Adam Badura
Poland
Wrocław
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Do the Mayfair Crayon Rail Games differ (except for maps obviously)? If so are the differences significant?
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Tony Randall
United States
Louisville
Kentucky
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My opinion is "no", that you are talking 95%+ same game between one version/location/map and another. (For reference, I've played maybe 2/3 or 3/4 of them, older rather than newest ones.)
You may have a new terrain type or two to figure out how to build and/or move through (alpine and ferries when we moved from Empire Builder to Eurorails, for instance), but anything else that might initially be perceived as a difference is usually just cosmetic "flavor" for the particular setting.
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Ben Foy
United States
Ellicott City
Maryland
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Like many other RR games, the map can significantly change the game.
Nippon Rails has a very tight, crowded map. Lunar Rails has the spherical builds.
Many crayonrails games have very minor rules differences.
India Rails has rules for Pilgrims and China Rails has special rules for Tiawan.
Then there is Iron Dragon...
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Ed Sherman
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
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If you're comparing Eurorails to Empire Builder, for example, the only difference I can think of off the top of my head is that it adds alpine terrain but that's about it.
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Ben Foy
United States
Ellicott City
Maryland
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edosan wrote: If you're comparing Eurorails to Empire Builder, for example, the only difference I can think of off the top of my head is that it adds alpine terrain but that's about it.
Eurorails also has ferries.
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Kevin Cachia
United States
Springfield
Pennsylvania
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As those before me have said, all the Empire Builder series are pretty much the same.
Some have some slight additions -- ferries, alpine mileposts, wraparound boards (Lunar and Martian) -- that have little impact on the feel of the game. The event cards can be a little different.
Overall, they are variations on a theme. As someone mentioned, Iron Dragon is the biggest variation, as it adds more things (and has the longest gameplay), but it's basically a matter of "if you enjoy Empire Builder but want more map variety..."
Personally, I love the whole series and am very happy to have a bunch of different boards to toodle around on, but if you're looking for the same basic mechanic but very different gameplay, you won't see it in this series.
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Adam Badura
Poland
Wrocław
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Thanks for answers!
Which one would you suggest if I were to buy only one (a starting one)?
I asked in this forum rather than in Mayfair Crayon Rail Games as I hoped to get answers here much sooner and also I considered buying Eurorails (as they are easly available for me) and wanted to ask just to have more information...
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Mark Robinson
England
Lancashire
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If you like sci-fi, then Lunar or Martian Rails might be good. Otherwise I'd suggest you go with geographical familiarity (you know the places and country) OR pick a country you'd like to play crayon rails on
Diff.
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Ben Foy
United States
Ellicott City
Maryland
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Empire Builder since you'd have to worry about fewer rules.
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Adam Badura
Poland
Wrocław
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Learning rules is not a problem for me. I know basic rules anyway (I have played few times some computer program).
On the other hand potential new players might enjoy simpler game so thanks for this advice!
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Tony Randall
United States
Louisville
Kentucky
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Eurorails is a fine starting point - giving your posted location of Poland and you state its better availability to you it seems like the natural choice.
Empire Builder (or is it now and forever North American Rails?) would probably be your next choice if your group likes Eurorails, as it actually gets easier by dropping Alpines and Ferries rule. Your sole learning curve (if any) would be regarding the distribution of the commodities and perhaps the smaller towns on the map.
Unless you purposely wanted to go to the other end of whatever spectrum can be said to exist for this series for choice #2 - in which case I would suggest moon or mars.
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Ward Stolk
Netherlands
Amersfoort
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Depending on the 'gamers' level of the group you play with, I would say the following.
Empire Builder (North America) has a more balanced card set. I mean, the balance between short hauls, with little pay off, medium hauls and long hauls is pretty good. This makes it easier for newbies to the series to play along (less chance of getting stuck if your railway is sub optimal). In Europe, there are much more long hauls, or really short ones, but the mid-section is lacking a bit. Also the division of hauls over the cards is not always good. You can get a card with three possibilities all paying less than 10Million or a card with three hauls all paying more than 40Million and requiring you to go to Spain or Scandinavia (which is really annoying if you get this card after your first delivery).
On the other hand, Eurorails does add more variety, with the Alpine mileposts, the ferries and in the new edition the Chunnel.
In short, we like Eurorails better (partly because we are from Europe) but prefer to use Empire Builder to introduce new people to the series and mechanics.
Hope this helps
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Rob McCarter
United States
Jacksonville
Florida
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Of the games in this series, I have played Eurorails the most. I think the variety of terrain and commodities makes for the most interesting scenario. I also enjoyed Iron Dragon a lot for the same reason.
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