1867 Big Wyoming is a new game in the 18XX series for 3 to 5 players that takes approximately 3 hours to play. In a game of 1867 Big Wyoming, players recreate Wyoming’s railroad history, assuming the roles of railroad operators, investors, and entrepreneurs seeking to strike it rich. Players will acquire private companies, establish railroad corporations, build rail networks that span the state, trade stocks, and develop Wyoming’s natural resource industries. The player who amasses the most wealth during the course of the game is the winner.
While much of 1867 Big Wyoming will be familiar to longtime 18XX fans, the game offers several unique mechanisms that capture the unique quality of Wyoming’s railroad history and provide players with new and interesting challenges. The game seeks to provide a rich and dynamic play experience without overdressing the core system; as a result, 1867 Big Wyoming can be enjoyed by new and seasoned 18XX players alike and can be played in an evening.
The game features an endgame acquisition system in which every player-owned railroad corporation is acquired by the Union Pacific or Burlington Northern systems, which today monopolize the state’s rail industry; the acquisition of the last such corporation signals the end of the game. During this phase of the game, corporations jockey for position on the stock market as acquisition offers are made. Players attempt to engineer the timing of their corporation’s acquisition to maximize their profits and deny valuable opportunities to their opponents. Corporations that decline or are denied acquisition must find a way to compete with the monolithic railroad systems and remain viable until their turn comes.
The development of railroads in Wyoming would not have happened if not for Wyoming’s rich natural resource deposits. Upon their discovery, coal, metallic ores, crude oil, and natural gas quickly became the dominant industries statewide, attracting new rail lines and transforming small settlements into modern cities. 1867 Big Wyoming’s map is home to 5 natural resource deposit spaces. The deposits, once linked by rail, produce a number of resource cubes each round that can be delivered to nearby cities by whichever corporation claims them first. Once delivered, these resource cubes are used either to establish a refinery in that city or, if there is a refinery there already, to dramatically increase the value of that city, turning what was once a bump in the road into a major profit center. The locations and profitability of these refineries are driven by the development of railroad corporations, allowing player actions to influence the map’s financial landscape.
Also unique to 1867 Big Wyoming is a large degree of variability from game to game. There are 13 private companies in the game, each of which has a unique and powerful ability, but only 7 to 9 appear in each game; the combination in which they appear can significantly alter the direction of the game. There are 9 railroad corporations that players can establish; these corporations are randomly placed in pairs on a “corporation queue” at the start of the game, challenging players to navigate the availability of superior (and inferior!) railroads and shifting the map’s financial centers from game to game. The player-driven resource and refinery economy only adds to this map variability. Additionally, there are many tools available to corporation presidents to help them make the most of their corporations: briefcasing, corporation closure, acquisition-in-crisis, single-share presidencies, a slippery stock market, and the inevitable endgame acquisition all encourage players to push the boundaries of what a railroad corporation can do.
1867 Big Wyoming has been in development for approximately 4 years and has been extensively playtested both by players brand new to the system and by those who have been playing 18XX games for decades. By marrying the classic 18XX system with a unique endgame acquisition phase, a dynamic resource economy, and substantial setup variability, 1867 Big Wyoming offers players a compelling experience that’s never quite the same from game to game.
Components:
- One Game Box
- One Rulebook
- One 22″ x 25.5″ Game Board
- Nine Corporation Charters
- 132 Cards (Shares, Trains, Privates)
- 63 Wooden Tokens
- One Sticker Sheet
- 20 Wooden Cubes
- Five Punchboards for Track tiles + terrain cost markers
- Play Money
Players: 3-5
Playtime: 180 minutes
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