Me and My Train Games
Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Anyone who has played games with me for any length of time will know of my fondness for train games. According to BGG, my collection currently has >80 items that are classified as "Train". It is somewhat sobering to think that I own more train games than most people (even people on this site) own games. For my collection, that total is right around 1 in 8 games that I own. Counting up the plays quickly, train games I own count for right at 11% of the games I've played. That seems to be a pretty reasonable correlation. Given the length of many of these games, my playtime may weigh more heavily toward the train games.
Since it is bound to come up at some point, I suppose I should comment here on what I consider to be a "train game". I tend to prefer a broader definition than some. A game is a train game if it is about trains. Thus I might exclude something with a train theme (like a Monopoly edition) that really is not about train games (but I might not). The result of this for me is that train games tend to fall into two broad categories -- 1) games about set collection and 2) games about networks / route building. The latter group are more "train game" to me than the former, which will be apparent in some of the "non-train" items that eventually show up on the list. At any rate, this definition puts me at odds with some folk. For example, wikipedia disagress with me. While I suppose a case can be made for that definition, I have a problem with any definition of a Train Game that excludes Winsome train games or that does not align with the Puffing Billy / Train Gamers Association idea of a train game.
I intend for this list to be divided up in to the following groupings:
1. Own
2. Have Played but never Qwned
3. Have Owned
4. Non-train Train Games
5. Honorable Mentions
6. Games on my Radar
It will also be a work in progress. It will likely take me a while to type everything up on all of the games I list. I naddition, I expect to continue to add games to my collection as well as play some of my unplayed games. It has become apparent just by entering games into the list that I probably should go back and revisit some of my ratings. For that matter, I need to actually put in a fair number of ratings.
Comments are welcome throughout, as are suggestions for games I might be interested in.
For those interested, this is a blatant theft of idea from BGG user Favre4MVP for his geeklist Me and my Knizia, which is still one of my favorite lists to read -- dating back to my own (now somewhat cooled) love affair with Knizia. I always wish I had the idea first.
Plays current to 02/27/2011.
Owned current to 02/27/2011
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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OWNED
Games after this are games that I currently own.
A few of the games added in here are print and play games that I have downloaded the files for the game but have not yet printed out. These are listed at the end.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 41
Rating: 10
The list starts off with my most played train game and my #1 favorite game overall. I was introduced to this game in 2001 and was immediately hooked depsite my first game taking in excess of five hours. Shortly thereafter, I pruchased a cheap copy off Ebay ($12 I think). The rest is history.
The edition pictured is the one we play on. No Mexico. We do know a couple of folks that do have EB with Mexico and we play that from time to time. I also happen to have a first edition copy with the metal trains. I've never actually played on it. At any rate, we prefer the non-Mexico version. Granted, I do hope to someday pick up copies of all the editions we don't currently own.
I should also mention that the number of plays really doesn't reflect how much we have played this game. We played a lot for the first couple of years because we did not have many other games (and these are not logged). It wasn't unusual back in those days to play two trains at a time or with some open contracts. We've not done that in a fairly long time.
All in all, it's my favorite game of my favorite system. Sometimes, I "force" myself to play other games in the series because this is almost always the one I want to default to.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 40
Rating: 7
Despite not having played this in about 1-1/2 years, I am still by far the number one player of this game. Needless to say, all of those plays were with my children. I stumbled across this quit by accident on Ebay several years ago and picked it up for a song ($4). Granted, there is not a whole lot there, but there is something about pushing a train around a track. Speaking of which, it has one of the best randomizers I have ever seen in a game:
While the game is pretty random, there are some decisions that can be made ot increase the likelihood of picking up a needed pawn. Nothing earth-shattering here, but at least it tends to end quickly.
Since my girls seem to have outgrown this, it looks as though the number of plays will continue to stagnate -- at least until the eldest of the boys starts to take an interest. As he is now two, I expect I have a year, two at the most before this sees play again.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 27
Rating: 8
While not my first Alan Moon train game -- that distinction belongs to Union Pacific -- it is still one of my favorites, and clearly my most played. Back when this was first to be released, it became one of the very first games that I placed a pre-order for. Then after I played it, I was sure that it would win the SdJ. Sure enough, I was not disappointed. For those of you interested, I very rarely make any sort of guess about the SdJ. In fact, I cannot recall any other time where I have done such a thing.
Oddly enough, when I first read about this game, I was pretty underwhelmed. Of course, I was not the rabid train-game-lover that I am now (though I did like them immensely). Still the description of the "theme" of this game is rather dull. I was quite happy when I read some of the info available out there and it became apparent that the gameplay itself was much more interesting than implied.
This one really does not get the play that I think it deserves. Most of my plays were early on in its lifetime, during which time I had a fairly impressive unbeaten streak. Alas, my skills are not as they once were. Actually, I suspect that the skill of my opponents improved.
