''1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons'' is a railroad operations and share trading

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a ...

first published by

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

based on an original design by

Francis Tresham Francis Tresham ( 1567 – 23 December 1605), eldest son of Thomas Tresham and Muriel Throckmorton, was a member of the group of English provincial Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King Jame ...

. The popularity of ''1830'' spawned an industry creating similar ''"

18XX 18XX is the generic term for a series of board games that, with a few exceptions, recreate the building of rail transport, railroad corporations during the 19th century; individual games within the series use particular years in the 19th century a ...

"'' games. ''1830'' was republished in 2011 through a partnership of

Mayfair Games Mayfair Games was an American publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games that also licensed Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language publishing rights to ''The Settlers of Catan'' se ...

and Lookout Games.

Game Structure

''1830'' is a

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...

where the only element of luck involved is in determining the initial play order. The game takes the basic mechanics from

’s ''

1829 Events January–March * January 19 – August Klingemann's adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's ''Faust'' premieres in Braunschweig. * February 27 – Battle of Tarqui: Troops of Gran Colombia and Peru battle to a draw. * March ...

'', with players seeking to make the most money by buying and selling

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

in various

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

companies located on a stylised eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

map. Players also operate any companies of which they are the President (by virtue of being the dominant shareholder), in order to generate revenue and affect stock prices. The game is designed to represent the beginning of railroad operations in the eastern

beginning in the year 1830, with

companies in the game representing

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

railroad companies. The goal of the game is to maximise personal wealth before the game ends, whether by nurturing a railroad company to increase its

value, gutting it and running with the money, successful

stock trading In finance, a trade is an exchange of a security (stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, derivatives or any valuable financial instrument) for "cash", typically a short-dated promise to pay in the currency of the country where the ' exchange' is ...

or arranging for another player to go

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

. Buying, trading and speculating on the stock market is often where ''1830'' is won or lost. A game is finished when the bank runs out of money or any player goes bankrupt, with the player with the greatest personal wealth winning.

Private Companies

* Schuylkill Valley Navigation Co. * Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad * Delaware & Hudson Railroad * Mohawk & Hudson Railroad * Camden & Amboy Railroad *

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

Stock Companies

Boston & Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, ...

* Canadian Pacific Railroad *

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond ...

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake ...

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

* New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad *

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

Computer Game

''1830'' has been translated as a PC game of the same name by

Simtex Simtex was a video game developer established by Steve Barcia in 1988. It created a number of turn-based strategy games for the PC, most notably the first two ''Master of Orion'' games. The company closed in 1997. Games *''Master of Orion ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. This game has been praised for superior computer AI and, due to the lack of randomness in ''1830'' game play, the transparency of game play.

Reception

Grant Tavinor, writing in ''The Aesthetics of Videogames'', described the game as "extremely complicated".

Reviews

''1830'' was also reviewed in the 36th issue of ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one ...

.''

References

External links

''1830''
game information on Blackwater Station *

A collection of articles on the game and game strategy. {{DEFAULTSORT:1830: The Game Of Railroads And Robber Barons 30 Avalon Hill games Board games introduced in 1986 Francis Tresham games Mayfair Games games Multiplayer hotseat games 1830 in rail transport