Customer Reviews

Railroad Tycoon

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This game was highly recommended on several websites, and the owner of a game store that I frequent, upon discovering that I was interested in rail strategy games, while giving the thumbs-up to several railroad games that I had questioned him on, recommended Railroad Tycoon as `the game to get'. My son bought this game for me at Christmas, so this is "the game I got". AND WHAT A GAME IT IS!!!
The first thing that you are struck by when looking at `Railroad Tycoon' is the HUGE gameboard depicting the eastern half of the United States. You almost expect to find a blurb stating `Actual Size: Scale -1 mile + 1 mile' somewhere on there (OK, so I exaggerate a bit, but it is quite large).
The quality of the game components is also outstanding. The plastic miniatures are pretty cool (and sturdy), and the brightly colored wooden blocks representing `goods' are pretty indestructible. While cardboard counters would have sufficed, the wood and plastic pieces make it a lot easier on the eyes (especially those of us who are nearsighted). The cardboard track hexes are also quite sturdy. The massive gameboard allows for bigger hexagons (a really nice feature), and has a printed block that lists the actions that can be taken as part of a turn and the cost for building track over different kinds of terrain. And then there is the instruction manual, which contains a scant ten pages and is printed in color. It is clear, concise, and well organized. The only minor detail that was a bit of an annoyance was that the `blue' cities appear a bit on the purplish side on our gameboard, which wouldn't be a problem if there weren't also purple cities. So we just got used to the dark purple being `blue' - not a major issue.
The game itself is not difficult to learn. Usually, by the end of one or two turns you can get the hang of it. You start out with no money and have to issue shares of your railroad company in $5000 blocks. You draw a Tycoon card to play as one of several railroad magnates, each of which has his own objective. A few other action cards are displayed, cities are stocked with goods, and you're set to go. You use the money that you get to buy track, upgrade your train engine and urbanize towns, among other things. The idea is to create links between cities and deliver goods along those links. A turn consists of three phases: the auction phase, the action phase, and the income/dividends phase. The auction is to determine who the first player is for the turn, and the income/dividends is pretty routine. The action phase needs a little more examination.
The action phase consists of three rounds. Each player, in turn, performs one action per round, so in total there are three actions for each player per turn. An action is one of the following tasks: Build track; Upgrade your engine; choose a card; urbanize a town; deliver goods or; build a Western Link. Developing a strategy for which actions you do (and when to do them) is the deciding factor in succeeding. But don't think that the same strategy will work all the time. The cards that that are revealed and what goods appear in each city are variables that keep each game fresh. The game can usually be completed in about 2 hours. It ends when a predetermined number of `Empty towns' (dependent on the number of players) appear on the board. The winner is the person with the most victory points, which combines the action points you get during the game, any bonus points for completing the objective on your Tycoon card, and subtracting the number of shares you've taken.
You may say `Gee, that sounds a bit complicated...but is it any fun?" The answer is "YES! YES! YES!" This game is positively addictive. My son and I played back-to-back games (about 3-1/2 hours) on the first night and could've gone again if it wasn't close to midnight! We immediately began thinking of people that we could teach it to. Though we've only played the two-player version as of this time, I think the game appears that it would be even more fun with more players (the game accommodates up to six players), each having conflicting strategy and objectives.
My only regret it that I have only two thumbs to put up, because I'd give this game three thumbs up if I could!

I try out a number of strategy games, but only buy a few. They're expensive, and I don't want to waste money on games we're not going to play. Railroad Tycoon is a keeper!

Another review does a good job describing the game, so I won't go into great detail. I will point out a couple of key items. First, the purpose of the game is to build a railroad empire in the eastern United States. Players build tracks, deliver goods, upgrade trains, and compete for the best routes and to deliver the most goods.

Pros of the Game
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1. Excellent educational game. There's plenty of geography and economics. Your kids will also learn about the dangers of debt, as you almost always have to borrow some amount of money to build. If you have too much debt, you will not win!
2. It's all strategy! I really dislike games that are decided by a lucky roll of the dice. There's no dice here. It's just you against your opponents, er, friends...
3. The game is different every time. Goods cubes are distributed at random to the various cities at the start of every game. This distribution changes the makeup of every game. Goal cards are also distributed anew at the start of each game, which also affects one's strategy.
4. It's fun!

