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Game Info
Year
1992
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
Explore the ancient land of Nippon! Build a railroad empire in the land of the rising sun. Use your initial investment to build track. Then pick up commodities where they are grown, mined, or manufactured and deliver them to a lucrative place of demand. Complete a delivery and make the money you need to buy larger, faster trains, and expand your railroad empire. Win the game by building the most effective railroad empire!
With the countless variations of play provided, Nippon Rails – an Empire Builder game and part of the crayon_rail_games series – provides a challenging region for the creation of your network. Obstacles are rival tracks and Japan's great mountains, channels, and rivers and restrictive coastline. Capture the can-do spirit of Japan and build an empire.
Nippon Rails is considered to be among the more challenging maps, given many narrow portions that are susceptible to purposeful blockage by opponents. The design includes a unique tunnel feature that links the main island Honshu to the northern island Hokkaido.
The second edition of Nippon Rails is for 2-3 players, with a variant that allows for play with up to six.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–2 of 2
Video HSWwpJUNXAs
Ryan and Bethany Board Game Reviews Top List at 3:34 sentiment: positive
video_pk 86294 · mention_pk 222835
Click to watch at 3:34 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Favorite of the crayon rail games.
- Plays well at lower player counts.
- Longer older school Euro that never fails to satisfy.
Cons
- Can be a longer game.
Thematic elements
- Connecting cities and shipping goods.
- Japan
Comparison games
- Empire Builder
- Martian Rails
- China India Rails
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Map drawing — You actually take a crayon and you draw on the board that's kind of this dry dry erase board that you're kind of filling out with all the different places you're going.
- Pick-Up and Deliver — You are buying and selling goods and shipping them all over the map. This city has this demand but it produces this thing, this city produces this thing and has this demand.
- Route Building — It is a route building train game but you actually take a crayon and you draw on the board.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I cannot stand push games I avoid them at all costs one of my least favorite mechanisms
- guess what I really like this is one of those things that we have thoughts onite but the quack of quber does one of the best best jobs of making a enjoyable push your luck sty game
- this is a game where you literally are a nobleman and you're trying to be grow your prestige you're trying to get greater land you're trying to gain influence in court and it's really fun
- I have played a bunch of ccgs and lcgs and collectible card games and tradeable card games and all that stuff
- they're all money pits so I can only do one at a time
- this is a very friendly scene much more friendly than magic or Pokemon
- another game I just hear no one talking about and you're all shame on you for not hearing about this and talking about it because it's awesome
- this is a two-player social deduction game it's crazy
- it's oh so much laughter and sillyness
- this is the loudest game on our list or my list at least
- everyone's just yelling we actually ran a game of this at a at a convention this past summer
- this is just such a clever word game
- it is one of the be in my opinion it is one of the single best word games out there
- genius stes games does a really great job of giving you games that give you educational opportunities without making it feel like an educational game
References (from this video)
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Video LNhd_1PTCM0
Board Gaming Ramblings Review at 0:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 85739 · mention_pk 220406
Click to watch at 0:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Great game
- Amazing game
- Fantastic game
- Clever design
- Interesting puzzle
- High tension and interaction in certain parts
- Accessible scoring for contracts and factories in the new version
- Solid core concepts
- Different starting conditions add enjoyment
Cons
- Unsure about the final scoring changes
- The new final scoring doesn't feel as impactful or risky as the original
- The scoring for contracts and factories feels simpler and easier to max out
- The change from a race for multipliers to fixed levels in final scoring reduces tension
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose actions based on the worker they take, with a color twist influencing choices.
- Area Majority — Points are scored for influence in different regions on the map, with scoring increasing later in the game.
- contract fulfillment — Resources are used to fulfill contracts for points.
- Engine Building — Building factories and machinery allows for increased resource production.
- Resource Management — Players manage resources like money, coal, silk, and steel to build factories, fulfill contracts, and gain bonuses.
- Set Collection — Collecting sets of different colored workers and resources is important for scoring and bonuses.
- Worker Placement — The game uses a worker removal mechanic where players take workers and place them back, as opposed to traditional worker placement where workers are taken back after use.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Nippon is back. We are big fans of Nippon.
- This is a worker removal game, I kind of like to call it, but it's more of an action selection game with a like a worker twist, a color twist.
- It was like a big a race. It was feeling like a tension that is kind of done but it is exchanged with a less interactive. It also very interesting puzzle.
- It doesn't feel as I'm going to say a weird word swingy. It doesn't feel as important.
- It's a fantastic game. Yes, I love everything about this game.
References (from this video)
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Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–2 of 2