18OR

A Free DIY 18XX Train Board Game

18OR is an 18XX-style board game roughly based on the state of Oregon. It is a 100% free, DIY, Print-and-Play (PNP) game. It comes with complete rules, components, and assembly instructions. It was created by leiavoia in 2010, revised in 2018 for public distribution, and you can download it right now.

Download 18OR (80mb ZIP file)

Download Rulebook (272kb PDF file)

About the Game

18OR is game about railroad investing in Oregon. Players invest in and operate railroad companies for profit or peril. Companies will lay railroad track, build routes, and run trains on while attempting to block rival companies from doing so. The player with the greatest wealth at the end of the game is the winner.

18OR is designed to be scalable and configurable. It comes with several different map sizes to support 2-8 players. Maps can be rearranged to create any scenario.

18OR is rather different from other games in the genera. Many of the components are the same but play differently. Here are a few of the differences:

• Configurable Components: All cities, terrain, and obstacles are their own separate tiles and can be placed on one of several differently sized maps in any way you see fit. This lets players play a completely different game every time by randomly placing the starting tiles to begin the game. Players that wish to play the same setup repeatedly can also do so. Additionally, the number of corporations, privates, trains, and types of trains are all configurable or can be randomized.
• Economically-Oriented Cities: In addition to regular cities, cities can be based on Timber, Agriculture, Ranching, and Mining according to their semi-historical economic emphasis. Corporations marked by a corresponding icon must start on one of these cities and must include a majority of these cities in their routes. There are often bonuses for specializing in economic sectors.
• Stations Represent Service: Stations represent service in addition to blocking. Corporations only gain revenue from cities that they put a token on. Consequently, there are many more tokens given to corporations than in most 18XX games. There are penalties for scrapping or moving stations. This encourages long-term play and forethought.
• Partial Capitalization: A player needs only to purchase the presidential certificate to start a company. Afterwards, corporations sell shares directly into the market to raise cash.
• Nickels & Dimes: Companies will be asked to pay for many things throughout the game including stations, track, track upgrades, terrain, trains, and maintenance. This encourages fiscal responsibility.

Development History

I started creating 18OR in 2010 and had most of it completed in 2011, then lost interest. I dusted it off in late 2018 for public distribution. The components are basically complete, but play testing is needed to refine the rules and create game balance. My hope is that someone would eventually take it over and "finish" it. I spent hundreds of hours putting it together, so I hope it benefits someone out there.

How to Help

If you have played the game, please send constructive feedback to me via my contact information in the rulebook. I will incorporate any community feedback into future iterations, but have no further interest in doing so by myself.

On The Table

Thanks for playing!