18xoxo

It didn't take long until i heard the first time about #1817 after I had started playing 18xx. It was almost like before I actually experienced 18xx games myself, when 18xx was seen as this niche that no normal person touched because it was so complicated, long and had ugly maps. Basically the same applied to 1817 and its derivatives, just within the 18xx micro-cosmos.

Disclaimer: I am no 18xx expert by far. I have maybe 25 live games under my belt and most of them spread out across different titles, as I love to explore new things. However, as there's usually little information on all the different 18xx games, I would like to provide some insight into how the games felt (to me) and what made them special but read this more like a first impression than a full review.

Later in my first year of 18xx i ended up in one of the many rabbit holes of new and old titles and this one led me to 1817. I still wasn't convinced, not even really interested. The outlook of playing 8+ hours, being shorted out of the game and even more complexity didn't really pick my interest. Lately, my preferences saw me seeking for shorter titles. I also had a bit of a disaster with my first play of #18Venezuela (partly because the 1817 system doesn't make for great 18xx.games asynch titles).

Nevertheless, I knew that i had to try this once. Continuing down this rabbit hole i ended up with #18USA. And oh boy, I was intrigued. Highly variable setup? Up to 4 stock market jumps? And loads of interesting posts on BGG by the designer about the differences between 1817 and 18USA and the game in general? I was sold.

I started looking at second-hand market prices for the game and luckily, someone put up 18USA for half the price you would normally pay. I bought it in a heartbeat. And funnily enough, this all happened shortly before the VPS Con and the game arrived just in time. I didn't have high hopes for being able to play it, but because all other games i owned were already brought by other people, i packed it in. Then, one thing lead to another and Friday morning sees Matthias Cramer, his partner, another player from our gaming group and me unboxing and punching the still-in-shrink game to get it going asap. Half a year later I was able to play it a second time during our own 18XX Franconia Con two weeks ago and now I feel like i HAVE to write about the game, as it takes up so much property in my brain.

📋 What's the game about

• Highly variable setup. Off-boards, city-subsidies (first SR starting bonuses) and privates are all randomised.
• Always 1 stock round followed by 2 operating rounds and 2 merger rounds
• All 2 Trains export after OR1, all 2+ trains after OR2. All 3 Trains after OR4. Then one train always is exported at the end of each OR. Pullman trains add 20$ to each stop of a train, buyable starting in phase 5 for 200$.
• 2, 5 and 10 share company sizes. Depending on the phase you're in, you can start, convert or merge companies to the size you want. These companies are incrementally capitalized.
• Loans: Every company can take out 100$ loans until the max number of its shares (2 loans for 2 share companies, 5 loans for 5 share companies...) but the total number of loans taken out by all companies dictates the interest you have to pay every OR!
• Up to 2 yellow or 1 yellow and 1 upgrade per OR, (costing 20$ if you want to take both). Some additional building rules starting in phase 5 to speed up the track laying.
• Linear Stock market:
  • Stock prices are only adjusted at the end of the stock round by the number of stocks in the market (every share is 2 steps down), sold out companies rise by 1.
  • you can short companies: starting with 5 share-companies, you just sell a share you don't have for the current price, but will from now on have to pay when the company pays out instead of receiving money. When a short and a real stock exist at the same time in your portfolio, they cancel each other out.
  • loans cost or give 2 steps back or forth when taking them out and paying them back.

🛤️ The map

The map's key strength is the variability in the setup. Every game you have to analyse in the beginning, which opportunities the map offers this time around in which area, even more so depending on the privates that are in play. Yes, there's New York which is always strong, but so-called metropolis tile cities also have a high revenue and upgrade up to 80$ in grey. Normal tiles on the map can have resource symbols like ore/oil/bridges which – if used with the appropriate private – will then in the future add 10$ or even 20$ to every route run over it. Tokening is important, as in the later rounds having a 5+ train will only benefit you, if you have the route to run it on, which with the plethora of companies being opened (and closed) during the game, might not be so easy (though according to BGG easier than in 1817).

From a aesthetical point of view this is no #1822PNW map, but probably still one step above #18MEX. I guess no one cares about this stuff except me :)

🏭 The companies

As already mentioned, the general structure is that there are 2,5 and 10-share companies. You can upgrade them into the next tier by converting the existing company or merging two separate companies. This is an excellent way of getting rid of the train debt (which doesn't exist here, but your company might get closed without a train) and injecting new capital. Just be aware of your new share value, which is in the case of merging two two-share companies the sum of both companies! Such a juicy shorting target...

The downside, however, is that you lose percentage of ownership when going from a 2 to a 5 share company (100% to 60%). I have no idea if its a valid strategy with more experienced players, but i somehow managed to keep a 2-share company till the end of one game, having super sweet 100% payouts with maximum share density.

