18Chesapeake

A classic 18xx rail and stock game on the Chesapeake map, where the money is in the shares.

Designer: Scott Petersen
Published by: All-Aboard Games
Editions by: Game Harbor

18Chesapeake (2018) is a railroad stock game for people who like their evenings long. You play investors in the Chesapeake region, running west towards Ohio and the West Virginia coalfields. First you spend starting capital on small private and minor companies, then you buy shares in the big public railroads. Whoever holds the most shares becomes president and decides where track goes and which trains run. Revenue can be paid out to shareholders or kept for the company. The tricky part: the interests of a president and of a shareholder are never quite the same, so you can profit from a company you are quietly draining. Plan on three and a half hours.

Buy private companies, then shares in public railroadsLargest shareholder runs the companyPay revenue out as dividends or hold it back

Who it's for

You already enjoy 18xx games, have an evening free, and want a rail and stock puzzle on a regional map.

Not for you if…

You are new to 18xx, short on time, or sensitive to cutthroat money games. It needs a patient, rules-fluent group.

Vibe's take

Cold-blooded, analytical and absorbing. You run numbers, make polite deals, and quietly dump a company onto someone else just before it stumbles.