We received a total of 12 applications for our New Year’s contest. The number of games you played exceeded our expectations. I never thought it would be such a long and interesting list. There are as many as 64 titles on it! The ones that were played most often match our previous statistics and they are:
- 18Chesapeake – 51
- 1860 – 43
- 1817 – 41
- 1849 – 31
- 1830 – 28
- 18CO – 23
- 1882 – 22
- 1846 – 15
- 1861/67 – 15
- 1889 – 13
The full list, next to the title, is the sum of the games you played total:
- 17 – 41
- 22 – 13
- 22MRS – 4
- 22NRS – 1
- 22MX – 4
- 24 – 1
- 26 – 1
- 28 – 9
- 30 – 28
- 31 – 3
- 33 1/3 – 1
- 36jr – 1
- 37 Saxonia – 4
- 39 – 1
- 40 Vienna Tramways – 6
- 41 – 6
- 44 – 1
- 46 – 15
- 48: Australia – 4
- 49 – 31
- 49: Kingdom of Two Sicilies – 1
- 60 – 43
- 61/67 – 15
- 62 – 24
- 65 – 1
- 68: Wyoming – 10
- 77 – 1
- 80 – 6
- 82 – 22
- 89 – 13
- 93 Cologne- 2
- Africa – 2
- Ardennes – 3
- BE Railwails in the coal dust – 2
- BF – 1
- Carolinas – 2
- CH – 1
- Chesapeake – 51
- Chesapeake off – 5
- CO – 23
- CZ – 2
- DO – 8
- EB – Lhazaar – 2
- EU – 1
- EU Minor – 1
- EUS – 1
- Harzbahn 1873 – 1
- Hiawatha – 3
- India – 8
- Ireland – 11
- Mag – 6
- MEX – 9
- Milwaukee – 1
- NewEngland – 1
- NY – 1
- PNW – 1
- Rhl – 1
- Scan – 2
- SJ – 2
- Steam Over Holland – 1
- Texas – 2
- USA – 9
- VA – 1
- West – 1
Shame to me because I didn’t play the 30 titles you mentioned not even once.
The list of new games you got to know last year is just as impressive (next to the title, is the sum of the players who mentioned the title in total):
- 17 – 1
- 22 – 1
- 22MRS – 2
- 22NRS – 1
- 22MX – 2
- 24 – 1
- 26 – 1
- 28 – 2
- 30 – 5
- 33 1/3 – 1
- 36jr – 1
- 40 – 2
- 41 – 1
- 46 – 1
- 48 – 2
- 49 – 3
- 60 – 3
- 61/67 – 4
- 62 – 3
- 65 – 1
- 68: Wyoming – 1
- 77 – 1
- 80 – 2
- 82 – 2
- 89 – 2
- 93 – 1
- Africa – 1
- 18BE Railwails in the coal dust – 1
- BF – 1
- Carolinas – 1
- Che – 1
- Che off – 1
- CO – 2
- CZ – 1
- DO – 3
- EB – Lhazaar – 1
- EU – 1
- EU Minor – 1
- EUS – 1
- Ireland – 1
- Mag – 2
- Mex – 2
- NewEngland – 1
- SJ – 1
- Steam Over Holland – 1
- Texas – 1
- USA – 1
- West – 1
I left the best list for the end, these were the titles you played for the first time and they stood out with something. This list is unique because almost all of our readers have mentioned different games!
This shows the huge variety among the 18xx, there is something interesting for every game and every player. Some people are convinced by the slow development of stable companies, others by the possibilities of manipulating the stock prices, but there are certainly those who are attracted by the graphics and the quality of the release.
- 1822MRS – 1 [The game I liked at most from these above is not an easy decision: I’m sure, it’s one of the 1822 series. I played 1822 some years ago a few times and bought my own copy during the Kickstarter campaign. We played it online and face to face in the summer as well, but it takes very long. The MX variant is still a bit too long for a weeknight game as well. But what I really liked was 1822MRS. It’s absolutely playable in a few hours, perfect for a weeknight and you have similar decisions as you have in the full game. And I prefer it over the northern scenario since I don’t like the northern companies 🙂 – Heiko]
- 1830 – 2 [Of the games I played last year, 18Mex and 1830 were the games I played for the first time. Of those two games, 1830 is a much more interesting game to me. It feels to me that 1830 is capable of more diverse situations and is more cutthroat in more interesting ways. Decisions feel less obvious in 1830 so it is the game I like most; the game is a true classic! – Sterling Tian] + [I really enjoy 1830, as a pure 18XX experience. It’s really classic, that even after all those years, it still holds up. It’s a timeless game I could say.
