1828

Designer: J C Lawrence

A hefty 1830 relative set around the Great Lakes and eastern Canada: corporate mergers into shared "Systems", privates that directly launch companies, and par prices that unlock as the game progresses.

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1828 Contents

How it works

Setup

3 to 5 players: $800, $700 or $620 each
Some of the 8 $250 founding privates are removed at random: players + 1 remain
Privates are laid out in rows by price, from $20 to $250
Private auction: buy the cheapest, bid on another, or pass
Whoever gets a $250 private receives the director's share and a 10% share of its company, and sets its par price

Stock round ×1

Sell (not in the first round): down one row per share
Buy one certificate (two in the grey zone, if you're the director)
Or merge two companies into a system
Max 60% per player, except in the grey zone
Next round's order is the order in which players passed
At the end, companies with no shares in the [IPO] or pool go up

Operating round ×1-4

Private income
Each company, highest share price first:
1. Home station (first time only)
2. Track: 1 yellow or 1 upgrade (a system, 2)
3. One station ($100)
4. Run trains
5. Pay out (right) or withhold (left)
6. Buy trains; if it has a route, it must own one

↻ Repeats until the end

End

A player goes bankrupt: the game ends immediately
A share price reaches $500
Or the first full set of operating rounds in the purple phase ends
Cash + shares at share price + privates at face value

Components

Players

Cash
Privates and shares (almost no certificate limit)
At most 60% of each company

Companies

16 companies: a 20% director's share and eight 10% shares
Float at 60% sold and receive 10 × par
Par prices open up by phase
Two can merge into a system: one treasury, two fleets

Bank

Unlimited money
[IPO] and pool
Trains by colour, from yellow to purple

Map

Eastern North America and Canada
Rivers $80, mountains $120
Hexes blocked by privates
Virginia coal fields: need a coal token ($120)

Privates

8 for sale ($20 to $160), with abilities
8 founders ($250, $40 income): close when their company buys a train
From the green phase, companies can buy them
All close in the red phase

Where the money goes

Players Bank Privates, [IPO] shares (at par) and pool shares (at share price)
Bank Companies On floating: 10 × par
Bank Players Dividends, private income, share sales
Companies Bank Trains, terrain, stations and coal tokens
Companies Players Buying privates from a player ($1 to double face value)
Players Companies The director tops up a mandatory train

Phases

Yellow

Start

2 · $80

Par prices $67, $71, $79; 1 operating round

Green

1st 3-train

3 · $160

Companies can buy privates; 2 rounds

Blue

1st 5-train

5 · $250

2-trains are removed

Brown

1st 3+D train

3+D · $350

Brown tiles; 3 trains per company; 3 rounds

Red

1st 6-train

6 · $650

Privates close; 3-trains are removed; 2 trains

Grey

1st 8E train

8E · $800

5-trains are removed

Purple

1st diesel

D · $900

3+Ds are removed; no more new companies; 4 rounds; the game ends with this set

Merging into systems is the heart of the game: one big company with two fleets and more track per turn.
High par prices only open in the green, blue and brown phases: starting early means starting cheap.

A round, step by step

Illustrative example (the rulebook doesn't include one): 4 players with $700. We follow [P1] and the [GT], based in Grand Rapids, from the private auction to the second operating round.

Before starting Privates in rows Phase Yellow

With 4 players, three of the eight $250 privates are removed at random and five remain, the [GT]'s among them. Privates are laid out in rows by price, from the $20 one up to the $250s.

[P1] cash

$700

[GT] treasury

—

[GT] share price

—

[GT] trains

—
Private auction A bid for the [GT] Phase Yellow

On their turn, each player may buy the cheapest private, bid on another, or pass. [P1] puts $255 on the [GT] private: a bid must be a multiple of $5 and above face value.

Bid money is set aside: it can't be used for anything else.

[P1] cash

$445

[GT] treasury

—

[GT] share price

—

[GT] trains

—
Private auction The [GT] is theirs Phase Yellow

The others buy up the cheap privates. When the [GT] is the cheapest one left and only has [P1]'s bid, they take it for $255. They receive the director's certificate (20%) and a 10% [GT] share, and must set its par price: they pick $79, the highest yellow one.