Until recently, this was still my favoite flavor of the TTR series. Alas, it has been surpassed by another. And since most of my TTR plays are with 2-3 players it seems likely that it will lose its most played status as well.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 22
Rating: 7
I have had to go back an update my (very) old comment on this game. Originally, I felt that the map seemed to constrictive. That is, there was really only one way to do well. That was to ship up and down the East Coast. While this can (and often does) work well, it is by far not the only strategy to the game.
As you will notice, this has racked up the second most plays in the series since we started keeping stats. That alone seems to speak for our enjoyment of this title, especially given all of the other options out there. This is partially due to my wife's love of things Australian. It is also helped by the general shorter playing time (in our experience) despite the longer set-up (as we have previously only had the tube edition).
The shorter playing time, though, is a double edged sword. This game, more than most in the series, seems fairly susceptible to luck of the draw determining the winner. This is a pretty significant statement coming from someone who does not believe that luck of the draw, generally, in these games has a great effect. However, in this one, and Nippon, it does. I think this is in part related to the size of many of the payouts. It is this abundance of cash that seems to push the game along at a faster clip as well.
All in all, I game I expect will get much play. With the recent addition (05/12/2009) of the boxed edition, no more tube games will be played and we'll have a faster set-up.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 21
Rating: 9
Back in my college days, I spent a semester abroad as an exchange student. That semester was spent in Finland at the University of Tampere. It was a wonderful experience and the nation and its people hold a special place in my heart.
Needless to say, when this was announced by Days of Wonder, I was immediately excited. This was followed by immediate disappointment since it was going to be available only in the Nordic region. Unlike some, I always expected that this woule get an English release -- there was just too much money to be had. While I did kick around importing this several times, the cost was simply prohibitive. Imagine my excitement when the English edition was finally announced. I immediately contacted Thor at Gamesurplus.com and opened a new order.
It has been one of my favorite train games since it arrived in my house last September. It has also suplanted the original TTR as my favorite in the series. That seens unlikely to change in the near future. Something about it just seems right.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 18
Rating: 8
Probably my favorite of the Wallace Early Railways games and their derivatives. For a long time, it has held a greater position in my heart than the critically acclaimed Age of Steam. While I now like Age of Steam more than I used to, I still think of this game as being more fun.
There really is not much about this game that I dislike. It is big, but I have room for it. We can tell the Blue and Purple apart. The "overproduced" bits are fine by me. I suppose it could have a better two-player game, but that is fixed by the first expansion.
There really is not much to say other than that I never get to play this enough. I would play much more frequently if I could, something I cannot say about many of my games, even many of my train games.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 16
Rating: 8
If you count plays that predate the logging system here on BGG, this game is the second most played out of the series for us, though Australia has taken over that position in recent years.
One of the reasons for all of these plays is our feeling that this map is by far the most balanced overall among the follow-up games. It may even beat out the original, but I'm not yet ready to concede that. There are a lot of things that combine to make it balanced. One is the wide variety of geographic features that have an actual impact on your railbuilding in interesting ways. Also, your major cities are well spread, forcing you to go all general areas of the map. The "outlying" areas are close enough to be reasonable but far enough away to be a meaningful decision. Finally, the demand cards seem to be well balanced.
Another nice little addition is the use of the pilgrims (toothbrushes). In our experience, they don't make a huge difference, but they are still a nice addition. If only there were more of them with more players. The other problem is that it can be hard to keep up with where they need to go. We always have to mark out the regions on the board whenever we play with them, which limits how much we actually play with them.
All in all, one our favorites of the series.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 16
Rating: 9
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 15
Rating: 8
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 14
Rating: 9
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 14
Rating: 9.5
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 8
Rating: 8
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 8
Rating: 7
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 8
Rating: 6
I have been a big fan of Ticket to Ride since it was first released. Needless to say, I was happy to pick up a copy of Europe as soon as it became available. Unfortunately, I was very much underwhelmed by this addition to the series.
I do like the attempt to balance out the long and short routes, but it doesn't really seem to work. After all, there are only so many of the long routes, and it seems crazy to not keep the one dealt to you. After that, there just doesn't seem to be much in the way of middle ground. The ferries and tunnels are OK but nothing earth-shattering and are more annoying than anything else. The biggest problem I have are the stations. They are a neat addition, but they simplify the game way too much, essentially removing one of the most interesting bits of the original -- the potential for being blocked out of an area. One other gripe is the relative dearth of well-paying connections on the board. This seems to force you into a complete routes strategy, but there really is not all that much there either.
All in all, I've been disappointed with this edition and hardly ever play it. In fact, since the first one or two games, I've not played it except at the request of others with several of them being with the Dice expansion, which it might actually be the best for.
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16.
Board Game: Metro
[Average Rating:6.39 Overall Rank:942]
Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 7
Rating: 7.5
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 7
Rating: 7
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 7
Rating: 8
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 7
Rating: 6
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 6
Rating: 7
What to do with Age of Steam? For the longest time, I had a really low rating on this game. (It was a five for those who care.) Part of that was due to a disastrous first playing that was no fun for any involved. It seems that six new players on the base map was not the best choice. It very nearly ended interest in the game for me.
