Can I possibly encourage you to play one of my favorite roll & writes? That, of course, is Railroad Ink: a dice game that plays like a high speed train. Like Pokemon on the old gray Gameboy, the original Railroad Ink came in a red and blue edition. Each variant is basically the same, but comes with its own two unique modules/expansions. Hours of gaming fun. Meanwhile, two new editions (a green and yellow edition) and a whole trainload of mini-expansions are available. Has the whole thing been derailed or have they not lost their way yet? Spoilers: the new variants are still running like clockwork! So jump on that bandwagon!
Railroad Ink in rapid succession
For the public transport laymen among us, I’ll take you through Railroad Ink at lightning speed. In Railroad Ink, you try to plan the ultimate route by drawing train tracks, roads and stations. Each round, dice are rolled that each player is required to draw using the included pen with erasable ink. Because the roll applies to each player, the game immediately becomes much more strategic and less dependent on luck.
Train tracks can be connected to roads and vice versa by means of connecting stations or special routes, so you can create all kinds of beautiful trips. Points are scored by longest roads, most exits, routes in the central plane and bonus points. Routes without exits earn minus points.
Railroad Ink is perfect for travel and also hugely relaxing solo. Also nice is that the game can be played well by one player and because of its compactness you can take it anywhere. The game is beautifully designed, whether you play the blue, red, yellow or green version. Each game board features several beautiful drawings of landscapes with trains or roads.
Lush Green and Shiny Yellow Version
The Lush Green and Shiny Yellow variant throw Railroad Ink’s track book aside by adding new scoring options and interactive challenges to the base game. In addition to the regular routes, there are now cities, factories, and universities on the player’s boards. Routes through universities and factories earn bonuses during the game, and stations in towns earn extra points.
Challenge cards let players compete for valuable bonus points, adding interaction to the previously rather solitary dice game. In the Gold Yellow edition, players try to protect cacti from the desert climate by planting these cacti next to oases. In the second module of the Gold Yellow edition, players try to build the longest ravine. In the Nature Green edition, players lay out the most spectacular hiking trails and try to plant the most beautiful natural areas/forests.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Railroad Ink is far from derailed and I welcome all new expansions and editions. I await them with open arms in the station hall! Railroad Ink remains a wonderful game to take with you on holiday or to play for a relaxing puzzle!
