Route/Network Building

(Note: This listing covers only the expansion-only versions of Saboteur 2; for the Saboteur 2 listing that includes both the base game and the expansion, go to Saboteur (compilation editions).)

In Saboteur, each player takes on the role of a gold-digging dwarf or a saboteur who wants to hinder exploration of the gold mines — but each player knows only his own role, so the digging may or may not go as planned!

Each turn, a player either lays down a tunnel card to dig from the start card toward one of the goal cards (or potentially away, if a saboteur) or plays an action card to help or hinder someone. If the diggers manage to find the gold hidden under one of the goal cards, then the diggers share the loot found there; if the gold can't be reached before the deck runs out, the saboteurs profit instead. After three rounds, the player with the most gold wins.

The Saboteur 2 expansion adds new role cards (the boss, profiteers, geologists) to the base game, new action cards (steal gold, change your role), and new tunnel cards featuring doors, ladders and bridges. What's more, the gold seekers can now be divided into teams — blue vs. green — and only those on the team that finds the gold score anything — assuming that anyone finds the gold at all, of course...

Become part of a U.S. National Institution of the early 20th Century, as you build the routes and reputation of The Most Famous Train in the World: the 20th Century Limited. You are American rail luminaries, creating small independent lines to serve local cities. Plying your business acumen, you plan to sell these lines to larger companies. Of course, you wouldn’t be where you are today without knowing a thing or two about turning tricky situations to your advantage: You have a scheme in mind to get the big companies what they need, without necessarily having, shall we say, exclusive ownership of it….

20th Century Limited condenses the history the American railroad into a sixty-minute game. Players take on the roles of the great railway robber barons as they set up small railroads, turn them into larger rail lines, then sell them off and start all over again. The spread of the North American rail system can happen on your game table in about an hour as the network develops in a fashion similar to the historical model.

The game possesses the simple route-building mechanisms that were used in Transamerica. The placement of pieces is easy to understand, and this simple feature is livened up by the Rail Line cards that dictate the placement of rail segments to recreate the various historical railways of America. The second piece of the puzzle are the Demand cards that serve as a pseudo pick-up-and-deliver system. Players are able to choose what path suits them in the game. You can go for the fulfillment of demands or you can try to build the great rail lines that shaped America. Everything from the Santa Fe to Boston & Maine and many other memorable lines are represented, including the game's namesake: the New York Central Railroad.

Northwest India at the beginning of the 18th century. The rule of the Grand Moguls is waning, and the Maharishis and princes seize the opportunity to take control of the region. By influencing the prominent forces, building magnificent palaces, and ensuring a steady supply of commodities, the princes increase their power until the most successful has won.

The goal of the game is to gain the most influence points. These can be obtained by building palaces and by acquiring commodities. A palace can be built after securing the support of the Vizier, the General, the Monk, the Princess, or the Grand Mogul. Commodities are gained by seizing control of a region or by retrieving them on a space where a palace has just been built.

There are twelve turns with an auction for the region control and the support of the Vizier, General, Monk, Princess, and Grand Mogul, each represented by a different symbol. Players use cards in four colors to bid for the various prizes, and each player may only play one color in any given turn. During your turn you can either increase your bid by playing more cards or withdraw. When you do, you gain the reward for every symbol you have the majority of. You place palaces, gain region tiles, and increase your score accordingly. There are bonus points for connecting palaces over several regions on the map.After the final area on the board is auctioned, the player with the highest point total wins the game.

This game is #3 in the Alea big box series.

Twixt is a 2-player abstract game invented by Alex Randolph. TwixT is a "connection-type" game, very similar to Hex. Other related games are Havannah and The Game of Y. "Connection type" means the object is to form a path connecting something to something else. This requires very different thinking from the standard battle-type game such as chess or checkers.

Some old US sets mention a 4-player variant, with 2 teams as in Bridge, but this probably wasn't Randolph's idea. The game was popular in the 60s and 70s as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. Avalon Hill then acquired the series and issued the game themselves. Several European publishers have sold the game as well.

Twixt employs a pegboard, pegs and links. The playing surface is a 24x24 square pegboard, usually minus the corner holes, with two opposite sides marked with one player's color and the other two sides marked with the other player's color. Each player has a supply of pegs and links of their color. 50 of each piece type of each color, a total of 200, is an ample supply. Players alternate turns placing pegs and links, if possible, in attempt to have a continuous path of links connecting the two sides of the board with their color.

After the 3M edition, Randolph added the pie rule. After the first peg is placed, the opponent has the option to swap sides. This reduces the imbalance from the first move advantage.

On your turn you place one peg of your color on the board, and then add or rearrange your color links. Pegs may be placed in any vacant hole in the board except the corners and the last row on the sides of the opposing player. When two pegs of the same color are at opposite corners of a six hole rectangle (3x2 or 2x3), a link may be placed between those two pegs. Links may not be placed such that they cross other links. Multiple links may be added on a single move. Usually, all links are to the peg just placed, but on your move you are allowed to remove as many of your own links as you wish, and add your own links anywhere on the board as long as they are legal as described here.

When a player connects his two sides with a continuous path of links, he prevents his opponent from doing the same, the game is over, and the player connecting his two sides wins the game. If neither side can complete such a path, the game is a draw.

It's the early 1900's and you are the owner of one of the fastest growing rail companies in the eastern USA.

In Spike, you expand your rail network as you connect cities in order to pick up and deliver more goods; complete contracts and routes to bring in money to modernize your train; upgrade your engines, tenders and railcars to transport the most freight; and build farther, transport more, and amass wealth on your way to become "King of the Rails".