1822MX the first impression

This title has been waiting on my shelf for the first game for over a year. This is not a record time, because I still have unplayed classics such as 1835 or 1870, which I bought earlier, but there will also be time for them.

The author is Scott Peterson, who transferred the rules of 1822 to the map of Mexico and added some interesting solutions. I will only focus on describing new ideas, and soon, I will try to refresh the article about 1822, because it’s been a while since it was written.

There is only one major change in the mechanics themselves, and that is a state-owned company that only works in the early stages of the game. It receives trains that are free of charge (only L-trains & 2-trains) which are removed (no longer in the game) together with unsold certificates. Every unsold certificate of a small company becomes the share of the state-owned company, and so do stations. Such shares are worth $100 at the beginning of the game. Their price does not fall when selling and it grows when the company pays a sufficiently high dividend. It is the last to operate, it has no CEO certificate, and any player with at least one share can perform a track-building action for a state-owned company.

In our game, the income from the state-owned company was rather average (at the beginning it was $7 per share, then the income successively grew and was very competitive in comparison to other companies income, but the author’s main idea was rather to not create a competitive company, but to provide an interesting alternative for capital investment early in the game.
Because the mechanics of 1822 is developed in such a way that new private companies appear successively over the next stock rounds. Their starting price is $0, and if we break early in the game, we’ll just drop out of their bidding and our opponents will buy them too cheaply. Therefore, a state-owned company appeared in the game. It gives the possibility of a reasonable investment and when it turns out that we need cash in the next rounds (for bidding or to start a large company), we can sell its shares without fear of losing. For me, this idea gave the game its character. Good job!

Other changes are cosmetic and the biggest ones are a new correspondingly smaller map, new slightly changed private companies, and a smaller number of public companies (7 instead of 10). The numbers of private companies and small ones are the same.
These changes only slightly affect the gameplay time and it should be about the same as the scenarios in 1822.

I lost my first game in 1822MX when Grzesiek and Bartek bought 40% of shares in my only public company. Then I lost the chance to connect it with the small company that I was auctioned, and in the next rounds, I had to save myself by shifting trains between companies.

The 1822MX is a very operational title (as is the series as a whole) and if you like 1822 and you come back to it from time to time, you will find something new and exciting in the 1822MX. If you don’t know any 22s, the 1822MX might be an interesting starter game. It seems to me that thanks to the state-owned company it will be a little easier for novice players.

Now I would like to play in 1822CA. In this title, I am most interested in the map, which is different and I think it might be a nice change.

Game time: 5 hours 4 minutes.
Results: Bartek 4500, Grzesiek 4010, Marcin (magole) 2900.
BGG rating: 8 (for now)
Game type (stock / engineering): 20% / 80%

3 thoughts on “1822MX the first impression”

  1. I do a bunch of unplayed titles although they are only a few years (e.g. 1847, 18DO, 1854). But my record for being unplayed is 1825 Unit 1. I bought this from Tresham during a ManorCon in UK mid 90s. This remained unplayed (and unopened) all the way to 2019….

    But having unplayed games is not something new. I did e.g. buy Brass in 2010, and it is still shrink wrapped! (Have played the new versions [Brass: Lancashire, Brass: Birmingham] but those are not my copies.

  2. Actually NdeM can get any trains of any type.
    If a stock round ends with Minor in bid box 1 unsold, NdeM replaces that Minor’s token with its own and gets next available train (of any type)

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