The yellow phase only offers $67, $71 and $79. Higher prices come with the green, blue and brown phases.

[P1] cash

$445

[GT] treasury

—

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

—
Stock round 1 Heading for 60% Phase Yellow

Only one certificate per turn. [P1] buys two 10% [GT] shares from the [IPO] at $79 each and reaches 50%. [P3] takes one too.

Nothing can be sold in the first stock round.

[P1] cash

$287

[GT] treasury

—

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

—
Stock round 1 The [GT] floats Phase Yellow

60% is now sold and only 40% remains in the [IPO]: the [GT] floats. It receives $790 in one go, ten times par. The money from share purchases goes to the bank, not the company.

[P1] cash

$287

[GT] treasury

$790

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

—
Stock round 1 Everyone passes Phase Yellow

Once everyone has passed in a row, the round ends. The order in which players passed becomes the order for the next stock round. In the yellow phase, just one operating round follows.

[P1] cash

$287

[GT] treasury

$790

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

—
Operating round 1 Income and home station Phase Yellow

The [GT] private pays [P1] $40. The [GT] operates for the first time and places its station in Grand Rapids, already linked to Muskegon by printed grey track.

[P1] cash

$327

[GT] treasury

$790

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

—
Operating round 1 A yellow in Lansing Phase Yellow

A single company lays one tile per round. The [GT] lays a yellow city in Lansing, next to Grand Rapids. There's a river: $80 to the bank.

[P1] cash

$327

[GT] treasury

$710

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

—
Operating round 1 No revenue Phase Yellow

No trains yet, so no revenue. Not paying out moves the share price one column left: from $79 to $76.

[P1] cash

$327

[GT] treasury

$710

[GT] share price

$76

[GT] trains

—
Operating round 1 Two 2-trains Phase Yellow

It buys two 2-trains at $80. Since it has a route, it must own at least one. When it buys its first train, the [GT] private closes.

If the treasury fell short, the director would have to make up the rest from their own cash.

[P1] cash

$327

[GT] treasury

$550

[GT] share price

$76

[GT] trains

2 + 2
Stock round 2 The 60% ceiling Phase Yellow

[P1] buys another 10% from the [IPO] for $79 and reaches 60%. They can't buy any more: you can only go above 60% when the share price is in the grey zone of the market.

If the [GT] had no shares in the [IPO] or the pool, its share price would move up one row at the end of the round.

[P1] cash

$248

[GT] treasury

$550

[GT] share price

$76

[GT] trains

2 + 2
Operating round 2 On to Flint Phase Yellow

The private no longer pays anything. The [GT] extends its track: a yellow city in Flint, on the far side of Lansing, with no terrain cost.

[P1] cash

$248

[GT] treasury

$550

[GT] share price

$76

[GT] trains

2 + 2
Operating round 2 Two runs Phase Yellow

One 2-train runs from Grand Rapids ($30) to Lansing ($20): $50. The other from Grand Rapids to Muskegon ($10): $40. Total: $90. Each route must touch a [GT] station.

Both trains leave Grand Rapids on different lines: they can't share any track section.

[P1] cash

$248

[GT] treasury

$550

[GT] share price

$76

[GT] trains

2 + 2
Operating round 2 Paying out Phase Yellow

The [GT] pays $9 per 10%. [P1], with 60%, collects $54 and [P3] $9. The 30% in the [IPO] gets nothing. Any dividend moves the share price one column right: back to $79.

[P1] cash

$302

[GT] treasury

$550

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

2 + 2
Operating round 2 A third train Phase Yellow

It buys another 2-train for $80. When they run out, the first 3-train will open the green phase.

[P1] cash

$302

[GT] treasury

$470

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

2 + 2 + 2
Towards the green phase What now? Phase Yellow

The green phase brings track upgrades, two operating rounds per set and new par prices ($86 and $94). With 60% of the [GT], [P1] could look for another company and, later on, merge the two into a system.

[P1] cash

$302

[GT] treasury

$470

[GT] share price

$79

[GT] trains

2 + 2 + 2

1828 — Summary

Capitalization type

Full capitalization: once it floats (60% sold), the company receives its entire capital (par price × 10) into the treasury at once, exactly as in 1830.