Cons of the Game
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1. The board is HUGE!!! I don't have the dimensions, but I would guess in the neighborhood of 3' x 5'. It comes in 3 pieces. You need a big table if you want to be able to keep your money and pieces on the table along with the board.
2. The Eastern seaboard rules...most of the time. Most of the big cities are along the coast--New York City, Charlotte, Baltimore, etc... Occasionally, someone will win by focusing on the Midwest--Chicago, Cincy, Louisville, etc... This, however, is rare. The great volume of cubes on the coast biases strategy to that area and, in my opinion, is a limitation of the game.
3. In some games, we have exceeded the maximum score before the game actually ends and have to keep score on paper rather than along the edge of the game.
4. On the above note, score is kept by moving trains of each player's colors along the outside of the board. If you have more than 3 players, it's pretty crowded. Also, the board is invariably bumped, and these "scoring trains" get moved.

Recommendations
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1. Buy a large dining room table if you want to play the game!
2. We use those black, springy paper clip things to hold the 3 sections of the game board together. This prevents shifting and tracks from looking like an earthquake hit.
3. Get separate little baggies for each of the colors and keep the trains in them.
4. Strategy wise, you almost always want to control the Eastern seaboard.
5. Deliver goods as soon as possible! You get money by delivering goods. You build track and upgrade trains by having money. Do what is necessary to move your scoring train right away. I believe this is the most critical part of all.
6. Keep your debt reasonable. You never get to pay off your debt in this game, so it always takes away from your income, and it reduces your points at the end of the game, which can cause you to lose. I've never seen someone with really high debt win.
7. The goal cards can be helpful, but rarely make the difference. Don't sacrifice building track and moving goods to try and get the handful of points from a goal card.

The only version now available for this game is the "international" version. It looks like the manufacturer had left-over game parts in various languages and needed to get rid of them so they combined them together. Thankfully this doesn't hurt game play though.

Altogether the game is really fun, but my family is considering making alterations to the board so that its more evenly competitive across the map.

So you're looking for a train game that's a step up from Ticket to Ride, without being too hardcore or complicated? Look no further: Railroad Tycoon is your game. It is one of the best games I've ever played, and one of my all-time favourite medium-weight games. One word of advice: the original Railroad Tycoon game from 2005 has since been improved and upgraded as a new edition, published under the name Railways of the World in 2009, and this new and improved edition is the one to get. It's the same game, but just has the benefit of some tweaks to the rules, as well as an additional map.

Both Railroad Tycoon and Railways of the World are fantastic. Don't make the mistake of thinking (as I first did after seeing photos of a massive board and incredible components) that this is just for middle-aged men who drive trains for a living and play with miniature railroads as a hobby, or that this is just for hardcore gamers who like complicated and heavy games, and that this game is not for you. Despite the glamorous and epic appearances, this is just another medium-weight game - only way better than most. The typical strategy gamer will find much to love about this series of games, not least that it is more thematic than many eurogames, and comes with gorgeous over-produced components, and offers substance beyond typical gateway games without taking on the complexity of heavy gamer's games.

So what's the appeal? First of all, Railroad Tycoon has an impressive pedigree, being the offspring of a Martin Wallace system that has proved most successful in Age of Steam, an ever-popular gamer's game from 2002. It was simplified for a wider audience as Railroad Tycoon in 2005, and then further refined as Railways of the World in 2009, receiving the benefit of further improvements in a 2010 reprint. Railroad Tycoon proved to be a big and popular hit, and still enjoys a very respectable reputation as one of the best in modern games.

The basic concept of the game is that players are railway executives, who borrow money to finance the building of their personal network of train tracks across a sprawling map, which they use to deliver goods to various cities, and thus increase their income and earn points. In the process, there are all kinds of short term and long term objectives, as well as steady interaction and competition to keep things interesting.

Most importantly, Railroad Tycoon is more friendly and accessible than the tougher experience offered by the original Age of Steam. Its strength lies in the theme, which is closely connected with the pick-up-and-deliver mechanic, and the economic system that is at the heart of the game. When combined with lavishly produced pieces, colourful components, and a game that is playable by the average gamer and can be completed in 2-3 hours, the Railways of the World system has generated some serious staying power and appeal.

