Announcing Martin Wallace's Steam!

FROM THE DESIGNER
Steam is the latest, and hopefully, last expression of a system that I designed back in the 1990s. The core mechanic of moving cubes to final destinations has proved incredibly resilient and adaptable. With Steam I have attempted to streamline certain systems to make for a faster and more accessible game. Gamers have only so many years of play on this planet, and with so many games to play it has to make sense to reduce playing time.

I’m personally pleased with the way Steam has turned out and I’m hoping that I do not have to do any more development work on the game, as I’ve far too many other projects to work on! What has always impressed me with the response to earlier versions of this system is the number of expansion maps produced by enthusiastic gamers. I’m hoping that this will continue for many years to come, or at least until there is a map for every single country on the planet.

-Martin Wallace

WHAT IS STEAM?
Steam is the newest version of Martin Wallace’s classic train game design. It’s a streamlined game that comes in two versions: a quicker, easier Base game for players who are new to the system, and a challenging Standard game that forces players to win auctions for actions and plan their purchases very carefully.

Each turn, players will choose an action that will give them a specific advantage for the turn, purchase track, and move goods in order to gain income or victory points. Using either the New York/New England map (for fewer players) or the German Ruhr valley (for more players), you create networks of track that lets you earn more and more money for longer runs. Can you become the most successful rail baron?

WHAT’S NEW ABOUT STEAM?
Steam offers not one but two way to play! In the Base game, we eliminate auctions and random goods placement to make the game more casual, faster, and easier for new players to learn and enjoy. With the new Standard game rules, players who enjoyed previous versions will find the tension of predicting cash flow, turn order auctions and maintenance costs all present. Finally, the game removes the awkward income reduction phase with a single victory point track that forces players to invest points in either income or scoring.

WHAT WILL BE INCLUDED IN STEAM?
The core game will feature not one, but two maps, one of the New York/New England area (suitable for fewer players) and one of the Ruhr Valley (for larger groups). Wooden tokens are used for track ownership, and all of the necessary game information is available on the oversize board! Over 130 track tiles cover the gamut of building opportunities (no more town tokens), money tokens in different colors and sizes, a custom train turn marker, and more makes this a beautiful game when set up!

WHEN WILL STEAM BE AVAILABLE?
Look for Steam to arrive at your local retailer in early April! And, visit the product page via the link below for more information about the game leading up to its launch!

MFG4551 Steam

***A Special first glance at the draft of the rules for Steam: Steam Rules Draft PDF