Tramways

About this board game

Tramways is a 2016 network-building game for 1–5 players, played in approximately 120 minutes. Set in the 1920s, it challenges players to develop an effective transit network for the fledgling town of Small City.

Each player leads a team of engineers, seeking the best locations between buildings and citizens. The goal is to create routes that encourage citizens to use your network rather than those of your opponents, while helping passengers move through the city without becoming too stressed.

The game lasts six rounds, and each round has two distinct halves:

• Development: Players compete for development cards and use an original auction to determine turn order. Taking the first turn can be valuable, but it also increases stress.
• Transit: Players use their decks to build a network between Small City’s buildings and move passengers across it.

Development cards form the foundation of each player’s deck. Using the symbols on those cards allows more actions, helping players expand and operate their networks. However, those same symbols also raise stress, creating an important balance between efficiency and the penalties that stress brings.

Successful transit earns happiness points, the game’s central objective. Citizens who can travel where and when they want reward the transport companies that serve them best, while excessive stress leads to negative victory points.

With competition for development areas, auction-driven turn order, deck management, route building, and passenger movement, Tramways combines city development with careful resource and stress management.