Empire Builder (board Game) - History and Spin Offs

History and Spin Offs

Empire Builder was originally released in 1980 by Mayfair Games. It was quite successful, and is now in its sixth edition. In addition, the success of the original has resulted in the release of an entire Empire Builder series of games:

• Empire Builder (1980) is the original game set in North America. Originally this contained the United States and a sliver of southern Canada. The fourth edition of the game added Mexico (from North American Rails) and updated the demand cards as well as some of the geography.
• British Rails (1984) allows players to build track in England, Scotland, and Wales. It was originally released in a box similar to the original Empire Builder. It was later released as a tube game and has recently been rereleased in a boxed edition with updated demand cards.
• Eurorails (1990) is set in Europe. It has one of the largest maps in the series and introduced ferries to the game. Many players consider this the best of the series. Release of a 4th edition is expected in 2009.
• Agent of Change (1991), also known as West Virginia Rails, was published as a limited edition game to accompany the Huntington, WV Museum of Art's exhibition, "Agent of Change: The Railroad in West Virginia". This game has not been available for some time.
• Nippon Rails (1992) is set in Japan and to date has only been released in a tube edition. Many players consider this the best game for two-players. For more players, the narrow, constrained, mountainous geography of the islands poses a challenge. A second edition was released in 2011.
• Uncle Happy's Train Game (1993) is a simplified version of Empire Builder for children. Instead of building a rail network, players are now connecting the States. This game is no longer available.
• North American Rails (1993?) was released as a tube game and added Mexico to the standard Empire Builder map. In addition, additional space in Canada was included which didn't impact play. This game was absorbed into fourth edition Empire Builder.
• Australian Rails (1994) was originally released in a tube edition. It was rereleased in 2005 in a boxed edition with an updated set of demand cards.
• Iron Dragon (1996) is another fan favorite of the series. It features a design by Tom Wham in a fantasy world. In addition to having the largest map in the series, several new elements are introduced in this game: foremen, ships, the underground, additional terrain types, and more levels of engine upgrades. In 2004, at the Origins Game Fair, Tom Wham sold a self-published expansion to this game which updated the ships and trains. In addition, this expansion introduced mercenaries and allowed fighting among players. This game has also been produced as a computer game.
• India Rails (1999) introduced pilgrims as a method to obtain extra funds. It is considered by some to have the most balanced map.
• Lunar Rails (2003) is set in the future on the moon. The terrain and place names are accurate and based on current information. The game allows players to build on both sides of the moon using a wrap-around system. The terrain in this game is notoriously difficult due to the large number of mountain mileposts.
• Russian Rails (2004) is uniquely set in two eras, before and after the fall of Communism. The rules of the game change when the Fall of Communism card is drawn, reflecting the economics changes this event brought.
• China Rails (2006) introduced container ferries. There are several very long, profitable load delivery runs, but they risk interruption by the Party Congress event.
• Martian Rails (2009) was released in August 2009 at the World Boardgaming Convention. It is set on the Mars of Science Fiction stories created over more than a century. As what scientists knew about Mars changed, so did the stories. Martian Rails captures the spirit of those classic Science Fiction tales.

Sky Zone is an unofficial add-on created by William Ingram that can be used with any game in the Empire Builder series. It allows the player to drive their train onto a smaller map that "floats" over the board and has shifting entry and exit points. It is generally not available.

Most of the titles of the series are available in the Mayfair-authorized computer game named Empire Builder Pronto (formerly EB Player).