Customer Reviews

Empire Builder

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You will never know how much fun this game is until you play it. The first time I was invited to play, I thought "Trains? What's fun about that?" But I gave it a shot and have been hooked ever since.

The premise is quite simple, as is the game play. Quickly put, this is a game of supply and demand. Your job is to connect the cities that "want" to the cities that "have," making a tidy profit along the way. With every trip, if you plan well, you may buy more rail line or increase your engines capacity or speed. The first person to connect five major cities and have $250 million wins. Bad planning you will find you stuck in Canada with no way home.

I wish they used games like this when I was in school. It teaches geography, economics, strategy, math and history all in one shot. It is a great family game, and even now it is one of the few games that my wife and mother will happily agree to play with me.

If you enjoy it, try other versions such as Eurorails, India Rails, or Japan Rails for different geography lessons but equal fun.

If you want a game that will make the hours fly, this is it. This game is a wonderful tool for encouraging creative thinking - as well as the capitalist spirit!

One word of caution with the crayons (don't press too hard! They tend to break).

Overally, however, this game is *Wonderful!* - I highly recommend it to anyone.

I received the newest version of Empire Builder as a birthday gift. Initially, I was very skeptical of it, as I grew up on Rail Baron and doubted I could make the transition to such a dyanmic environment. However, my skepticism was put aside after playing the first game. It is a lot of fun!

I don't know if the makers of SimCity ever created a railroad-based sim game, but this is basically the board game version of it. With only two people playing, it generally comes down to racing the other person to get 6 cities and 250 million dollars first. However, with 3 to 5 people playing, it becomes very competitive as everyone races to certain key cities before available entry points are filled. I've played with both 2 players and 4--both were a lot of fun, even though the style and competitiveness were different.

I've played three games so far and have had nothing but good times. I would gladly play more if I had all the time in the world. This well-rounded game in my honest opinion has a lot to offer people who love a variety of games, whether strategic or non-strategic.

This is indeed an amazing game and strongly recommended. It will certainly teach you where different cities are in relation to each other, but its boosters over hype its educational value.

One says it teaches "history," which is a shaky claim. After all, in whose history book does automobile manufacturing precede the laying of our nations rail lines? Yet, if you get the right contract card, you can pick up cars in Detroit on your first run - long before most cities get connected.

Also, the placement of some of the natural resources is tweaked for game play balance. Historically, Cincinnati packaged and exported so much pork, it was called "Porkopolis;" but in this game, you have to go all the way to the Mississippi River to find any swine. Likewise, no cattle can be found anywhere in Texas - only oil, cotton and rice. So much for those famous Texas longhorns.

I have no problem with any of this. Balanced game play requires all of it and it's a great game that I have been addicted to it for years. Just take it for what it is: An amazing game which you will literally enjoy for hours on end. My friends and I determined that it takes about an hour per player: 2 hours for a 2 player game, 3 for 3, etc.

This is one of the best board games ever made. It ranks up there with Axis and Allies and Risk. Every time I play it, even after someone wins, we all want to keep playing just because we enjoy it so much.

I am so happy to inform the seller that this game has ended in the right hands and it will be taken care of.

We have had this game for years--bought one of the original ones back in the early 90s. Everyone that we have ever taught it enjoyed it and many immediately went to buy their own copy. The crayons do eventually break, but, hey, they're crayons! We had no kids when we first bought it, and now our kids love playing it with us. The European version (Eurorails) is also great.

We love this game! Play can take anywhere from 45 min to 6 hours, depending on your choice of rules and options. Average game takes about 2 hours with 3 players. It's never the same twice, and it's always a challenge. Love it!

This review isn't so much how good Empire Builder is. Thats pretty clear. Its a great game, it got me playing the Empire Builder Series.

This review is how Empire Builder compares to its spin-offs. Is the original the best?

I don't think so. It is one of the best. Several spin-offs have come and improved on the system.

I have the original set without Mexico. I must admit, adding some cities more cities to the game seems to be messing with a good thing.

The balance of 2 Cities per resource seems best (26 commodities, 51 Cities). Other games have distorted this ratio and tried fewer cities per resource, but this seems off somehow. Too many resources whirling around, not enough of an ability to plan to get a basic supply of important resources. The original mix is definitely good.

The map is slightly annoying, the mileposts seem to be "miles apart". Most of the other games in the series have much denser packing of mileposts. There are three phases of locomotives, other games in this series have five, with the upgrades costing half as much. I think five phases is the best. The tempo of the game with the endless East-West travel is a little monotonous. Adding Mexico, despite the imbalance of more cities, seems like it would break up the game better. The event cards are dry and not too interesting. Later games have much better event cards which add an important zest to the game.

I like the educational nature of the game. It promotes planning, organization, and it teaches geography. It also gives insight into the traditional resources that made up the economies of various cities in the United States.

In terms of other games in the series, it is one of the best. Other games have improved on where Empire Builder leaves off. Its a great introduction to the series, its a great game to play, but don't stop when you get to Empire Builder...try some more from the Empire Builder Series, like Lunar Rails notably.

This game is so much fun, it teaches geographical stuff but also how to manage money and it is very strategic. This is the game for game night in my household.