Welcome to the TraXX Games page! To celebrate the second year of TraXX, we created a game we named “18TraXX 2020 – Great Plains Railroading“. As things turned out, TraXX 2020 could not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we wanted to make the files available for the game to those of you with print-n-play capabilities. If you purchase the files, you will be adding a few dollars to the TraXX budget for next year – your money goes directly to TraXX LLC – not to our personal accounts.

To order the game files, just click the Contact link and let us know that you would like the game files. We will send you a PayPal invoice, and then share a link to the files. If you would like the files and cannot afford to spend money on games during the current crisis, please let us know in your message. We will, with confidence and respect, freely share the files with you.

Sharing and Making Copies

We know game files can be easily shared, and with our game files, we’re happy to see them shared. We don’t want to restrict your ability to share the files you purchased or make physical copies of a game for your friends that don’t have print-n-play capabilities. We ask that if you do share the files, or make a copy of the game for a friend, that you inform us and allow us issue another invoice for the files.

Testing

“Caveat emptor” (buyer beware). We’re doing this for our own enjoyment within our local group and for the benefit of TraXX. As such, play testing has generally (but not in all cases) been confined to that narrow spectrum. We’re hobbyists, not professional board game authors. Yes, we’ve played these games a number of times and tweaked them until we were happy with the results, we wouldn’t post the files otherwise. If this bothers you, please don’t buy the files.

PnP Assistance

If you need help PnP’ing games, Brennan Sheremeto reached out to us to be a resource. He does laser cutting of game elements. His tiles look amazing! He will be working on being able to produce the other elements of the games as well. Check out his Etsy Storefront for more information. There is also a mechanism to message Brennan directly from the Etsy store.

18TraXX 2020 – Great Plains Railroading

($20.00) TraXX. That sounds like a good name for a railroad company! Well, let’s make it so. The game, the convention that inspired it, and a key company in the game, are all called TraXX. It is the design intention that the TraXX railroad be an important feature of the game. TraXX is player-controlled and partially government-subsidized company that assumes control of troubled railroad companies. Headquartered in Denver, well, that’s where the TraXX convention is held every year, TraXX can spread out across the plains and in so doing relieve struggling company presidents of their financial burdens. TraXX 2020 is intended to be a “lively” game as many companies will come and go during the game and TraXX may be used for good or otherwise. Additional “McGuffins” include minor railroad companies, boom towns on the plains, the Bailey Yard, and Pullman cars. You’ll need familiarity with, or a copy of, the rules to 1830 to play the game.

Read the rules to 18TraXX 2020 – Great Plains Railroading here.

18TraXX 2020 Map

Game Goals

18TraXX 2020 was designed as a “toy” for TraXX and for remembering the fun. But with the below games, the goals for each are:

Find a place to experiment and create a game around a McGuffin (or two). Build on the core of 1846 or 1830 to utilize those mechanisms to quickly get players through the base rules. Be “Winsomesque” in spirit. Winsome Games is an inspiration in this regard. Provide some fun at a game table.

18 Los Angeles

($20.00) 18 Los Angeles has lots of city hexagons packed into a small map, hopefully creating some congestion in rail traffic and competition for tokens. Additionally, there are freight and passenger trains that can share track, which is helpful in the congestion. You’ll need familiarity with, or a copy of, the rules to 1846 to play the game.

Read the 18 Los Angeles story here.

18 Los Angeles Map

18 Los Angeles Rules

18 Grand Junction

($20.00) The McGuffins in 18 Grand Junction include a restrictive track set and the mountainous Colorado terrain. The yellow plain track only upgrades only to the complex green plain track (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22). After all, it is the Rocky Mountains, you can’t just build track where ever you want. The other primary McGuffin is Company Presidents. The presidents give a special ability to a railroad company in a manner similar to private companies would (there are no private companies in 18 Grand Junction). When a company starts, it selects a president. The first rank of presidents is “retired” in Phase 3 (brown) and each company selects a new president at the end of its next operation. You’ll need familiarity with, or a copy of, the rules to 1846 to play the game.

18 Grand Junction Rules

18 Grand Junction Map

1888

($20.00) Players operate their railroads in Jefferson and New Suffolk, two fictional states within the United States. “Event Cards” are a nice way to add historical flavor to a game, but a deck of random events being flipped over each round is not what we’re after. The train deck is stacked with event cards that are intended to entice players into changing their train buying habits. Additional “McGuffins” include two-sided train cards with a more powerful train on the reverse, and unconventionally, priority deal established at the beginning of each stock round. You’ll need familiarity with, or a copy of, the rules to 1830 to play the game.

1888 Rules

1888 Map

1883 Express d’Orient

($20.00) Set between Budapest and Bucharest, players control companies that are headed by different “company presidents”. Two company president cards are randomly assigned at the beginning of the game to each company. These cards give the company a specific ability from phase 2 through phase 4 and another ability from phase 5 until the end of the game. Additional “McGuffins” include giving the players the ability to skip the last train of a type in order to buy the first train of the next type, private companies that pay more revenue once connected to the rail network, and a non-player investor that buys and sells shares based upon the current status of each company. You’ll need familiarity with, or a copy of, the rules to 1830 to play the game.

1883 Express d’Orient Rules

1883 Express d’Orient Map