Card Drafting

Railroad Barons belongs to the family of 18xx games, but raised to the meta-level. Individual companies are no longer the focus, but large holding companies which add more and more new railways to their portfolios. At this abstract level there is no need for the game board and route tiles used in traditional 18xx games.

The two players buy and sell stock in holding companies, and the holding companies they control buy railways to generate revenue. Corner the market in the best companies, and exploit the weaker companies, to edge out your opponent and gain any possible relative advantage.

Like other 18xx games, there are no random elements, merely a battle of wits between two ambitious financiers. Assets that are profitable in the early game rapidly become obsolete, so you must always plan ahead for future growth and investment. Growth or Bust!

This game is purely about the money, as there is no map or track tiles!

Cards and tokens are used to represent:

5 Holdings (with a Director's share of 40% plus one share each of 30%, 20%, and 10%)
Railroad companies (with a fixed income) which become obsolete as more modern Railroads come into play.
5 private Investor cards (similar to the 18xx Private companies)

Pacal, king of the Maya city Palenque, is trying to control all of the Yucatan's resources. As kings of other cities, his opponents have their own ideas. By using your influence to control resources in Kingdoms across the Yucatan, you can establish yourself as the greatest king of the Maya. Build Temples. Alter borders. Control resources.

During the game, players represent the kings who oppose Pacal and use the ten different resource cards and spend action points to expand their empires, dominate the 14 Yucatan kingdoms through their control markers, exchange the opponents control markers, reserve control markers and/or build Temples, scoring every time a Score Card is played by any player.

The player who has amassed the greatest amount of control over the Yucatan Peninsula in each of the scoring rounds is the winner.

Railways of the World The Card Game is a fast paced card game adaptation of the popular Railways of the World board game series. In Railways of the World The Card Game players use track cards and city cards to build a series of railroad routes and deliver goods!

As the game progresses, players work to connect more cities, upgrade their engines for larger carrying capacity and deliver goods through a network of routes across the table.

Railways of the World The Card Game provides two versions of rules: one the whole family can play, which is also a great way to introduce them to Railways of the World, and one for more experienced fans of the Railways of the World series.

Newest game from the pair that made 1960: The Making of the President. The goal here is to be the founding father with the most renown at the end of the game, which consists of the making of the US constitution.

Each round, an article of the constitution is put up for consideration, which is either a Federalist, Anti-Federalist, Big State, or Small State issue. Players have a hand of three delegate cards that represent their respective states and also have a special ability. Players may use these cards' special abilities, use the cards to vote for or against the issue under consideration, or to try and claim tokens in each of the four types of issues. When a round ends, the issue either passes, or is flipped to its opposite side (Federalist/Anti or Big/Small).

Players score points for having voted with the majority, and also for having tokens matching the issue types that are voted into the constitution.

China is an abstracted game of political influence in China. Players use cards to place pieces (Houses or Emissaries) into the nine regions on the board. When all house spaces in a region are filled (or at the end of the game), players score for majorities of houses in that region. At game end, players then score for having majorities of emissaries in two adjacent regions. Players also score for having four or more houses in an uninterrupted sequence along one of the roads on the board.

This fascinating game of domination combines multiple tactical possibilities with simple-to-learn rules and a short playing time!

Even today in China, the unmistakable evidence of a fascinating story is everywhere. Hundreds of years ago, the country teetered on the brink of a change in power. Regional rulers fought continuously with each other with only one goal in mind: to become the new Emperor. They erected imposing houses and sent their emissaries to the regional courts.

China is based on the award-winning game Web of Power by master game designer Michael Schacht. China differs from Web of Power in that there is no "half-time" scoring of regions as there is in the earlier game; there are four face-up cards to draw from instead of just two; and all adjacent regions have Emissary scoring opportunities, whereas in Web of Power, some adjacent regions did not.
A special variant with fortifications is included.

Aside from these differences, the two games are essentially the same.

Online Play

http://www.boardgames-online.net (turn-based)

implemented bonus maps: Web of Power, Hellenia, Skandinavia, America, AD 850, Life on Mars, Big in Japan

Re-implements:

Web of Power

Expanded by:

China - Das Duell (Two-player variant)
China Erweiterung
China: Grenzstreitigkeiten
China Einflusskarten
China: The Embassies