Railway Boom

About this board game

Railway Boom is a 2022 railway-building board game for 2–5 players, with games lasting about 150 minutes. Players take on the roles of great industrialists from the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras.

To gain fame and become the best railway company, you must carefully manage four different types of resources. Each one supports a distinct part of your company’s development, so planning your actions is essential.

• Money: spend it to build lots of rail lines.
• Materials: use them to gain better trains.
• Science: invest it in acquiring useful development cards.
• Coal: maintain your trains and prevent them from falling into disrepair.

These resources create a connected set of priorities. Expanding your rail network requires Money, while Materials can improve your trains. Science offers access to development cards, and Coal helps keep your trains in service rather than allowing them to deteriorate.

Success in Railway Boom comes from considering these needs together instead of focusing on only one area. Plan your actions around the resources available to you and the improvements your railway company needs next.

With its focus on rail lines, trains, development, and maintenance, the game presents a broad industrial challenge set across three eras of Japanese history. Manage your resources effectively, build your railway company, and strive to earn the fame that marks you as the best.