A gateway game of trains
Attention, train fans! 🚂Station to Station is a gateway/family game of contract fulfilment with pick-up-and-deliver gameplay. Players are owners of their own train companies, competing to have the most victory points. A game is played over 3 seasons, with winter signalling the end of the game. 🔔
The map shows a bunch of cities in the United States which are connected by railroads. 🛤️ Each town holds a tile you can activate if you go there. These are either orders to be fulfilled, or bonuses you can collect.
On your turn you can buy some resources (which are influenced by the city you are in), then you must move at least one station - to move more you have to spend coal. When you arrive you can either claim the tile there, or work for money and coal. 🧐 The main thing you do is completing orders for VP, but you also need money to get more resources - so you can do even more orders.
Completed orders act as Tickets 🎫, which are needed to hire crew. Crew adds a fun layer to the game as they give you special actions or passive abilities.
Additionally you also have route cards showing two cities which you need to visit to complete them. 🗺️ These are another source of points so you can maximize efficiency by visiting stations on your route so you can hit two birds with one stone.
Each turn tiles on the map are replenished, and the seasons will change as the pools of tokens run out. With a new season better tiles arrive and old ones might get flipped to their more valuable side. If winter ☃️ is over, the game comes to an end.
💬If you like contract fulfilment, make sure to check out this game at #Spiel24 ! Overall, it was a relaxing experience. 😌 We personally found the game a bit loose - meaning we usually had everything needed at the right time, and wished it would be a bit tighter - though this might be just the right setting for newcomers or families! 😊 My favorite thing is how the resources are depicted as train wagons that you put behind your locomotive. It adds a lot to the train theme! Overall, for train fans and newcomers to the hobby this game could be fun!
