Days of Steam
Stratamax Games’ Days of Steam is a train game set during the “age of steam.” It cannot of course call itself Age of Steam as there is already a well-known and well regarded board game of that name, but the themes are very similar. The players lay track to create routes between towns and by moving their trains will transport goods to the next town. Days of Steam is a much less complex game, though, dispensing with the serious minded economic elements of Age of Steam. It is also a less historical game, so it also dispenses with region maps. Instead, it combines tile laying (the tiles forming the routes) with an easy resource management aspect: a player needs to maintain his train’s Steam if he is to deliver the goods. Designed for two to four players aged ten and over, Days of Steam can be played in an hour.
In a way, Days of Steam is a fitting title. It is a little game and it lacks the grandeur of Age of Steam, but it shares many of the elements common to the train game genre, and delivers the goods. It does more than the Ticket to Ride series, which is sometimes touted as introductory train game. And in doing more, Days of Steam is the true introductory train game because it not only introduces you to the basics of the genre, but adds in a consideration or two in terms of tactics. It is possible to block other players (or at least make getting past your train awkward) and the careful laying of track will also stand you in good stead. The game also looks good, with solid tiles, brightly colored wooden trains and goods cubes, that all combine to give it just a little of the look of toy trains. If there is a downside to Days of Steam, it is in its rulebook (available in English and German), which needs a polish – if not a rewrite – as it does not read as well as it should. My gaming group described it being like a cross between the Ragnar Brothers’ Canal Mania and Rio Grande’s Carcassonne board games, combining tile laying with route building and goods carrying, and being more than filler, its length and relative complexity making it a fuller game. Days of Steam is an excellent introduction to the train game genre with enough complexity for both the genre’s devotee and the more casual player.
Inside Days of Steam you will find four Train pieces and four Steam Markers in matching colors, 28 Goods Cubes divided into four colors, seven Circuit Counters, 20 Coal Cubes (black, of course), one six-sided die, and one cloth bag. There are also 12 Town Tiles, 80 Track Tiles, and four Train Tiles.
The Town Tiles are divided into four colors matching the Goods Cubes and each has four tracks leaving/entering the town. The Track Tiles are marked with a variety of different layouts, including straights, curves, junctions, and so on. Some Track Tiles are marked with hills, which take more Steam to travel along; some with Water Towers, where a Train can forgo a turn to fill up with Steam; with a Replacement Symbol, meaning that it can be laid over an existing Track Tile to alter the layout. Both Town and Track Tiles are marked with number in the corner, indicating the amount of Steam a player receives for playing that tile on his turn. This Steam is recorded on the player’s Train Tile, which is marked in numbers from zero to six using his Steam Marker, the Steam being expended in subsequent turns to move the player’s Train.
At game’s start, each player receives a Train and matching Steam Marker, a Train Tile, and three randomly drawn Track Tiles. The Steam Marker is placed on zero on the Train Tile. One Town Tile is placed face up in the middle of the table as the starting tile, with everyone’s Train on it along with two Goods Cubes drawn from the cloth bag.
On his turn a player can do one of three things: play a tile (Track or Town); move his Train; or have his Train wait out the turn at a Water Tower. When a Track Tile is played, it is placed to expand the existing network, as is a Town Tile, but there has to be at least two Track Tiles between any two towns. Two new Goods Cubes, drawn from the cloth bag, are placed on the new Town Tile. When a player places a new Track Tile and creates a second connection between two towns such that a circuit is formed between the two, he receives a Circuit Counter, which is goes to his score at the end of the game. There are only seven Circuit Counters, so the points can only be gained for creating the first seven circuits.
To move his Train, a player simply expends Steam, marking the expenditure on his Train Tile. It costs one Steam to move one Track Tile, two if a Track Tile is marked with a hill, and one extra Steam if a player’s Train has to pass another. A Train can only move as far as a player has Steam, up to a maximum of six spaces. Movement during a turn can only be in one direction (forward), but a player can change direction on his next turn, or if he enters a town, he can come back out again in any direction (including along the same route by which he entered).
Travel along straight routes is safe, but if a Train has taken any corners during its journey, there is a chance it will derail, forcing the Train to go back to its starting point. This chance is equal to a Train’s speed (or amount of Steam used in that move) minus two. If a player rolls more than this chance on the die, then the Train is safe, if under, the Train is off the tracks. For example, a player expends five Steam on his turn, moves his Train and traverses at least one corner. The chance of a derailment is five minus two or three. The player rolls a three and so his Train is derailed. Lastly, a Train can spend an entire turn at a Water Tower and refresh up to four Steam.
When a Train starts on or passes through a Town, it can pick up a Goods Cube. A Train can only carry one. Available in four colors – blue, green, red, and yellow, matching the Town colors – Goods Cubes can only be delivered to towns of the same color, so green Goods Cubes to green Towns, and so on. Even if those green Goods Cubes had begun on a green Town, they would still have to be delivered to another green town. When a player successfully delivers a Goods Cube he receives it for scoring at game’s end.
A Goods Cube can be stolen from another player if his Train stops with it in a Town that does not match the Cube’s color. All the stealing player has to do is travel through the Town and pick up the Goods Cube up. A Goods Cube can also be picked up if it has been dropped after its carrying Train has been derailed.
Essentially, a player will alternate his actions. He will spend several turns laying Tiles and trying to create Circuits while building up Steam. Once he has enough Steam and there are Towns to which Goods Cubes can be delivered, he can start moving his Train. Of course, he only has so much Steam and will need to play more tiles in later turns to generate more, unless he can get to a Water Tower. Later in the game, once all of the Town Tiles have been placed, each player receives five Coal Cubes that be exchanged for Steam. A player will score points for creating Circuits between Towns (but only the first seven), for delivering Goods Cubes, and for delivering as many different colored Goods Cubes as possible, which actually scores the most points. A winner only needs 13 or more points to win.
In the competition for Goods Cubes, a player does have a couple of ways in which he can hinder the other players. First he can block a route with his train, making it difficult for others to pass. Second, he can steal Goods Cubes from other Trains while they are in a Town, although this can be avoided by not stopping in Towns while carrying a Goods Cube.
Days of Steam is an enjoyable little game, let down only by a rulebook that requires a careful read. Fortunately, if finding a particular rule is awkward, teaching the game’s basics is not, making it suitable for a wide audience – not just the dedicated hobbyist gamer, but family gamers, too. Think of Days of Steam as something to try a step onwards from traditional gateway games like Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, and Ticket to Ride.
October 26th, 2009 at 15:49
Hi,
Do you have a translation of your rules in french ?
I want to offer this game and I wait for french rules.
Thanks
E. Abord