Ben Huber
Canada
Calgary
AB
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After a rousing game of Clue with my three older girls (aged 16, 13, and 10), I talked them into trying out Eurorails. The Mayfair crayon rails game have been played by my extended family for years, so they had seen them around.
Initially the game went okay, with me helping our 10 year old organize her loads and prioritize the track. The two older girls ran themselves into trouble with not enough money or planning. I helped both of them put together a plan (initially by discarding all load cards and drawing three new ones a number of times). With helping the others, my plans and execution weren't exactly stellar either.
After taking a supper (and movie break - since that's what we do during supper on Sundays) we got back to the game. Tt was obvious that there would not be time to complete the game before bedtime, and leaving the game setup overnight in our household was not an option. Also, with the earlier difficulties the girls had encountered, they appeared reluctant to experience more of the same.
I reviewed the map, and it occurred to me (possibly based on an interest in North American railroad history) that there were some merger possibilities for the 4 railroads. Two of the railroads had focused on east and west respectively, with joint connections in Holland and Milan. The other two railroads were focused on the south and the north, with one connection near Belgrade, and a couple of other possibilities further West in France and Switzerland for quick and easy connections.
I suggested to the girls that we team up, combine railroads, and up the final currency requirements (from 250m to 300m). This was met with a lot of excitement, and really rejuvenated the game play for the girls. It also allowed us to complete the game, pretty much skipping the midgame where you plow your profits back into railbuilding. To a purist, this was probably an abomination, but to me it was an all-around win. We completed the game (much preferable to abandoning it midgame), the girls really enjoyed the team play, and we did not alienate my good wife by overextending bedtimes.
Sort of a weird variant to introduce on the fly; the one thing I would do differently would be to have a higher monetary goal - say 400m or something in that vicinity.
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Eric Brosius
United States
Needham Heights
Massachusetts
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And, it's a real-life example of why companies sometimes merge---something your girls will understand and remember much better than if they had read it in a textbook.
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Mark Evans
United States
Berlin
New Hampshire
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I usually cringe at variantism, but this seems to be one of the best times to do it.
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Justus Pang
United States
Houston
Texas
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I love variants, so an unqualified huzzah from me!
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