Pacific Rails Inc.

I first saw Pacific Rails Inc. in draft form years ago, and the concept already had a certain heft: after cube rails, square rails. Worker placement and track laying yoked together as network building is unusual enough to demand attention; if somebody has done it this way before, my collection has an obvious omission.

At its centre sits worker placement concerned with action efficiency. A choice matters not merely for its immediate return, but for how economically it advances the next stage of your production engine. The interesting decision is when to feed that engine and when to take the space your opponent cannot be allowed to have.

Track building sits on top of this framework. It integrates neatly with the other actions, yet the map's recurring small scoring moments feel slightly imposed; one could play almost as well with the map removed and the whole thing made abstract. Even so, the scoring is not charitable, and cutting off a player who has assembled a strong production engine early is plainly part of the design. Ketchup and catch-up are for somewhere else. This is Canada.

The game moves well and lasts the right amount of time, while its tension never settles into the usual Euro politeness. Genre regulars should give it one or two plays, particularly if they are looking for a combination of systems that is not often found in the wild.

Yet Pacific Rails Inc. remains, rather stubbornly, a missed opportunity for something genuinely great.