Floats once 60% of shares are sold, the same single threshold used in 1830
No player may hold more than 60% of a single corporation, except once its price reaches the market's gray "unlimited" cells — there the cap lifts and, uniquely, the president may buy two of its shares in a single action instead of one
There is effectively no certificate limit at any player count (3 to 5 players); the game doesn't track one at all
The Mohawk & Hudson private can be exchanged for a 10% share of any corporation without counting against the 60% ownership cap
Up to 80% of a single corporation's shares can sit in the bank pool before hitting the pool limit, well above 1830's default 50%

Starting cash by player count

3 players: $800 starting cash
4 players: $700 starting cash
5 players: $620 starting cash
The bank has no fixed size: its cash is effectively unlimited, so the game can never end from the bank running dry
Only 3 to 5 players are supported — there's no 2- or 6-player option

End game triggers

A player goes bankrupt: immediate end
A share price reaches the top $500 cell of the market: immediate end if it happens through full private ownership at the close of a stock round, or end at the close of the current operating round if it happens through a dividend payout
The final phase (Purple) completes its full set of operating rounds: the game ends once that set is done
Players may also agree by consensus that the outcome is already decided and stop the game early

Number of phases

7 phases (Yellow, Green, Blue, Brown, Red, Gray, Purple), triggered by the purchase of the first train of each type
Par prices aren't all available from the start: only a small opening set is offered in the Yellow phase, and each later phase transition (Green, Blue, Brown) unlocks a further, higher tier of par prices
Phase Red (first 6-train): closes every private company still in play, plus the Cobourg & Peterborough minor
Phase Purple (first Diesel): any corporation that still hasn't been parred is marked for removal, leaving a permanent blocking token in its home city
Train limit per corporation shrinks over the game: 4 in Yellow/Green/Blue, down to 3 in Brown, then 2 from Red onward
Operating rounds per set grow from 1 (Yellow) up to 4 (Purple)

Train list and prices

2 train — $80 (7 copies; rusts once the first 5-train is bought)
3 train — $160 (9 copies; rusts once the first 6-train is bought; buying it opens the Green-phase par prices)
5 train — $250 (4 copies; rusts once the first 8E-train is bought; buying it opens the Blue-phase par prices)
3+D train — $350 (6 copies; rusts once the first Diesel is bought; buying it opens the Brown-phase par prices)
6 train — $650 (4 copies, or 3 with fewer than 5 players; never rusts; buying it closes every remaining private company and the Cobourg & Peterborough minor)
8E train — $800 (3 copies; never rusts)
Diesel (D) — $900 (unlimited copies; never rusts; buying it marks any still-unparred corporation for removal)

List of private companies

Eight ordinary privates ($20 to $160), each blocking a specific hex until bought by a corporation, several gaining a unique ability once sold: Schuylkill Valley Navigation ($20, revenue $5) simply blocks its hex; Saint Clair Tunnel ($20, revenue $5, rising to $10 once corporate-owned) blocks Sarnia; Champlain & St. Lawrence ($40, revenue $10) lets its owning corporation lay a free tile at Burlington anytime; Delaware & Hudson ($80, revenue $15) lets its owner "teleport" a tile (plus an optional station) to Scranton for $120; Cobourg & Peterborough ($80, revenue $15) is also playable as the game's one minor railroad; Mohawk & Hudson ($120, revenue $20) can be exchanged for a 10% share of any corporation, ignoring the 60% ownership cap; Erie & Kalamazoo ($120, revenue $20) auto-places a yellow tile at Adrian & Ann Arbor once corporate-owned and grants one extra discounted tile lay later; Camden & Amboy ($160, revenue $25) hands its buyer a 10% share of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Eight "founder's" privates ($250 each, revenue $40): CPR, GT, IC, MC, MP, NKP, NW and OSH. Each one directly launches its matching corporation, granting the buyer 30% of it and the right to set its par price; it closes automatically once that corporation buys its first train. Only 7 minus the player count of these eight survive a random cull before the auction even starts, so fewer of them are in play with fewer players

