Age of Steam Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Age of Steam, a classic train game designed by Martin Wallace. In Age of Steam, players are trying to earn the most victory points by increasing the value of their railroad empires.

This is a guest post from Bailey Brewer.

Reviewing one’s favorite game of all time is not the simplest of tasks. On the one hand, it’s rather quite simple to put to paper exactly what makes it tick; on the other, explaining such gushy emotions can be tricky. Shaping the thoughts of love into a mathematical formula can lead to mixed results: I give pizza 10/10 because even bad pizza is ok, but I give my spouse a 9/10 because they kick me in their sleep. And yet, I am attempting this process here today anyway so that you can learn the true beauty that is Age of Steam.

In every round of Age of Steam, players follow an order of operations in the hopes of increasing the value of their railroad empire. To increase that value (essentially your Victory Points), they must deliver goods cubes from their source city to a city of a matching color. In order to deliver these goods cubes, they must build a track from city to city. In order to afford that track, they must deliver goods cubes to earn income.

If this sounds like an inescapable economic ouroboros, don’t fret, as at the start of any round, you can take out loans, even if it’s the first round of the game. All that means is that later on in the round (and each and every round thereafter), during an Expenses step, you just have to pay some interest on that loan.

Don’t panic, though! Each round players will each get to choose one rule breaker or bonus to help them towards their goals. Will you decide to upgrade the power of your train? Increase how many track pieces you can play? Or