The Game At A Glance: Appalachian Rails is based on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and its march across the coalfields of West Virginia. The railroad went into receivership after trying to burrow through difficult terrain. It was up to Colis Huntington, one of the “Big Four” in the transcontinental railroad, wanted to use the C&O as a railroad to link with his West Coast empire. Additionally, West Virginia and surrounding states in Appalachia had a large reserve of natural resources which would form the revenue stream for the C&O for years to come.
Your object is to mimic (and beat) the C&O's success.
The game starts with the player taking a loan for money to pay for track and locomotives to haul goods. Play consists of rolling dice for each commodity in the board. Some commodities such as coal are more plentiful than manufactured goods. After the commodities are placed, track is built, link by link, using the railroad's treasury. Locomotives may be purchased which have a range of anywhere from 5-10 links. After this is complete, if a player is able, he may transport cubes to any market expecting them.
There are also markets in the game which decide the price of a commodity based on how often it is delivered and how often cubes are placed on the board. These values are staggered for different cities.
For those who have played a number of train games, this game could be described as a cross between Silverton and Age of Steam with a little bit of Prairie Railroads thrown in for good measure. The main challenge of this title was to create a compelling solitaire railroading experience. The game is extremely difficult to beat. I think it lives up to the challenge.