While the games bear clear similarities, calling American Rails a Wabash Cannonball clone does both games a disservice.  American Rails has variable Turn Order as a function of the action selected each turn.  This removes the relatively intense Right/Left Binding against a very small set of actions (3) of Wabash Cannonball and replaces it with something rather different: a timing and action-sequencing game against a list of (5) actions.  That’s a pretty massive change—it affects every decision in the game, most decisions are now structurally different, and the factors considered for each decision bear little relation to their Wabash-cousins as well.  I’m not sure it is enough to remove American Rails from being (primarily) an auction-game, but it comes close.  conversely, Wabash Cannonball is a nearly pure auction-game.

With all due respect, Kris, American Rails is admittedly a child of the “cube rails” family, but in play, is no more similar to Chicago Express than At the Gates of Loyang is to Agricola.

Allow me to highlight the differences that you missed:

1) STARTING MONEY: In Chicago Express, a good player will almost universally bid half his starting money +/- $2 on any given share, and nearly always aim for 2 shares by the end of the first round.

In American Rails, players start with significantly more cash. Thus, they have a decision to make: go for 2 expensive shares, 3 moderate priced shares, or 4 cheap shares early on.

2) STARTING ORDER OF SHARE AUCTIONS: In Chicago Express, the shares are auctioned in a specific order. In American Rails, the order is determined by the players: the players are bidding for radically different cubes per share ratios in the different companies, for first choice of starting cities, *and* for the very important first round’s initial turn order. Combined with the higher starting money per player, you get far more complex valuations in the initial auctions.

3) TURN ORDER: As J.C. already highlighted, American Rails has “variable Turn Order as a function of the action selected each turn. This removes the relatively intense Right/Left Binding against a very small set of actions (3) of Wabash Cannonball and replaces it with something rather different: a timing and action-sequencing game against a list of 7 actions (5 unique actions). That’s a pretty massive change—it affects every decision in the game...”

4) SHARE REMOVAL: In Chicago Express, shares are never removed from the game. If a share fails to sell, it is simply put back in the company treasury. In American Rails, a share is removed from the game if no one bids on it, and with a minimum bid of $10, that is far more likely to happen. Removing shares from the game has all sorts of consequences on share dilution.

5) EXPANSION: In Chicago Express, only one company can be expanded in an action. In American Rails, a player can divide his expansion (of up to 4 cubes) among as many companies as he wishes.

6) CITY DILUTION: In Chicago Express, a company’s income never goes down. In American Rails, companies receive one income level if they are the only company in the city, but lose some of that income if they get competition. Thus, a player can help his own company and hurt an opponents company in the same expansion action. This may not sound like much, but I’ve seen a company’s income cut in half by the end of the game due to this “city dilution” from competition.

7) SPECIAL CONNECTIONS: While you briefly mentioned the “triangle bonuses” from special connections, you failed to recognize their importance.

In Chicago Express, getting to Chicago gives the company a one-time extra payout. In American Rails, completing a bonus gives a permanent (and large) income bonus. It is not uncommon for one of the companies to make a special connection by the end of the second, if not the first, round.

To put that in perspective, connecting to Chicago in CE is like a a pound of TNT compared to the Atomic Explosion possible from the special connections in American Rails.

Furthermore, in Chicago Express, only one “special connection” is available, and every company can make it. In American Rails, 3 companies have enough cubes to get *2* bonuses (with the second being worth twice the first), while the other 3 companies (with fewer shares) only have enough cubes to make one special connection. This has all sorts of implications on share valuations, timing, and positional play on the board.

CONCLUSION: American Rails is without a doubt targeted towards train gamers. If your only experience with train games is Chicago Express, than I can understand how you might come to the conclusion that you did. But for those who will play this game, mostly lovers of the gems developed by John Bohrer at Winsome Games, I have no doubt that they’ll recognize the many differences.

Tim, although not explicitly mentioned, I’m wondering if part of the comparison simply comes from the similar geographical area and if the criticism would come out a little differently if it was set in another location.

Also, I wonder if anyone is going to have a negative reaction to the generic companies in contrast to the historical ones.

Good summary of the differences between the games.

I don’t mind the criticism. People are entitled to their opinions, but I’m sure you’d agree that they should be supported by facts. Unfortunately, Kris called the game a Chicago Express clone. It’s a cousin, perhaps, but hardly a clone. Would he call every train game released by Winsome in the past 2 years CE clones? Would he call the dozens of 18xx games out their clones? In my opinion that’s much like going to an art museum, viewing the many paintings, and failing to see the difference between impressionism and realism.

Regarding the generic companies, that’s a legitimate concern, but I had little choice. Players can start companies in any city they wish. It wouldn’t make sense to start the B&O Railroad in Boston or the Pennsylvania Railroad in New Orleans.