Isle of Trains

A train-building card game where every card can be a car, money or cargo, and helping your rival loads them up too.

Designers: Seth Jaffee, Dan Keltner
Published by: Dice Hate Me Games
Editions by: Lookout Games, Looping Games

You run a train line, and every card in your hand can be three different things. It can become a train car or a building that supports your line, it can be spent as money to pay for those, or it can be loaded as cargo onto a car. Here is the twist: when you load cargo on an opponent's train you get an immediate benefit, but you also hand them just the cargo they might need to complete a delivery contract and score big. The race is to build the right mix of freight cars and finish contracts before your rival does. A 2014 card game, about 45 minutes, best at two, from age 13.

Every card has three usesLoading rivals' trains gives you perksContracts decide the race

Who it's for

You like tight engine-building card games with real dilemmas, especially as a two-player match.

Not for you if…

You want a relaxed multiplayer game or you dislike having to think about what the opponent can do with every card you play.

Vibe's take

Tense and clever. Every cargo you load on someone else's train helps you now and may help them just as much, so you spend the game guessing what they are about to finish.