Learning
Explanations and rule notes for 34 games
For every game in the catalog we explain, in ten points, how it differs from 1830 (the reference classic of the 18xx family), plus a schematic summary to review before playing. We'll keep expanding this catalog with more titles.
18 India: The Railways of India
Designer: Michael Carter, Anthony Fryer, John Harres, Nick Neylon
Descended from 1829 Mainline: permanent trains, "managed" companies without a fixed president, and royal bonds — for 2-5 players in about 3 hours.
18Chesapeake
Designer: Scott Petersen
1830 simplified and polished to learn the genre without losing its depth.
18España
Designer: Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler, Enrique Trigueros
The Iberian Peninsula with dual track gauges, rugged terrain, mines, and partial capitalization.
18GB: The Railways of Great Britain
Designer: Dave Berry
Great Britain with companies randomly split into two tiers, blending ideas from 1825 and 1860.
18Ireland
Designer: Ian Scrivins
5-share companies that merge (sometimes hostilely) into 10-share companies, with a small bank and two-stage train obsolescence.
18MEX
Designer: Mark Derrick, John David Galt
Classic 18xx based on Tresham's 1829: mail contracts, a national railroad formed by merger, and delayed train obsolescence.
18NewEngland
Designer: Scott Petersen
From Massachusetts to New York: draft with no auctions, partial capitalization at par, and a great entry-level game.
18SJ: Railways in the Frozen North
Designer: Örjan Wennman
Sweden and Norway with nationalization and a philosophy where personal wealth is all that matters.
18Svea
Designer: Jonas Jones
A Swedish micro 18xx with just ten hexes, playable in under two hours.
18Tokaido
Designer: Douglas Triggs
An 18Chesapeake expansion set on Japan's Tokaido corridor, with no auctions and exported trains.
18USA: The Railways of the United States of America
Designer: Edward Reece, Mark Hendrickson, Shawn Fox
1817's financial engine (loans, short selling, mergers) applied to the whole USA map, with random setup every game.
21Moon
Designer: Jonas Jones
Lunar mining in the year 2117, with temporary permits and an end-of-game fixed by the calendar.
1817
Designer: Craig Bartell, Tim Flowers
An aggressive, finance-heavy 18xx for large groups, with loans, short selling, and hostile mergers between companies.
1822: The Railways of Great Britain
Designer: Simon Cutforth
The full 1822: all of Great Britain in constant auction of privates, minors, and major company concessions.
1822: The Railways of Great Britain — Medium Regional Scenario
Designer: Simon Cutforth
Medium regional version of 1822: England and parts of Wales and Scotland, in a shorter format.
1822: The Railways of Great Britain — North Regional Scenario
Designer: Simon Cutforth
North regional version of 1822: from Birmingham northward, the shortest scenario in the family.
1822CA
Designer: Robert Lecuyer, Simon Cutforth
The 1822 engine spread across the full width of Canada: the longest, widest game in the family, built for 6-9 hour sessions.
1822MX
Designer: Scott Petersen
1822 evolved and shortened for Mexico, with a collectively-managed national railroad (NdeM) and builder cubes.
1822PNW
Designer: Ken Kuhn
1822 without concessions, with merging associated minors and a lumber market unique to the Pacific Northwest.
1830: Railways & Robber Barons
Designer: Bill Dixon, Francis Tresham, Tom Lehmann
The classic reference 18xx: Northeastern USA, stock market, trains and bankruptcy.
1846: The Race for the Midwest
Designer: Tom Lehmann
A fast entry point into 18xx set in the US Midwest, with incremental capitalization and drafted minors.
1849: The Game of Sicilian Railways
Designer: Federico Vellani
Sicily with three track gauges, terrain that always costs money, and trains that count hexes, not cities.
1856: Railroading in Upper Canada from 1856
Designer: Bill Dixon
Upper Canada and the risk of being nationalized by the government if loans aren't repaid in time.
1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight
Designer: Mike Hutton
The Isle of Wight in an 18xx designed for 2 players, with no bankruptcies and progressive nationalization.
1861: The Railways of the Russian Empire
Designer: Ian D. Wilson
The Russian Empire, with minors that grow into majors and a state railway that can absorb them.
1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Counties
Designer: Mike Hutton
British East Anglia flips classic 18xx conventions with three train types and subsidy maneuvers.
1870: Railroading Across the Trans Mississippi from 1870
Designer: Bill Dixon
The Trans-Mississippi with a huge map and the richest stock-market game in the whole 18xx family.
1877: Venezuela
Designer: Toby Mao
Venezuela in a 1817 compressed to 2-3 hours, with short selling, arbitrage and financial sabotage.
1880: China
Designer: Helmut Ohley, Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler
19th-century China with fixed operating order and personal foreign investors for each player.
1882: Assiniboia
Designer: Marc Voyer
Assiniboia, in western Canada, with neutral tokens, a rebellion zone, and a parasite company.
1889: History of Shikoku Railways
Designer: Yasutaka Ikeda
Shikoku, the compact and mountainous version of 1830 in Japan, with one fewer company and a shorter game.
Harzbahn 1873
Designer: Klaus Kiermeier
Mines and railways in the Harz mountains, in a two-player classic with explicit technological progress.
Railways of the Lost Atlas
Designer: Kevin Delger, Jacob Schacht
A modular map built during setup, minors with their own persistent powers that physically merge into majors, and a fixed cycle-based length.
The Old Prince 1871
Designer: Lucas Boyd
Prince Edward Island and the PEIR, a ghost network that turns into a company live at the table.