Steam

Objective and modes: Build connected track between cities, deliver goods to cities of matching color, and allocate each delivery entirely to income or victory points. The rulebook includes Base Game and Standard Game; Base is simpler, while Standard adds auctions, shares, and locomotive maintenance. The highest final score wins. The 2009 rules do not list official solo or cooperative play.

Maps and players: The included Northeast US/Canada map is for 3–4 players, while the Ruhr map is for 4–5. Six-player rules are described, but require an additional compatible map. BGG lists 3–6 players, about 90 minutes, and age 10+; time and age are catalogue data. Set up goods in cities according to their spaces and place each player’s income and victory-point markers and level-1 locomotive.

Six phases per round: Select an action tile, build track, take two rounds of moving goods or upgrading locomotives, resolve income and expenses, use the chosen action to set next round’s order, then advance the round. Tiles can give first track-building or delivery, extra track, city growth, urbanization, a locomotive upgrade, or a turn-order advantage. Each player chooses one tile, whose effect can shape both the current round and the next.

Building track: Extend a continuous route from a city or your existing track. Normally, build up to three track spaces per round; the Engineer action allows four. Pay the costs for track, town spaces, and river or hill terrain. Urbanization converts a town into a new city. Keep routes connected and plan unfinished sections carefully; a line that is not extended in the next round may lose its ownership.

Delivering goods: A locomotive’s level determines how many links a good may travel. Goods must reach a city of the same color, and the route must use at least as many of your completed links as any other player’s links. Once delivered, the good leaves the board. A route may use completed track owned by several players, so one shipment can reward every player whose links are actually used.

Income or victory points: After a delivery, each player whose completed links were used earns points according to the number of their links on the route. Each scoring player must allocate all points from that delivery to either the Income track or the Victory Point track; a shipment cannot be split. Income affects ongoing finances and endgame conversion, while victory points count directly, so weigh future costs, final conversion, and the race for the current shipment.

Action tiles and locomotives: Each round, select one exclusive action tile. It may give the first track-building or delivery position, an Engineer’s extra track space, city growth, urbanization, a locomotive upgrade, or a better turn order next round. Upgrading a locomotive increases delivery distance; order advantages can determine whether a key route or good is used by an opponent first. Resolve each tile as printed.

Round count and final scoring: The rulebook uses ten rounds for three players, eight for four, and seven for five or six. After income and expenses in the final round, score positive income at one VP per two income, and penalize negative income by two VP per point below zero. Add one VP for each completed link you own; incomplete links score nothing. The highest final total wins.

Standard Game differences: Standard adds share purchase or issuance at the start of each round, an auction to determine turn order, and locomotive maintenance. Shares may be issued only at the start of a round, not as emergency money during another phase. The basic goals of connecting track and delivering goods remain, and the same round counts and final scoring apply. Do not use Base Game action-tile cost rules in the Standard auction sequence.

Ties and boundaries: A victory-point tie is broken by higher final income; if still tied, compare the lowest-numbered action tile taken in the last round. The rulebook distinguishes player counts for included maps from six-player use with an additional map; it also separates Base and Standard finances and turn order. The Mayfair Official Steam FAQ archive could not be fully accessed in this review, so unverified FAQ summaries are not presented as errata.