Martian Law

[rbandrews]

I played Martian Rails yesterday for the first time. I really like it:

The event cards are hugely improved from the other crayon rails games I've played. All the events in EuroRails are along the lines of "this river flooded"; Martian Rails has events like "Mars needs women! The first player to simultaneously deliver (female) colonists and Pulcho to Ares University will get $40." Much cooler.

The map is smaller and more connected, it's a faster game with less of a hassle to connect to things. There are more types of terrains than just "mountain" and "oh shit a river". There are events that affect the terrains, like there are unpassable valley walls and an event that lets you build a bridge over it.

Train upgrades go higher than just "faster", "fatter", "both". There are five levels of trains, and upgrading is cheaper ($10 instead of $20), so you can upgrade more easily and sooner.

The only bad review on Amazon is a guy who didn't like all the "sci-fi nonsense" in it, and he "didn't learn enough about Mars by playing". So, a tool.

Comments

[notyourwendy]

My only problem with Martian Rails is that this edition didn't do so hot a job printing the goods. I love the color and all, but the words around the edges of the chips are hard to read.

[rbandrews]

Yeah, that's true. There's a little bit of smearing, but honestly? I'd rather that than have a ton of little stickers to apply and no text. See bauxite vs. iron in EuroRails...

[notyourwendy]

True, that.