... is a name I've got going for a new prototype I'm working on.  Actually, it's a number of older games bundled together and mixed to create something new, relatively inexpensive to put together, and open for whoever wants to put it together.  I wanted to make something that was more like a traditional train game (18XX being the grand-daddy by most accounts) with pieces of Chicago Express and Age of Steam thrown in for good measure.  I also wanted something relatively easy to explain, played in under two hours and used smaller denominations of money for the bulk of it.

So what does this thing look like and what does it sample from each?

- A hex grid of the northeastern US with variable terrain to build over (18XX/Chicago Express).  Ridges and rivers add to the cost of building over hills and mountains.  (Railroad Tycoon)

- Cubes instead of Train Cards (me).

- Cubes instead of Track (Chicago Express).

- Set starting positions for companies (18xx).

- Track building patterns are turn dependent and not train/tech dependent.  First two turns require linear track, next four turns allow 'Y' track and the final two turns allow anything.  (me/18xx)

- Trains (18XX), however two major differences. 

  - Only ten trains on the board at a time.  Therefore, it's up to the players to determine how quickly they want to smoke them (me).

  - The basic rules allow you to organize your income for trains from highest to lowest - witth the home city station forced to be the first stop.  This forces more linear train building that is absent in both 1830 and Age of Steam.  (me)

- Starting par value of stock determines how many cubes a company has access to during the game.  (me)

- Stations (18xx).  City Upgrades (18xx). 

- Five shares per company.  Payouts round up.  No dilution of shares.  Company president runs the railroad.  (18xx)  Single ladder stock market - selling shares moves down a rung as does withholding income.  Paying dividends and having all shares out of circulation increases income.  (18Xx, mostly).  

- Forced stock round of sell first, buy second.  All players sell, then all players buy.  (18xx, mostly).

- Action cards for players to use for one of their companies.  (AoS)  In the Advanced Game, players may bid on the actions they want.  Actions include the more common first build, extra track and first move options.  (AoS).  Other options include first in auction order, trading in locomotives (which is the only way to not completely waste an old locomotive) , acquiring income based on track available on the board for a company you own, and one extra round of operation for one company one time in the game.

- Player order by numbers in basic game (Steam) or buy auction in advanced (AoS).

- Forced number of turns (8) (Steam).

* * * *

So how does this play out?

I went ahead and printed the game at Office Max and asked for glossy paper.  I also picked up card stock for shares, bought some poker chips and Breanna and I started a game.  She liked it a lot and she has a love/hate relationship with train games - likes Steam (for now), doesn't like Chicago Express and hasn't seen 1830 or any of that ilk.  We made it through to the sixth turn of the game and hung it up for a night after 45 minutes of play as it was late, but she said she liked it.  I asked her today if she wanted to finish and seeing how far back she was, she didn't see the purpose of it.  Jackie decided to step in and play with the two of us on a new game and made it to the start of the 5th turn after about an hour or so which is pretty good.  At the moment Jackie's winning.  :)

There's a lot to like.  It feels a lot like 18XX.  The flourishes of AoS add a few extra decisions (auctioning versus building versus expansion).  The game plays more quickly than 18XX and there is a fair amount of stress on setting par value for companies later on as their resources are more limited by the shares that are purchased and the added cost of locomotives.   I like the obsolecence rules in this one as it is easy enough to see who has what trains and figure out in what order they are going to be removed.  I also like the cubes on the board over the hexes as it is much easier to build and outline track - the loops in AoS/Steam/18XX can be downright - well - loopy.  This is definitely cleaner and feels more like Chicago Express when laying track.  The resource management aspect I love in games is also here as there are a small finite number of shares that can be used to start the company and there has to be an eye to either tanking the company or keeping it going by improving cities, track and trains to generate cash.  The amount of overt cooperation is less than in Chicago Express, but the combinations of share ownership usually make alliances feasible.  The game moves at a good clip thanks to the added use of terrain to force spending, cubes to force efficient route building and there are overlapping elements galore. 

Each railroad has its own personality and challenges which is also reflects its 18XX lineage.  For example, the Erie RR starts at a tiny station and it takes a few extended builds to get west to Chicago or to charge toward the seaboard.  However, if the Erie is undercapitalized, it has a hard time reaching Chicago and is forced to make several substandard deliveries before profiting, especially compared to the big three of the B&O, NYC and PRR.  The B&M hasn't been picked yet and the C&O seems to be off the beaten path as a second tier company not terribly worth the effort.

In short, its going well and will probably be available in the near future as a print and play game.  I may make some for those who are interested in this type of game.  It's a small portion of the gaming spectrum, but an enjoyable one that I think others would appreciate.