Game Review – Martian Rails

Martian Rails
Number of Players	2 - 6
Play Time	240 minutes
Ages	10 years and up

Martian Rails is another of the Empire Builder family of games.  It is set on a version of Mars that is a mash up of most of the famous science fiction and fantasy versions of Mars.  Things like Green Martians, Red Martian, and Thoats from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Hinkston’s Creek from Bradbury, and Soylent Red from the movie Soylent Green all make an appearance in this game.

Martian Rails is consistent with the rest of the Empire Builder family in the way that the game is played, which should not come as a surprise.  The players are owners of railroad in a fiction version of Mars.  They start the game with 60 dollars.  In order to win they need to build track into six of the seven major cities and have 250 dollars.  In order to gain more money so that they can build track and get the money needed for victory, the players get a set of demand cards which have three delivery contracts on them each for a total of nine delivery options.  The delivery contract show an item demanded and they amount of money that will be paid to the player upon the delivery of that item to the city that has the demand.  Once one of the three deliveries is made from a card it is discarded and a new demand card is drawn.

In order to move between cities, the players must build track.  Track costs a certain amount per space or milepost to build.  The costs are one dollar for clear or desert mile post, two dollars for forest or mountain milepost, three dollars for jungle milepost, and five dollars for alpine milepost.  It costs an additional two dollars to cross a canal/river.

The player can also use their money to upgrade their train so that it can carry more loads and go faster.  Like in Iron Dragon and Lunar Rails, the cost to upgrade a train is 10 dollars per step.  The players start with trains that can carry two loads and move 10 spaces.  During the course of a game they may upgrade their train so that it can at a maximum carry three loads and move 16 spaces.

Martian Rails also features a wrap around board where the players can for example build off the left side of the board and continue building from the edge of the right side.

Martian Rails has the features that I like about the Empire Builder system.  The way that it allows players to build the track that they want as long as some basic rules are followed and deciding how to maximize the return on a set of cards for example.

I do disagree with the game’s stated playing time of 240 minutes.  This game is no more complex than most of the Empire Builder family of games and even the one that adds the most options, Iron Dragon, has a stated playing time of only 180 minutes.  A playing time of 180 minutes which is the standard for the rest of the games in the system would be more consistent with what I have experienced in playing the game.

Martian Rails in an enjoyable game.  If you like the Empire Builder system this game should be on your playlist.   It is in interesting diversion from the games that are based in the real world and it is a much more forgiving game that Iron Dragon or Lunar Rails.  That being said if you are new to the Empire Builder family of games, it is not one that you should try as your first game.  You would be better off trying the real world game with the geography that you are most familiar with to become familiar with the system before playing Martian Rails so you do not struggle with learning both the board and the system.