhard Orgler.

Belgium, 19th Century. The air is thick, charged with coal particles. The land is dark, muddy. Coal Mines spread everywhere. Yet people are starving. The Belgian industrial revolution is in motion and Belgian Railways Companies are about to emerge.

Players act as investors in the emerging Belgian Railway Companies. Their largest shareholder is the Director, and they alone make decisions for the company. Players will spend their starting funds to either launch, promote, upgrade, operate, or develop their companies in an effort to accumulate the greatest wealth in cash at game end. To achieve their goal, players may also invest in companies shares, speculating on future returns and market values. 18BE introduces a 3D map board with overlays and unique features to ensure each session delivers their very own challenges. Companies may purchase different types of trains, invest in different trade opportunities (the so-called "Links") and/or Upgrades. Thus each company will most probably be played in a totally different way from one session to the next. Experienced gamers should be able to play the game in less than 6 hours. The rules also include a solo mode, and a challenging 2-player mode.

—description from the designer