Customer Reviews

Winning Moves Games Trans America

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

 

 

I order this game including the Vexation and extra game pieces. I did recieve the normal version of the game 7 days after ordering it. The game is alot of fun and I suggest it highly, but be aware you will not recieve the full version pictured and described on the web site.

We purchased this game about a year ago when we were unable to get The Great Game of Britain Trains game in the USA. This is almost as good. We introduced it to some friends during a camping trip and played for 4 hours before we realized we'd played from lunch to almost supper time. Since then everyone we've shared the game with has purchased it. The game consists of a mapboard of the United States and major cities. Each player is given a small colored train and a game starting piece. Each player draws one card from each of 5 card sets representing the various parts of the US. The object is to get your train to each of the cities on your cards before your opponents. You use small black pieces representing railroad tracks to do this. Each play you lay two pieces of track down. You may connect to other players railroad lines to get you further in the game. When one player reaches all their cities the remainder of the players count up the number of tracks needed to get to their destinations and move their train that many spaces at the top of the board. The game progresses until everyone has crossed over the non winning line except for one player - who is deemed the winner. Takes real strategy to not let the other players know where you are going and how many cities you're connected to. There are also colored tiles to create blocks so no one can use that portion of the track except the player who played the tile. Great Game!

You, your family, and friends will love this game (best with 4-6 players), while your kids will also enjoy the train theme while not noticing that they are learning the locations of 40 American cities (do *you* know where Medford is?), as well as major mountain ranges and rivers (due to the extra rail cost to cross them).

The year is 1863, industry is exploding, and efforts are underway to construct a vast network of railways, the greatest technological achievement known to man! You are a wealthy entrepreneur who strives to link major industrial hubs across the United States, and you hope to be the first to complete it. But you are not alone: others are also in the business to get rich, and they can benefit from the rails you build. Will you be able to strategically utilize new and existing railways to be the first to complete your railway network?

TransAmerica is played in a series of rounds, in which the players each draw five (of 32) city cards, one from each of the five colored regions of the United States. The players then secretly determine the best route to connect all of their cities by rail, and take turns placing rails on the board. As soon as two players' rail networks touch, they can use both networks to further their development, which adds an interesting twist to the game. The first person to connect all five of their cities wins the round, and the other players collect negative points in proportion to how many railway sections they are lacking. These short rounds continue until one player's score triggers the game end, which is usually after two to four rounds.

I found TransAmerica while rummaging through a pile of undesirable games at a local thrift shop--and undesirable is an understatement! My mother spotted a small orange box that read, "TransAmerica Eine Spur schneller, $2.99." It looked interesting, but the entire game was in German, including the directions. We called up my husband, and he was able to find the directions online and in English. We were very excited to learn that the English version of the game is published by Rio Grande Games, one of our favorite game publishers. After reading through the rules, and carefully tallying up all the pieces to ensure that the set was complete, we decided that TransAmerica was worth a shot. And what a bargain find it was! TransAmerica has frequented many of our community game days and has been a hit with our friends due to its simplicity and fast pace. Not only is it one of the easiest German board games to learn (even young children can enjoy this one), it is also a really quick game, which makes it very convenient to play.

One thing I love about TransAmerica is that it can accommodate any number from 2 up to 6 people. Many of the games I love to play cap out at 4 or 5 players, so it is nice to have a 6-player game on hand. Although its strategy is of only mild intensity, particularly with more players, it can be a great bridge to introduce people to more strategic German games.

I recommend TransAmerica as a fast-paced track laying game with a great group charm. It's simplicity and length make it a wonderful pick for many settings, and it can be played by the whole family. If you are looking for a complex strategy game, TransAmerica may not be for you. But, if you are looking for a crowd-pleasing game with mild depth, TransAmerica is certainly a great pick. Good luck in your railroad ambitions!

**To read other game reviews I have written, please visit my blog, "Advantage Games." You can find the URL on my Amazon profile page.

Trans America has a lot in common with other networking (rail, power grid, etc.) games in terms of basic strategies and moves/counter-moves, but is faster-paced than most. While the geography it teaches is fun, the basic strategic decisions of start point and when to join up rail networks (enabling all those connected to exploit each other's system in their expansions) is key. Good times, and quick enough to play that mistakes or bad luck don't last very long.

My husband and just-turned-6 son were introduced to this game over Thanksgiving and loved it so much we bought it for Christmas. My 6 year old plays many games not intended for his age, so this game was very simple for him to learn, but enough fun that my husband loves to play it with him. As a young learner, he has gained some geographical knowledge from it, but what can be learned from the actual game in that regard is minimal. However, this is a fun, simple strategy game and we highly recommend it!

For a while I was active on a real time board-gamer's web site called Bretspielwelt (a great site, by the way), and my favorite game to play there was Transamerica. Transamerica is quick, it's fun, and every round is loaded with anticipation.

The board is a map of the United states, separated into 5 geographically distinct zones and superimposed with a grid connecting major cities. Each round, each player draws a city card from each zone; a resulting hand might be Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, and Seattle. The round consists of players placing short "rail" sections along the grids on the board in order to be the first to connect all five cities, but any rail that is placed may be used by the other players, so a player is constantly confronted with the decision of building a line that they will need versus waiting for another player to do it for them. By the end of each round, it is common for every player to be but one or two lines away from completion - at which point the winner of the round should run and hide until it's safe to come out!

At the end of the round, each losing player counts up the minimum number of rails it would take to accomplish their goal, and that is the amount their score is deducted. As soon as a player reaches zero or fewer points, the game is over and the highest score wins.

This is a simple game with some surprising complexity. There is a definite tendency to blame the cards when one draws cities that are very distant from one another (try Boston, Seattle, San Diego, Houston, and Duluth), but in the end the winner is the one who can simply use the most tracks laid by other players. There is an advanced rule that allows you to lay three pieces of your own color rail down, which prevents others from using that section of track and build around it.

I recommend this game for players 8 and up. It's fine for two players, but the more the merrier!

I picked this up after playing it at a friend's house. It is a pretty simple train game, with rules that can be explained to your average person in just a few minutes. I haven't had anyone not understand it within the first round or two.

Pros:
-Simple, easy to understand
-Fun
-The little pieces are all painted wood and look like they will hold up fine over time
-This version includes the expansion tracks, which you can use or omit depending on what kind of players you have.
-Can finish the game (several rounds) within 30-45 minutes.

Cons:
-Could be a little simple for veteran boardgamers or strategy buffs, but the included expansion adds a bit of complexity.
-No real educational value as the geography is pretty approximate, but it is better than nothing I guess.

This game is a great game because it is easy to learn, fun for all ages, has an element of luck, but mostly I like it because it requires a great deal of strategy (network theory lover's dream come true).