From the simple challenge of laying down track to connect point A to point B (sometimes via points C through Z) to the complex strategy of managing thriving railroad businesses and everything in-between, train games run the gamut of tabletop gaming. In fact, we’d be so bold as to say some of the best train games are among the very best board games ever released. Colt Express: Stick 'em up in the chaotic train-robbing board game. Trains: Ticket to Ride meets Dominion is this deckbuilding card game. Empyreal: Spells & Steam: Make tracks from magic in a fantasy world. Russian Railroads: Assign your workers carefully to become the top railroad empire. Stephenson’s Rocket: Be the last railroad left standing in this competitive track-builder. Steam: Rails to Riches: A step up in strategy from Ticket to Ride, but without overdoing the complexity.

1830: Railways & Robber Barons: The classic game of stock trading and railroad management. Whistle Stop: Race across the US in this express trip.

Railroad Ink: A dinky dice game portable enough to play on the go. Railways of the World: Travel the globe with this beginner-friendly series. Get past the seemingly mundane subject matter and you’ll find a genre full of inventive and exciting board games that offer supremely satisfying hours playing with friends.

That doesn’t mean that train games aren’t for you, however. It’s true that not everyone is a fan of steam power, ironwork and locomotives. With thousands of tabletop games out there about battling cosmic monsters from another dimension, venturing hundreds of years into the past to trade goods in a far-off land or convincing a room full of your closest friends you’re to be trusted as you secretly sabotage their plans as a hidden spy, even the best train board games can look a bit drab in comparison. Train board games sound as boring as waiting for the 17.49 from Dullsworth, Tediumville.

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