Gallery
From England's 1829 to Hungary's 18Mag: sixteen games that built the railway genre. Swipe sideways for the next one.
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In 1974 Francis Tresham published 1829 in Britain. Players bought shares in railway companies and, as their presidents, laid track from hexagonal tiles, bought locomotives and chose whether to pay the profits to shareholders or keep them in the company.
Later games took over the system and the naming: a year in the title, a new map, new ideas. Today the 18xx family counts hundreds of titles, from introductions you finish in an evening to twelve-hour monsters.
The shared rhythm: stock rounds alternate with operating rounds, and whenever a new type of train arrives, the oldest locomotives “rust” and leave the board.
The first of the family: railway companies in southern England at the dawn of the railway age, a stock market and track built from hexagonal tiles. Tresham started designing it in the 1960s under the working title “Mainline”. Printed in small runs, it is a collector's item today.
Railways & Robber Barons
The classic most players started with: the north-eastern USA, eight major companies and a ruthless stock market. Famous for the manoeuvre where a president drains their company's treasury and then dumps it on another player. The Avalon Hill edition made 18xx famous in America.
Germany before unification: private railways, the state railways of Bavaria, Saxony and Baden, and the Prussian railway that gradually absorbs the smaller lines. The title is the year the Ludwigsbahn opened between Nuremberg and Fürth, Germany's first railway. For years the standard 18xx in German-speaking countries.
Railroading in Upper Canada from 1856
Upper Canada — today's Ontario, from Toronto to Detroit. Companies receive their capital step by step and may take loans; those that can't repay them are swallowed mid-game by the state-run Canadian Government Railway. A favourite of players who like financial puzzles.
Europe from Paris and London to Rome and Budapest — Kraków is on the map and Warsaw sits on the eastern edge as an off-board area. Instead of private companies, players auction minor railways and later merge them into major companies. The classic closest to Polish players.
The Japanese island of Shikoku and seven companies on a small, tight map. Classic rules in a compact form make it one of the most recommended first 18xx games. It began as a print-and-play kit and now has a full boxed edition.
The Race for the Midwest
The American Midwest and the railways' race from the east to Chicago. A draft of private companies opens the game, every corporation is available from the start, and a game runs shorter than 1830. The designer of Race for the Galaxy made it one of the most popular modern 18xx games.
The most Wall Street of all 18xx: short selling, loans, takeovers and bankruptcies. Companies start at different sizes and players take turns propping up and selling off each other's firms. For many veterans it is the peak of the genre.
China
The history of Chinese railways. Companies get building rights only in chosen regions, and foreign investors appear on the map with lines of their own. A game for 3–7 players co-designed by Lonny Orgler, later the designer of Russian Railroads.
On the Rails of the Orient Express
A monster covering the whole continent: private, minor, regional, major and national companies, and the goal of running the Orient Express from the western capitals to Constantinople. A full game takes about twelve hours; shorter scenarios are included. Today's Polish cities are on the map too.
The Railways of Great Britain
England, with Wales and Scotland as off-board areas. Every stock round auctions private railways and minor companies that the majors later absorb. Long, but rated very highly by players.
The railways of Ireland. Shareholders vote on hostile mergers, and “rusted” trains can be bought back from the bank at half price and run until they rot away. Ireland is also one of the maps in Train Tile Rush.
The railways of Czechia, just across Poland's southern border. Fifteen companies in three sizes, each with its own kind of trains, for 2–6 players. The first game from Lonny Orgler's own publishing house.
The birth of American railroads around Chesapeake Bay. Designed as an introduction: simple rules, no mergers or loans, 2–6 players. Funded on Kickstarter by over 1,500 backers, it is now often a newcomer's first 18xx.
Railways of the Russian Empire & Canada
Two games on shared rules in one box: the railways of the Russian Empire (1861) and of Canada (1867). Minor railways merge into major companies, and late in the game a state national railway appears. In 1861 the Polish lands appear on the western edge as an off-board area.
Hungarian Railway History
The history of Hungarian railways. The railways are shared out among players at the start, operate in a fixed order and always pay out half to their owners and half into the treasury. It also has a solo mode — rare in 18xx.
Many of these games can be played for free in the browser on 18xx.games, an open platform that enforces the rules and counts routes for you.
Rules, variants and discussion live on BoardGameGeek; every slide in the gallery links to its game's page.
Looking for a table? Ask at board-game clubs and cafés — 18xx players like teaching newcomers.
Box covers and boards are the work of artists and publishers. We only show photos under free licences or published with the publisher's permission, always with the author and licence.
Where a picture is still missing, we are waiting for permission. Are you the publisher, artist or photographer of one of these games? Write to [email protected].
Train Tile Rush is an 18xx-inspired railway game for your phone: lay track tiles, connect cities, buy trains — and every turn lasts a few dozen seconds.
Join the beta (page in Polish)
