Village Rails

I saw Village Rails as exactly what it promises to be: a very honest Osprey filler, built to press all the right buttons for anyone who loves train games. It is quick, pleasant, and compact enough to earn an easy place on the shelf of games for an immediate play.

At its core, it combines route building, planning, and resource management. It mostly feels like a multiplayer-solitaire puzzle: I look at my own network, arrange my options, and try to squeeze as much as possible from the puzzle in front of me.

There is room for blocking and interaction if someone wants to pursue it. Personally, I would not push it into analysis-paralysis territory and the "driving people away" kind of table play; it is better to simply play and have fun. The interaction is there as an option, not as a necessary condition for the game to work.

Compared with the equally pleasant Foothills, Village Rails puts more weight on solving the puzzle than on the flow of gameplay, so both can comfortably fit in a train-game fan's collection. It is obviously simpler and inferior to 18-Lilliput, but that does not stop it from being solid at all player counts and excellent as a fast-play filler. And, from what I can tell, it also comes at a very good price.