1833 is a card game where the objective is to establish the most valuable railroad network by creating routes between various North American cities of the 19th Century. Players take turns drawing cards and building their railroad connections. Players' resources are limited by number of cards he may hold in his hand, but may be increased by building increasing levels of routes. Route levels (size) are determined by the type of locomotive used for that route. Stockpiling resources (cards) is tricky and dangerous because getting rid of unwanted cards is not trivial. Players may also collect corporation cards which increase the value of the player's routes connected to that corporation's home city. Holding corporation cards count against a player's hand limit; representing the built-in cost of that corporation card. Private company cards (representing privately held railroads) may be used to connect otherwise unconnected cities, but at a cost to the value of the route for which they are used.
—description from the publisher