Stating the obvious about Railroad Ink

 As someone who enjoys both railway games and Roll and Writes, I’ve had Railroad Ink on my radar for a while. I finally bought the app so o could try it out. 

In Railway Ink, you draw paths on a grid to make connections! 

Yeah, I’ve lost track of the Roll and Writes I’ve played that have that basic framework. To be fair, one of the first games I ever picked up was Metro, which is the same exact idea with tiles.

So, what makes Railway Ink special? 

Well, quite frankly, the actual dice make a big difference. 

Most, if not all, the connection R&W games I’ve seen use a single chart to determine paths. By having multiple types of dice, Railroad Ink increases the number of path options. Well, you could have multiple tables but having specialized dice makes it a lot easier.

And almost every other connection game that I can think of has you fill in one square at a time. Railroad Ink has you fill in four at a time. Heck, five if you use one of the bonus ‘faces’.

So, by using multiple specialized dice, Railroad Ink becomes more accessible with a greater decision tree.

Oh and before you even add in any expansions, you have two different types of paths to manage. Which isn’t breaking any new ground (Rivers, Roads & Rails did it with three kinds of paths in a very simple way back in the 1960s) but it does help make the decisions interesting. (I haven’t tried any expansions yet but I am curious.)

What makes people like the Railroad Ink family? What makes it any good? Railroad Ink works by being very accessible without dumbing down the choices a connection game has you make. 

(Yes, if drawing lines on a grid is a deal breaker, Railroad Ink will never work for you)

Yes, I’m having fun with Railroad Ink. Yes, I’m thinking of getting a physical copy. Yes, I’m thinking of getting expansions.

Railroad Ink hasn’t fired 30 Rails for me

I have finally played Railroad Ink. As someone who is into Roll and Write games, multi-player solitaires and railway games, it’s been a game I’ve been itching to try since I first saw it lol

(I learned and played it via the app but I don’t rule out getting a physical copy. Although which one? Lol) And at some point, I will actually write about just Railroad Ink but, as I learned it, I found myself thinking about 30 Rails.

Okay, let’s be honest. There’s a lot of railroad-themed connection games out there. And there are plenty of connection-based Roll and Write games. But, for me, 30 Rails is one of the quintessential ones.

30 Rails is an exercise in minimalism. Two dice. A pencil. A grid. A chart. If you didn’t have access to a printer, you could easily make a copy by hand. But within those simple elements is a solid game with some real choices and even a smidgeon of theme.

My initial premise, when I originally started working on this blog entry, was that in a vacuum, Railroad Ink was better than 30 Rails but being free and _very_ easy to construct adds a lot of value to 30 Rails. Heck, having 30 Rails made me not bother to try and mock up a copy of Railroad Ink.

And I think that Railroad Ink, by virtue of having more content, does win in a vacuum. Two different types of paths, bonus faces and a bunch of expansions is a lot extra content.

But 30 Rails with a different set of placement restrictions, offers different kinds of choices. 30 Rails hasn’t lost its own challenges. It has solid value outside of being free. It hasn’t stopped being a good game.

I know I will get a lot of play out of Railroad Ink but I am going to still play 30 Rails. I might even play it more because I’ll be in a train game state of mind.