Orient Express

About this board game

Orient Express is a railway strategy game for 2–5 players, with play lasting about 90 minutes. Set during Europe’s railroad boom, it challenges players to connect disparate regions while balancing private enterprise with the interests of governments.

Players create passenger routes and build some of Europe’s most famous railroads. As railway lines cover more ground, the governments they support may eventually nationalize that work. Companies are rewarded when their routes become public property, but they must then begin again in new locations to keep moving forward.

The game’s central challenge is managing the tension between growth and nationalization. Building an extensive network can bring rewards, yet successful lines may be removed from the board after they are scored. Victory goes to the player who best combines private ambitions with public demands.

• Create passenger routes across Europe.
• Choose which regions to develop and which areas to connect.
• Adapt when Regional Company routes are scored and removed through nationalization.
• Continue expanding into new locations as your railway work becomes public property.

Orient Express offers considerable flexibility in how players approach the map. Rather than following a single required path, each company can decide where to build and which connections to pursue, making regional choices an important part of the game.

As the sequel to 20th Century Limited, Orient Express explores the changing relationship between private railroad companies and the governments that depend on them. The result is a contest of expansion, timing, and adaptation across a continent whose nations are distinct yet economically entangled.