The Railroad Gazette

"All the News That's Fit to Ship by Rail"

Strategy * Competition * Fortune
Rails & Rivals - Railroad Tycoon

Rails & Rivals

Build Networks, Deliver Goods,
Bankrupt Your Rivals

A turn-based strategy board game for 2-6 players. Three actions per turn, and every action counts.

View on Steam

The rules are simple, the decisions are not.

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.

Principal Features

Strategic Track Building

Plains are cheap, mountains are expensive, and rivers add crossing fees

Goods & Delivery

Deliver colored goods to matching cities. Every link crossed pays its owner

Bonds & Budget

Issue bonds for quick cash, but dividends eat your income every turn

Engine Upgrades

Upgrade from level 1 to 8 to reach cities further down the line

Industrialization

Convert gray towns into colorful cities to create new destinations

Tabletop Presentation

3D board with hex tiles, wooden cubes, and top-down perspective

Built-in Maps

Multiple maps based on real-world geography with unique terrain challenges

Map Editor

Build your own maps and share them on Steam Workshop

Multiplayer

2-6 players, online or local. Private lobbies, no randoms

Gameplay in Action

Animated demonstrations of gameplay in action

Player Actions
Map Editor
Goods Delivery
Gather Your Rivals
2-6 Players