Empire Builder
How to run the road — tutorial
What you are trying to do
You have a charter to build a railroad across North America. You win by connecting six of the seven major terminals — Vancouver, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Chicago, New York and Mexico City — to a single system you own, and holding $250M in the treasury when a season closes. Track alone will not do it, and money alone will not do it. You need both, and the money comes only from hauling freight.
Getting started
- Choose a name for your railroad and how many rivals you want, then Grant the charter.
- Look at the order book down the right-hand side. Three contracts, three demands each: a commodity, the city that wants it, and what it pays. Click any demand to swing the map to that city.
- Pick a first run you can afford. A short haul between two cities that are already close together will earn you money in the first few seasons; a transcontinental contract will bankrupt you before it pays.
- The map is lit up in red during a building phase. Every lit milepost is one you can reach with what is left of this season's budget. Click one and the line is laid all the way there along the cheapest alignment.
The season
Seasons 1 and 2 are charter seasons: survey and build only, up to $20M each, from a starting treasury of $60M. From season 3 onward every season has a running phase and then a building phase.
Running phase
- The map is lit in gold. Every lit milepost is somewhere your train can reach this season. Click one and the train runs there.
- Your train has a number of movement points equal to its speed; each milepost entered costs one.
- Running over another railroad's line costs $4M, paid to that railroad once per season no matter how far you go on it.
- Standing in a city, the panel offers you buttons: Load anything the city produces, Set down anything a contract here wants, Set out freight you no longer need.
- If nothing in the order book is worth chasing, New contracts returns the whole hand for three fresh ones. It costs you the season's running.
- Stable the train ends the running phase.
Building phase
- You may spend up to $20M on new line.
- Take up last length undoes the last milepost you laid, at full refund, as many times as you like within the season.
- Instead of laying any track at all you may buy a locomotive for $20M. That takes the whole building phase.
- Close the season passes to the next railroad.
What line costs
| Ground | Per milepost | Ground | Per milepost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain | $1M | Swamp | $2M |
| Desert | $1M | Mountain | $2M |
| Forest | $2M | Alpine pass | $5M |
| Hills | $2M | River crossing | +$2M |
Reaching a town costs $2M, a city $3M and a major terminal $5M, in place of the ground cost. Only three railroads may reach any one town or city; the seven major terminals are open to everybody.
Motive power
| Locomotive | Mileposts | Cars | Upgrades to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drover | 9 | 2 | Flyer or Hauler |
| Flyer | 12 | 2 | Superhauler |
| Hauler | 9 | 3 | Superhauler |
| Superhauler | 12 | 3 | — |
Events
Event cards are shuffled through the demand deck. Drawing one resolves it at once and you draw again, so an event never costs you a contract.
| Event | Effect |
|---|---|
| Derailment | You lose every load and run at half speed next season. |
| Heavy snow | Mountain and alpine mileposts are shut for one round. |
| Spring flood | Every river crossing is shut for one round. |
| Coastal gale | Cities on tidewater are closed for one round. |
| Excess profits tax | Every railroad pays a fifth of its treasury above $100M. |
| Steel shortage | Construction costs half again as much for one round. |
| Yard strike | One major terminal is closed for one round. |
Controls
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Pan the map | Drag it, or the arrow keys |
| Zoom | Mouse wheel, or + and − |
| Fit the whole map | Fit, or f |
| Find your train | Train |
| Run or build to a milepost | Click a lit milepost |
| Standing orders | Rules, or ? |
| Close a dialog | Esc |
A single finger pans the map on a touch screen; a tap acts on a milepost.
Saving and restarting
The game saves itself to this browser after every action. If you close the tab and come back, the opening screen offers Resume saved game. Finishing a game clears the slot. Nothing is sent anywhere: the save lives only in your browser.
How a game ends
At the end of every season the books are closed and every railroad is checked at once, so the last seat gets exactly as many turns as the first. If more than one railroad qualifies in the same season, the one with the larger treasury takes it. If nobody has finished by season 240, the strongest system on the board is declared the winner.