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Game Info
Year
2013
Collection
Ratings
Creator Score
Mechanic profile
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Vibe profile
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Description
Northern Pacific is a luck-free railroad-building game that lasts about twenty minutes. This game is in the genre of Iron Road / TransAmerica and SNCF / Paris Connection.
Players start the game with one large investment cube and three small investment cubes in hand. The game board shows the United States from Minnesota to Washington; game play starts in Minneapolis/St. Paul. On a turn, a player either places one of their cubes in a city (other than Seattle) that hasn't yet been reached by the train or builds track. If they build track, they choose one of the railroad lines exiting the city where the train is currently located and place a locomotive on it to show the current endpoint of the railroad line. Track has directional arrows on it, and a new train line can never move against the arrows or back to a city that the railroad has already visited.
When the railroad visits a city where players have placed investment cubes, they retrieve those cubes and take additional cubes from the supply: one new cube if they had a small cube in the city and two new cubes if they had a large cube.
When the railroad reaches Seattle, the round ends. Players tally the number of cubes in hand and records this number on the "good investments" track; they record the number of their cubes still on the game board on the "bad investments" track. They then reset the board as at the start of the game, then begin a new round. After three rounds, whoever has made the most good investments wins; if players are tied, then the tied player who has made the fewest bad investments wins.
You can play a single round of the game to determine a winner, if desired, or you can play new rounds with no recorded score, with a player winning the game if they win two rounds.
Note that the Winsome version of Northern Pacific is for 3-6 players, whereas the Rio Grande Games version is for 2-6 players.
Featured Videos
Rules Teach
Northern Pacific - Teaser Overview
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 6 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video Yt1JttZyuJ8
Getting Games Game Impression at 26:20 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90552 · mention_pk 242084
Click to watch at 26:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- extremely quick to teach and play
- deep strategic potential from simple core rules
- fosters strong table talk and groupthink
Cons
- can become chaotic or highly interactive; endgame dynamics can swing strongly
- strong reliance on players' predictive read of others' plans
Thematic elements
- investment and route optimization with limited actions per turn
- single train line across a map from east to west
- analytical, emphasis on groupthink and future projection
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cube placement to extend the line — on your turn you place a cube in a city to extend the train route; there is a single line with no branching
- economic and social interaction — achievement depends on predicting others' moves; alliances and competition shape outcomes
- No randomness — no dice or random events; perceived randomness can come from coin-flip style decisions, but the game itself is deterministic
- scoring and end condition across three passes — after reaching the western edge, count points from cubes in front of you and from the map; repeat for three passes
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- i'm hoping to play this one more
- the tokens that you're taking which is like cheese or bell peppers or apples are almost like stocks
- the rules for selling stock were omitted; it's effectively a house rule
- the dial mechanic... very elegant
- this game is all about the discussions between players and trying to map out what other people are going to be doing
- it's not random; it's all about trying to foresee the future with the relative groupthink
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video nf0N_vr1oBI
Getting Games Top 20 List at 51:14 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89637 · mention_pk 238428
Click to watch at 51:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- incredibly lightweight rule set
- easy to pick up and play
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- rail expansion without money or stocks
- cube rails; lightweight
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- no money or stocks; lightweight rule set — a lightweight cube-rails experience with quick turns and simple concepts
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Scout was my number one game of 2021
- i think this is my favorite game
- it's a two player only game
- every game plays differently
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video QcMfPKEjmww
Getting Games Q And A at 2:49 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88936 · mention_pk 235431
Click to watch at 2:49 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm spoiled for Choice over here
- Trans-Siberian railroad is indeed excellent
- it was a joy to have the game go so sideways like everybody was just laughing like crazy
- I thought it looked super cool
- I'm actively excited I'm looking forward to playing that one
- there's a mountain of prototypes off camera
- Darwin's Journey was the first rule book I ever wrote from scratch
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Jj_bSvnAuv4
Getting Games Discussion at 35:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88506 · mention_pk 233398
Click to watch at 35:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- new map could alter experience
- expansion uses original components
Cons
- no rules changes; may not greatly affect game for some
Thematic elements
- rail-building and profit pursuit
- Southern California rail network
- shared incentives with others on a simple map
Comparison games
- Northern Pacific
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- expansion map only — no rule changes; different map
- shared incentives — rail routes and profitability shared space
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- welcome to drunk It's games
- I will go through those in alphabetical order
- I'm going to be talking about a bunch of games that I've learned about over the last month