Since then, I have played a few more times. With three or four on the base map, the game is quite interesting. I won't ever play the base map again with six and will likely avoid five as well It is certainly very intense. That may have been part of the problem back then. I was certainly acquired more of a taste for more intense games since my first play.
Now, it still is not my favorite of train games. I prefer the Empire Builder series more by a long shot. I think Railroad Tycoon, particularly Rails of Europe, may still rank higher than me. Volldampf may or may not beat it. However, I do enjoy it now and look forward to playing it again, something I didn't expect to be able to say back when I originally played it. The scary thing for me is that I am starting to look at tracking down some of the expansion maps. That seems a dngerous road.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Amazingly, despite knowing this game was coming out this year, it has not been listed on the Geek until relatively recently. Now that it is available to add to the list, I suppose I should add it. If you have read the top portion of this list, then you know that this is a no-brainer addition to my collection. I hear it will be available at the end of June.
Purchased August 2009
Status: Owned
Plays: 6
Rating: None
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 5
Rating: 8
This is one of those games that I kind of watched out of the corner of my eye for a while. I wasn't all that interested in 18xx games at the time it became widely available. However, it's three hour playing time and rported introductory 18xx cred kept it on my radar. Unfortuntately, it was never really available in the US and the shipping cost was prohibitive for a game that was likely to see little play.
Fast forward to April 2009 and have entered my third age of 18xx interest. I have a couple of guys that I now get to play with on a fairly regular basis who are interested in playing train games (particularly Winsome and 18xx titles). Now if I get a copy I'm pretty sure to get it played. I start looking into it and decide to go ahead and pull the trigger. My copy arrived in mid-May 2009.
Boy, am I glad I picked this one up. In two weeks time, I manage to get it played on two different occasions. Given the type of game, that is a pretty impressive feat. I expect that it will get played s couple more times in the next month or so. At least, I will be promoting additional plays of the game. It has quickly moved into the spot of favorite of the 18xx games for me.
Why, you ask? Here are the things I really like: Companies float easily, so everyone is running companies early. Companies get paid for their shares and can then sell them to the market to raise money. Two operating rounds right from the beginning. Laying two tiles. Small towns don't count against your movement. Lots of interesting upgrades for town tiles. Ledges on the stock market with the ability to jump more than one space. It really plays in nearly three hours with inexperienced people. And there is some rather intense and brutal play possible in the game without people going bankrupt. Oh, yeah, awesome production value for an 18xx game.
The downsides? Cost of the game I suppose. Convincing people to play a deeply engaging train game.
Really, this game has moved into the ranks of my favorites. My initial ranking is an eight, which really isn't correct and will likely go up.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 5
Rating: 6.5
Yet another piece of the TTR series that suffers from its parent being so good on its own. While there is a time in the past when I knew the base deck of routes well enough for this to be a welcome change of pace, that time was a great enough period before this arrived for this expansion to really matter much. Granted, the differing routes were pleasant enough when I've played with them. They just aren't all that necessary.
I have yet to play either the Big Cities or the Mega version, both of which seem like they would be quite interesting in their own right. It's just difficult to add something to TTR when that is what people want to play, I need not even mention that more often than not, it is 2-3 players on Nordic and not the base map, making it even less likely for this to see the light of day. Which is a shame.
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 5
Rating: 6
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Stephen Smith
United States
Columbus
Mississippi
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Status: Owned
Plays: 5
Rating: 8
Volldampf is a game that took me a little bit of effort to acquire. It sounded quite interesting to me at the time and still is. It is actually one of my favorite games of the Early Railways derivatives. Next to Railroad Tycoon and Rails of Europe, I think it could be said to be my favorite.
One of the reasons that I really like this game is that it really should not have all that long of a play time. Granted, like any game, this can be stretched out. I am as guilty of this as many others. However, that same tendency seems to be greater in its simblings Age of Steam and Railroad Tycoon, both of which tend to be longer anyway,
There are two things against it. One, like Age of Steam, it really breaks down with six players. This is rather unfortunate as there needs to be a really good six-player railgame that can be completed in 60-90 minutes. The other problem (which really is not a problem per se) is the constrained track building. I really like the open-ended track building in both Age of Steam and Railroad Tycoon, so I miss it in this game. However, I think it is part of the charm of the system. Open up too much and you start to extend the play time.
I wish I could get this one to the table more frequently. Unfortunately, some of the most likely candidates for playing this with me were turned off by the negative experience of playing with six players. That may doom it to little play in the future.
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Posted Mon May 4, 2009 7:35 pm
Winnipeg/Auckland/Cheonan
Willow Street
Pennsylvania
You, sir, get a thumb for NOTICING that he didn't write "peaked my interest."
The OP gets a thumb as well.
Connecticut
New England
You, sir, get a thumb for NOTICING that he didn't write "peaked my interest."
The OP gets a thumb as well.
You all get thumbs!