Mississippi Queen 1997

In this light, fun family game, players race their paddleboats down the Mississippi, picking up passengers along the way. But onboard coal supplies are limited, so each ship's acceleration and maneuvers must be carefully planned. Perhaps most interestingly, the twists and turns of the river are unknown at the start of the game, and are only revealed as ships progress downstream.

Players create the river (board) as they move by laying tiles. Movement is determined by the number on the red steamboat wheel while speed and direction can be changed by using one of the limited points on the black steamboat wheel. The player who places the last river tile, rolls the die again to determine the location of the landing platform. As shown in the diagram on page 7, there are three hexes which are points of entry to this platform. The first player to reach one of these entry points wins.

A rules variant changes the win conditions to include passenger pickups. To win, a captain must be the first to dock at the finish AND make two passenger stops along the way.