1822, I’m still new to it, but I highly enjoy how small companies operate, how you can merge them. That experience – where you start small. Another thing is how companies get their funds. It’s a really deep game, that I only want to play more and more. – Adam] - 1841 – 1 [I love the complexity in managing your companies, how brutal the train rush is and how simple the route calculation is. – Fabian]
- 1848 – 1 [I like the 1848 reprint the most. The design was aesthetically pleasing and also it was nice to have the GMT tiles for the game. The only thing I did not like is that the flipside of company tokens are not Bank of England tokens.- Derek]
- 1862 – 1 [The ability to merge multiple companies into a single mega-company with potentially up to SIX permanent trains to run for HUGE DIVIDENDS makes for a feel-good moment when you pay upwards of $1600++ per OR. Even better if you own 100% of that mega-company! – Shaun]
- 1882 – 2 [Two titles that caught my attention more than others are 1882 and 18Scan. I’ve carefully chosen 18Scan as a gateway game for my friends and was extremely lucky to buy it from another Russian 18xx enthusiast, skipping 12+ month wait of buying from the printer. And if can say that it worked extremely well! My friends were fast to understand the rules and started making conscious decisions during the learning game. I was afraid that minor companies and merging will make the game harder to explain, but it actually is rather intuitive. I look forward to playing 18Scan more to explore different strategies. As for 1882, it took me by storm after the first game. We even had a couple of games just for the initial auction to understand it better. I love exploring is possibilities and exploring limited tileset. All hail #57 🙂 I’m yet to win because I’m usually failing late game, but I want to keep playing it more and more – Alex] + [A title that surprises in every OR, no tiles, quick money returns, a very aggressive on the stock market and on the map. This is the quintessence of 1830 on a smaller map with even more tiles reduced – Jakub]
- 18BE Railwails in the coal dust – 1 [This 18xx is very pleasant, it simplifies some points of the 18 world, like the fact that all the cities have the same values (the values change according to the phases but it makes the calculations easier), the duration of the game is determined by the phases of play. I also like the game because there is historical research on the country and the map is very beautiful. There is no dead time, and the link management, a concept I haven’t found in the 18xx I played yet, is great. This game should find its audience and deserves to be published. – Filippo]
- 18CO – 1 [A close favorite due to how companies can own shares of each other therefore you must be careful about having enough shares to minimize hostile takeovers as well as guarantee your smaller companies are successfully merged into larger ones. – Shaun]
- 18DO – 1 [The Heat, Sweat, and Beer variant introduced breweries as major companies alongside railroad companies so that was another layer of chrome to manage but it gave the game an interesting Eurogame feel to an 18XX title. – Shaun]
- 18EU Minor – 1 [If I had to pick one to play again, it would probably be the minor powers variant of 18EU, which brings new life to a slightly tired old favorite, and it gets rid of a load of auctions, which can only be a good thing. – Dave]
- 18India – 1 [The best of these would likely be 18 India, as it takes so many 18xx things and puts them on their head, making for a fresh feeling game with so many things to learn and adjust to. Most of the companies are “good” but you still have to make them into something to get them into something which can help you win the game. Chasing the best runs and the best trains is critically important, but if you sacrifice your stock choices and value too much, it won’t be enough. – John]
- 18Scan – 1 [see 1882]
- 18USA – 1 [Probably the greatest 18XX ever made since my group enjoys the short selling, loans, and company growth system found in 1817 but now with initial randomization so it keeps things fresh since after 30+ games of 1817 the opening moves are more or less the same. – Shaun]
- 18VA – 1 [This is my pick up, I wrote about this game a few times already, small, with nice ideas, different trains and companies capitalization, very satisfying after the play – Marcin]
- 18West – 1 [Of the new games 18West (an oldie) was a wonderful builders game; which is the general attitude of my game group. We like to build things; generally starting companies and holding till the end. – Jim]
Finally, my list is just as impressive! The first place goes to 18VA, a little cutie who has stolen my heart. I have already written about this title several times, so if you are interested in it, please check out other texts.
- 1817 – 9
- 1830 – 5
- 1899 – 4
- 1849 – 4
- 18VA – 3
- 18Scan – 3
- 18MEX – 3
- 1860 – 3
- 1856 – 3
- 1841 – 3
- 1824 – 2
- 1826 – 2
- 1834 – 2
- 1836 – 2
- 1882 – 2
- 18Chesapeake – 2
- 18CO – 2
- 18Ireland – 2
- 1822 NRS – 1
- 1832 – 1
- 1844 – 1
- 1848 – 1
- 1861 – 1
- 1876 Trinidad – 1
- 1880 – 1
- 1889 – 1
- 18NL – 1
- 18USA – 1
The winner in our contest is Adam! Congratulations! All other participants will get 10% discount codes to our shop.