A look at "Bindle Rails"

A week or so ago the designer of Bindle Rails contacted me and asked that I take a look at this new game. I downloaded the files and printed them out somewhat unsuccessfully. The card tops or bottoms were chopped off and the fact that I used a black and white only printer just didn't make it look too incouraging.

Since then I've realised that the reason the cards edges got cut off was because I goofed on the printing! I've since reprinted it and even used coloured card for the printing which make the otherwise plain cards spring to life.

What is Bindle Rails, you ask? Well it's the first Rail game I've ever got to grips with! I've taken a look at the free 18XX games that are out there and they really looked very dry and just did not appeal. This game however was different. The designer has said that the mechanics for the game were inspired by Zombie in my Pocket, Ticket to Ride , Pocket Civ and of course the 18XX games. That just sounded like a hit to me so my interest in a Rail game was peaked, especially as it's a solitaire game.

I found there were a few problems in the rules, well, at least for people like me who dont know the three letter codes for stateside towns. I posted a few questions on the games page at Board Game Geek and the designer was quick to reply and even updated the components to meet my thick-in-the-head requirements.

So after he'd gone to so much trouble I embarked on a second printing, this time using the colour options and the coloured card. What I have now is a pretty cool looking game. I've played through one game and scored a measly 17 points, would have been 27 but one of the competing companies got to St Louis before me, damn them!

I'll be doing a proper review fairly soon, but if you want to check it out yourself before I get round to that I think you'll find it quite good.

Solitaire, easy to pick up and a real challenge