Special Dispatch · Now Live
Rails & Rivals Has Pulled Into Steam Next Fest
June Edition · June 15–22, 2026
The free demo is boarding now. Lay your first tracks, deliver your first load of goods, and wishlist Rails & Rivals before the festival whistle blows on June 22.
Full release — July 20, 2026
The Game
Rails & Rivals is a digital railroad board game. Build networks, deliver goods, and compete to become the wealthiest rail company on the map.
Lay track tiles across hex terrain with realistic costs. Plains are cheap, mountains are expensive, and rivers or ridges add crossing fees. Every dollar spent on construction is a dollar not spent on delivery.
A full game plays in 30-60 minutes. Singleplayer against AI, local multiplayer, or online multiplayer for 2-6 players. Private lobbies, no randoms. Just you and the people you want to bankrupt.
The Strategy
Pick up colored goods from cities and deliver them to matching destinations. Earn victory points for every rail link your cargo travels. You can use any railroad on the map. Just remember, every link you cross pays its owner.
Need cash fast? Issue bonds. But dividends eat into your income every turn, and each bond costs you points at the end. Every borrowed dollar is a trade-off.
Upgrade your engine to deliver across longer routes. Start delivering across one link. Upgrade up to level 8 to reach cities further down the line.
The World
Multiple maps based on real-world geography, each with unique city layouts and terrain challenges. From the Appalachian mountains to the Great Lakes, every map tells a different story.
Convert gray towns into colorful cities through industrialization, creating new destinations where none existed before. The board is never the same twice.
Rails & Rivals includes a full map editor. Adjust map size, place terrain, draw rivers, set ridges, and drop cities onto a hex grid. Save your map and play on it. Share it on Steam Workshop.