However, if things are not going so swimmingly, a company might end up being liquidated or acquired (or fabricated to do so). In both cases, players bid with their companies for the assets of the company – a great way to get tokens and trains. That said, my brain can't grasp the possibilities that this opens up. When and how to liquidate/acquire your own company and get the timing right. You could also force other companies to the same fate, but this might be hard to achieve because of the quadruple-jumps (and the market only having 3 acquisition steps).

📈 Values

Ok, so here's the kicker. Forget everything you learned. Shut out that nagging voice in your head that says you need to quadruple-jump just because you can. This is what I adhered to in my first game, and I paid for it. The great thing about this system is that companies need to be close to what they are actually worth. And it's interesting how it took decades for 18xx to arrive at this very basic premise.

If your companies are overvalued, others will short them, create new companies with that money, push the trains and watch misery love (your) company.

I think sooner or later, every player of this system will watch with awe how people are starting to short one of your companies, and you look around, trying to do the same. And then the horrible realization sets in that there's nothing to do, because the only company you would short yourself is...your own.

This was one of the moments when first i was angry at the world and then just couldn't help but admire the brilliance of this system.

🎲 Player count

I played this now 2 times at 4 which worked splendid. I would be hesitant about playing with 3, but it might work. 5 is probably a no brainer. 6 I don't know. There are already so many companies in the game at 4 that if you just spread them out over 6 players, it might not add much to the playing time and it might work.

📦 Production

The production is good, as we've come to expect from All-aboard productions. It definitely benefits from some Cube4me trays and boxes for all the companies, but that's another 50$ on top of an already expensive game. Some of the companies could have been easier distinguishable (like the two brown ones, for example). The box cover is not a favorite of mine. Well, you see, this is all the nit-picking I've got for today.

💭 Final thoughts

Oh boy, what a game to explore. Its just fantastic, how a genre of games like 18xx can be so diverse. And how fantastic is it, that after trying out 25+ different titles, you still can have that moment when a game completely blows your mind and makes you rethink everything you think you've learned?

That is what this game is. And call me ignorant, I somehow have no need to go back and play the original 1817, because this already has so much of what I love: Instead of learning patterns through repeated plays, gaining an edge through knowledge, 18USA presents you a jigsaw that you have to solve. Fresh and new, every time.

Do you need this in your collection? Hell, yeah! That is, if you see any chance for a 8-12 hour session of mean competition to ever take place. Which brings me to the one and only complaint I really have: why does this have to be so long? But then last time i played it, I remembered a comment by the designer:

In the end, I measure my enjoyment during an 8 hour period by the number of interesting decisions made over that time period. I'd rather play one great game than 3 mediocre ones.

I have nothing to add to that.

Secret Bonus-Section

Ha, of course you didn't believe me when I wrote that last sentence, did you? No no, as expected, I went and tried some of the supposedly shorter alternatives that are out there. Here's my drive-by review of two of them:

18Hiawatha

#18Hiawatha does 1817 on a tighter map, has only 5 and 10-share companies and ends with the 4 trains. Its super quick, playable in 2-3 hours. The privates i saw were interesting and you definitely get some of the 1817's feels out of it in a much shorter time. Shorting starts as early as the first SR (which I am not a fan of, because deep down I am a care-bear). If you mess up, you get murdered, but well, that's what this system does best. Made me realize how much i like the up-to quadruple jumps of 18USA which are absent here. Unfortunately, it's only been released in the first issue of the Traxx-Magazine and its probably hard to find. It is currently available during the currently just started next issue kickstarter as digital addon.

1877: Venezuela

#1877 Venezuela does what 18Hiawatha does, just even shorter and having a housekeeping round when a new company is created, including buying trains. It claims a 2 hour playtime, and since its without privates and their auction, i am inclined to believe that. But without privates and very little randomization, I am not sure how much this has to offer, if you've got down, what and where to start and my one online play of it was horrible and boring. That said, i had not properly played the 1817 system before and this game could actually be ok. Its not on the market at the moment and might never be, as its not even part of the next All-Aboard wave, so release date might be never or 2035.

Then there's #1817WO and #1817NA. I am not interested in the first one at all, because it plays on a map of the whole world which is way too abstract for me. The second one might be interesting. Again, its a different, smaller map and has a few different privates, claiming to be suitable for 3-players and having a shorter playtime then 1817. I never tried it but would like to.

And, lastly #18DE which is 1817 without shorting. Not sure whats left then, as merging is also done by other games but I would like to try.

If you want to read more about the variants, theres a excellent blog post by the much better than me player Victor. Go check him out!

And there you have it! My superficial review of a game that I'm not sure I'll ever fully understand, but that I'm smitten by.

If you want to dive into shorting companies and have no player nearby, go check out https://18xx.games/ and start playing online. Which for this title, i cannot recommend doing in an asynch game, but maybe you can play an online, live session (for 8 hours 😆 ). For support of the designer/publisher, please head over to All-Aboard Games.

#18xx #boardgames