Russian Railroads

About this board game

Russian Railroads is a worker-placement and railway-building board game for 2–4 players, with games lasting about 120 minutes. Players compete to create the largest and most advanced railway network while developing powerful engines, factories, and engineering expertise.

Each player has an individual board featuring three railway tracks leading to different cities, along with space for a factory line. Workers are assigned to locations on the central board, where they can advance track markers, acquire engines and factories, earn coins, gain temporary workers, influence turn order, or recruit engineers with unique powers.

Railway development follows a strict progression. Track colors must be built in order from black through gray, brown, natural, and white, and a later color may never advance beyond an earlier one. As each track develops, it reaches thresholds that can unlock new track colors, victory points, and bonus tiles.

• Engines are assigned to railway lines and determine how far along each line players score.
• Factories occupy the factory line and contribute victory points based on the position of the purple industry markers.
• Engineers provide unique abilities and become additional worker-placement locations for their owner.

At the end of each round, players score their railway and factory lines. Track types built later are worth more points per space, while the engines limit the scoring distance on each line. The game lasts seven rounds, or six rounds in a two- or three-player game.

With several routes to victory, Russian Railroads challenges players to balance expansion, modernization, worker placement, and timing. After the final round, the player with the most victory points wins.