Union Station

About this board game

Union Station is a quick-playing cube-rails game for 3–5 players, with play taking about 45 minutes. Set in the early 20th century, it draws on the rise of Chicago’s Union Station as one of the busiest railroad hubs in the United States.

In the game’s setting, five railroad companies each own stock in the Chicago Union Station Co., working together to build the greatest train station of the time. The focus is less on route building and more on share purchasing and stock manipulation.

On your turn, choose one of three key actions:

• Buy stock and increase the company’s value.
• Sell all your stock for quick cash while lowering the company’s value.
• Lay track for the railroad companies.

Shares may appear randomly, so success depends on careful timing and the willingness to give up something good in pursuit of something even better. Every purchase, sale, and track-laying decision can affect both your cash and the value of the companies in which you hold shares.

The game ends immediately when all shares have been bought or sold, 20 dividends have been paid, or the railroad companies can no longer lay additional track. Players then total their cash and the value of their shares. In Union Station, the player with the most money wins.

Released in 2022, Union Station offers a compact contest built around changing stock values, opportunistic selling, and well-timed investments rather than extensive route construction.