- if you think I missed a game or if you have thoughts about any of these games then please comment
- world wonders I am very excited to try this game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Qn93xeByDDY
Getting Games Rules Teach at 0:16 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 63406 · mention_pk 156797
Click to watch at 0:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- investors building and financing a railroad expansion
- northwestern United States (Minneapolis to Seattle) as described
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — when the rail line reaches Seattle you score the cubes in front of you as good investments and the remaining cubes as bad investments; placing a cube in a city the rail line passes by costs you points
- investing in cities — invest in cities that will end up being connected to the rail line; the more connected, the more investment cubes you gain
- Investment — you could place an investment cube down into a city that the track has not actually met yet
- laying railroad track — on your turn you will either lay some railroad track down
- mind-game / deduction — shared incentives and the goal of getting into the heads of opponents; multiple players can invest in the same city and influence the train's direction
- placing investment cubes — you could place an investment cube down into a city that the track has not actually met yet
- round structure — the game is played across three rounds; after each Seattle scoring, the round resets and you play again; the player with the most good investments over the entire game wins
- scoring and penalties — when the rail line reaches Seattle you score the cubes in front of you as good investments and the remaining cubes as bad investments; placing a cube in a city the rail line passes by costs you points
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- now northern pacific is a three to six player game that usually takes around 60 minutes to play
- this is not so much a negotiation game as it is a game where you're trying to get into the heads of your opponents
- you'll get even more of these investment cubes
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video eAM3wKATYx0
Getting Games Rules Teach at 0:33 sentiment: positive
video_pk 13520 · mention_pk 39547
Click to watch at 0:33 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Clear core loop of investment versus track building that creates strategic tension between players
- Enhanced cubes introduce meaningful risk/reward decisions and dynamic scoring
- Round-based scoring with a well-defined end condition provides multiple opportunities to influence the game
- The map layout and directional arrows create interesting pathing decisions and block opportunities
Cons
- Can be fiddly for new players due to the management of multiple investment types and city limits
- End-of-round resolution and payout tracking can be confusing without careful attention or a quick reference
- Some players may find the interaction heavy, with frequent decisions influenced by opponents' investments
Thematic elements
- economic investment, route-building, and strategic competition between players
- North American railroad expansion era, focusing on the Northern Pacific route from Minneapolis to Seattle
- tutorial with in-game demonstration, commentary, and live correction overlays
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- City investment limits — Each city can hold a limited number of cubes per player count, affecting how aggressively players can invest early.
- Directional arrows on lines — Rail lines have arrows indicating the allowed direction of travel; trains cannot backtrack against the arrow once placed.
- End-of-round payoff and bad investments — When a round ends, investments not connected by the line become bad investments and are returned to the supply; connected investments pay out.
- Enhanced investment cubes — Special cubes that pay out at double value compared to standard cubes and restore extra standard cubes when cashed out.
- Good vs bad investments — Cubes in cities that are connected by the railroad line by the end of a round are considered good investments; others are bad.
- Investment cubes — Players place standard or enhanced cubes in cities to invest; returns depend on track connectivity and round progression.
- Starting round and round progression — Each round starts with the player to the left of the one who connected the train to Seattle; turns rotate clockwise, with investments and track options varying by move.
- Three-round game structure — The game consists of three scoring rounds; the player with the most good investments across rounds wins, with ties broken by bad investments.
- Track extension tokens — On a turn a player can place a train token to extend the railroad line from the current end toward new cities.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the round ends once we have a single line of track going from minneapolis st paul all the way to seattle
- enhanced cubes pay out twice as much as standard ones do
- the game is scored over three rounds and the player with the most good investments wins
- cube limit on the number that can go into the cities depends on the player count
- we are the starting player so that means we can now take the first turn of the game
- the track ends in seattle and all these investments will pay out
- investments across cities determine payouts and strategy
- corrections will be put on screen where you should be able to see them
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video l19C2U_sq_Q
Getting Games Discussion at 13:52 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10589 · mention_pk 31193
Click to watch at 13:52 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Rail network and logistics
- North American railway expansion
- Abstract
Comparison games
- Southern Rails
- Trans-Siberian Railroad
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- unknown — Cube rails mechanics
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I am really looking for feedback from people because this is something very new
- Cube rails games have kind of grabbed a hold of my brain in a really interesting way
- Trans-Siberian Railroad is a wacky game
- I am in the throes of infatuation with this new genre of gaming
- I would really appreciate you considering that
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–7 of 7