List of corporations

16 fixed-home corporations spread across a broad Eastern North America map (the Great Lakes/Midwest, the Northeast, the South, and Eastern Canada): Boston & Maine (B&M), Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O), Canadian Pacific (CPR), Grand Trunk (GT), Erie (ERIE), Illinois Central (IC), Michigan Central (MC), Missouri Pacific (MP), New York Central (NYC), New York, Chicago & St. Louis (NKP), New York, New Haven & Hartford (NYH), Norfolk & Western (NW), Ontario, Simcoe & Huron (OSH), Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), and Wabash (WAB)
One playable minor railroad, the Cobourg & Peterborough (C&P), which starts with a free 2-train and closes once the 6-train phase is reached

Game-specific mechanics

Corporate mergers into "Systems": if a single player controls enough combined shares (6, or 5 if none were sold that round) of two floated corporations, they may merge them into one System sharing a treasury and a stock price, though each original company keeps its own train roster tracked separately inside it
Par prices unlock gradually by phase instead of all being available from the start
Eight of the sixteen corporations are launched directly through a matching "founder's" private rather than a normal IPO
Effectively no certificate limit, and an unlimited bank
A special "coal marker" ($120) is required for any corporation to run a route through the Virginia Coalfields hex
Unparred corporations left over once the Purple phase hits are removed from the game, leaving a permanent blocking token in their home city

Emergency sell

Matches the 1830 baseline almost exactly: company treasury first, then the president's personal cash — capped at exactly what's needed, no more — then, if that's still not enough, a forced sale of the president's own shares in any corporation they hold, at market price, with their own presidential certificate always protected from sale. Selling shares of a different corporation can still flip that company's presidency to someone else, just like in 1830. If the shortfall still can't be covered, the president is declared bankrupt and the game ends immediately. The one genuinely 1828-specific wrinkle: once two corporations have merged into a System, each of its two original companies is checked separately for whether it needs a train, since they keep independent train rosters even while sharing one treasury.

Comparison with 1830

1. Setting, map and number of players
1830 covers the northeastern USA for 2-6 players. 1828 stretches the map out across the Great Lakes, the Northeast, the South and Eastern Canada, and only supports 3 to 5 players — there's no 2- or 6-player option.

2. Corporations launched directly by a private, not just by an IPO
In 1830 every corporation is founded the same way: by parring it during a stock round. In 1828, eight of the sixteen corporations are instead launched directly by buying their matching $250 "founder's" private, which hands the buyer 30% of the company and the right to set its own par price.

3. Par prices unlock gradually, not all at once
1830 offers its whole par-price ladder from the very first stock round. 1828 only opens a handful of low par prices at the start, and each later phase (Green, Blue, Brown) unlocks a higher tier — so a company founded early is stuck choosing from a narrower, cheaper range than one founded later in the game.

4. No real certificate limit, and an unlimited bank
1830 caps how many certificates each player can hold and gives the bank a fixed $12,000. 1828 does neither — the certificate limit is effectively switched off, and the bank's cash is unlimited, so the game can never end from the bank running dry the way it can in 1830.

5. Corporations can merge into "Systems"
A mechanic 1830 doesn't have at all: if a single player controls enough combined shares of two floated corporations, they can merge them into one System sharing a single treasury and stock price, even though the two original companies keep separate train rosters inside it.

6. Trains that never rust, once you're past the early ones
In 1830, only the Diesel is immune to rusting. In 1828, the 6, 8E and Diesel trains all stay useful for the rest of the game once bought — a much larger "safe zone" at the top of the train ladder than 1830 offers.

7. A 60% cap that can be broken with a bonus attached
1830's gray/unlimited stock-market cells simply remove the 60% ownership ceiling. 1828 does the same, but adds an extra perk on top: once a corporation is priced that high, its president can buy two of its shares in a single action instead of one.

8. A dedicated minor railroad and a special coal-hauling requirement
1828 has one playable minor, the Cobourg & Peterborough, that starts with a free train — a structure 1830 doesn't use at all. It also requires corporations to buy a special $120 "coal marker" before they can run a route through the Virginia Coalfields, a resource-gating mechanic with no equivalent in 1830.

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