Category: Economic

Empire Builder, first published in 1982 by Mayfair Games, is a classic railroad strategy game that introduced the “crayon rails” system. Designed by Darwin Bromley and Bill Fawcett, the game tasks players with building rail networks across the United States and Canada while delivering goods to meet demand cards. What set it apart was its innovative mechanic: players literally draw their tracks on the board with crayons or erasable markers, creating a personalized rail empire as the game unfolds. This tactile element gave Empire Builder a unique charm and replayability, as every session produced a different map of connections and strategies.

Gameplay revolves around balancing construction costs with the profits earned from delivering goods. Players begin with $40 million and must carefully allocate funds to lay track across varied terrain—ordinary dots cost $1 million, mountains $2 million, small cities $3 million, and major cities $5 million. Crossing rivers or ocean inlets adds further expense, forcing players to weigh efficiency against opportunity. Delivering goods to cities listed on demand cards earns revenue, while event cards introduce unexpected challenges such as disasters or economic shifts. The winner is the first player to amass $250 million and connect six of the seven major cities, making resource management and long-term planning essential.

Empire Builder’s success led to a long-running series of spin-offs and expansions, collectively known as the “Empire Builder series.” These included international versions like British Rails, Eurorails, and Australian Rails, as well as imaginative settings such as Iron Dragon (fantasy), Lunar Rails, and Martian Rails. The franchise became beloved among fans of economic and transportation-themed board games, praised for its strategic depth and high replay value despite its lengthy playtime of 60 to 240 minutes. Even decades later, Empire Builder remains a touchstone in board gaming history, remembered for blending economic simulation with creative map-building in a way that continues to inspire modern titles.

Ahhhh... it's a hot lazy summer in your little suburb of the world and you're eleven years old again! You've played with your friends and explored on your bike and you're old enough to get excited by the prospects of earning some money. You've got $0.25 burning a hole in your pocket and your mom even offers to give you a shiny silver dollar to invest in your scheme. You're starting a lemonade stand! You've got just one week until the Fourth of July and you want to earn as much as possible to blow all of your profits on smoke bombs, bottle rockets and even some M-80s this year! Of course some of your friends are copying your idea – why do they always do that? It is going to be an epic battle for bragging rights and fireworks as you compete with one another to see who will have the most money at the end of the week! Lemonade Stand is played over seven turns (days), and each turn players start by turning over a forecast card which shows the weather forecast for the day along with number of customers and the price they will be willing to pay for each possible weather outcome. Players then place a 5, 10 or 15 cent price card down along with any signs or lemonade inventory they want to put out, all face down. All players reveal their cards at the same time and then a new forecast card is revealed which has an arrow pointing to one of five spots on the old forecast card, which determines which weather event occurred. Each player then collects money based on their price and # of glasses of lemonade invested versus the actual weather that happened. Money is gained or lost, and play continues for seven rounds. Most money wins!