18EZ: A Brief Review

RE: my previous post

I played 18ez last night. 18EZ is a newer member to the 18xx line of train games. It is billed as the perfect introduction to a family of train games that is supposed to be difficult to pick up and play. Up to this point, I have not played any of the games, though I was not scared off by the complexity of the series as much as I was by the playing time. I distinctly remember one game at BGG.Con that started the night before and was still going on 12 hours later. I really don't care how great a game is, I am just not interested in investing that much time in one game. Happily, not all of the games last that long, and the one hour playing time of 18ez made me more than willing to try it out.

One of the best things that the game has going for it is its production quality. The production cannot match something sold by Mayfair or Rio Grande, but it is a step up from Winsome quality. The board is laminated, as are the track tiles and shares. Though it did seem like the lamination on the components would wear off after repeated plays, I was impressed with the components.

I was not impressed with the rules. The rulebook is broken up into 3 modules with the idea that the game could not be understood as a whole. The first phase of the game introduces building track and servicing cities. The second phase introduces the stock market. The third adds minor companies and some higher level locomotives. I am only writing about the second phase of the game, as that is what we played.

For a set of rules that is supposed to make the system easy to understand, these rules did not do a great job. And if they are a good example of 18xx rules, then the series must really have some rubbish rules sets. In some sections, the rules were incredibly long winded, repeating themselves over and over again. (I longed for the simple but precise Winsome rules.) In other sections key points were missing. For example, where does money go when you buy a share?

And the breakdown of the rules into different sections just made the rules more difficult by forcing the reader to skip back and forth in the rules. Bleah. So if the components get a nice 8 out of 10, the rules get a 5.

I honestly cannot comment much further on the game. I have the feeling that deep down I enjoy the 18xx system. It really is enjoyable to start up a railroad company and follow it through in so many different aspects. You purchase locomotives, track, and shares in order to keep the company properly funded and profitable. Other than 18ez, I have only played one game that is even close to the 18xx system in complexity: Baltimore & Ohio (and I really liked it).

In fact, B&O shared many similarities with the 18xx system. Though people familiar with 18xx will tell you that they are different, I will stand by the following statement. If you are interested in learning the system and you want a beginner game, I think that B&O is a better game than 18ez. B&O shares more similarities with standard train games but forces you to think with the same mindset that you must use when playing 18ez. More importantly, B&O has a clear and concise rule-set.

In the end, 18ez did it's job; I want to play another game in the system. I think that there may be better introductions, but this one is not a terrible one.