Railroad Tycoon contains one map for the Eastern US, which is ideal for 4-6 players. The newer Railways of the World edition also includes a map for Mexico (ideal for 2-3 players) - although this latter map has been made available separately from the publisher Eagle Games as Railways of Mexico for Railroad Tycoon owners. Further expansion maps available separately usually only include a map and cards, so you will need the components of the base game to play them. In other words: this is the place to get started!

I love the theme, the components, the game-play, the depth, the interaction, the sense of building, the length, the replayability, the expansions, and the fun - it's obvious that there's a lot going for this great game! So if you find Age of Steam too tough, or Ticket to Ride too simple, as most gamers will, then Railroad Tycoon (aka Railways of the World) is for you, and can rightly be considered the ultimate and the quintessential train game for the typical modern gamer! With the benefit of multiple expansions that are now available, it's an outstanding and ideal medium-weight train game. - EndersGame @ BGG

Railroad Tycoon is a unique game system where players balance the need for points with the need for the money to generate them.

It is one of the few games where players start with absolutely no money, funds are obtained by taking loans/shares in $5,000 increments. However each loan costs you a point at the end of the game and $1000 per turn in interest.

The money is used to lay track and improve trains to get better runs allowing you to move goods from city to city. The better the train, the more cities, the more cities the more points.

But there are twists, each player gets a "tycoon" card hidden from the rest. Your tycoon gives you points if you can managed the conditions listed, also bonus points are available from various cards, some that are offered at the start of the game others that enter one card per turn, but there's a catch, if you take a turn to get a card, another player might beat you to a location you need to build in. If you abandon an area a card might come up giving points to the person already there. And there is a point break built in. The amount of money you gain per point slowly decreases until finally the more points you have the LESS money you collect.

The biggest strength of the game is the point system and the tricks used to manipulate it, the game rewards strong strategy but there is enough luck in the pot so that the best player and best strategy ALMOST always wins.

The biggest weakness? The Northeast. If a player is allowed to dominate the Northeast they will almost always win. So the decision has to be made, do you contest the Northeast and risk having two players battling while the others score points or do you keep your stratagy in place counting on scoring enough to counteract that advantage and hope someone else does your dirty work for you? That weakness and the twists it creates makes the game even more interesting!

If you are having a game night you have time to play this one twice in 4 hours, so if you have a bad start you can always give it another go before you turn in for the night.

A great game and an investment that will pay off over and over again.

My family, four adults, had nothing but fun playing this game. The first time took some patience to learn all the rules, after that each one of us was hooked! It takes about 3 1/2 to four hours to play, every minute is worth your effort. Enjoy by becoming a railroad tycoon!

We've played this game MANY times in the past year. Think Monopoly with railroads. Like the video games, it encourages thought about strategy, income and expenses, while teaching a lot about the history of rail in America. It is fantastic. The only drawback is the size of the board and if you're playing with more than two players, you'll need to leave it set up over multiple days.

awesome game, probably a bit too intimidating for casual gamers, but once you learn (which you can after your first game), its a blast. No game ever ends the same, and oddly enough, the newcomers win or place high quite often. only downsie is, if you own the game it will fall to you to explain it, and that can be a bear depending on your mood. now if only i can find more people that want to spend thier friday nights playing rr tycoon....

This is the second time writing this review since Amazon kicked me out before the last one was finished. This one will be short and sweet. Buy it! If you like strategy games this is awesome. I bought it and played it with my nephews. They all like it. The best part about the game is that the major components are random with each game so you don't want to use the same strategy every game.

I only gave it a two for durability because there are a lot of plastic pieces that can break. For the price of the game I would keep it away from the little ones.

This review is about the contents of the game and not the game play. When I received Railroad Tycoon everything looked normal. Upon examining the contents of the game I noticed something odd. Some of the game components were in English and some components were in Spanish. The parts that were in Spanish were the game board, certificates and tiles. I was able to return the game to Amazon without any problems. I contacted the seller and they said they found out about the issue and are trying to contact the game manufacturer. I sent an e-mail to Eagle Games but it appears they are no longer the manufacturer for the game although their name appears on the box and contents.

I highly recommend waiting to purchase this game. My plan is to enter another review when I can get a copy of the game that's complete.

******** UPDATE ********
I received an e-mail from Eagle Games that informed me that I had received the International Edition of this game. It stated that the English version has been out of print for two years.