Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Card Rails is a 3-5 player, 20-30 minute cube rails game played on a deck of cards.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Network and Route Building
Create connected routes that improve reach, delivery, control, or scoring.
Stock Holding
Acquire shares whose value depends on companies, assets, or player actions.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Tile Placement
Place tiles to build a shared or personal spatial arrangement.
Read the full game description
Card Rails is a 3-5 player, 20-30 minute cube rails game played on a deck of cards. Instead of giving you a predesignated map, players together create the landscape of the game they are playing, blocking others and bettering their own positions, all while making the tough decision to keep a card for future financial gain or to garner an immediate reward. Throughout the game, players discard cards in hand to perform actions: Take a Share or Build Track. If building track, the discarded card can be used to add onto and expand the map. Players want to build into various hexes to increase their companies' values or swap out cards from their hand. At the end of the game, cards remaining in hand count as shares of a company, along with shares taken during the game. The player who has the most shares in the most valuable companies wins! Part of Kickstarter's Make 100 Campaign, the physical copy of this game was limited to 100 copies. Print & Play is also available.