Railroad Ink: Deep Blue

As a loner, I play a lot of games with my "Schizophriends" (ie, me against myself) but this game you can just play solitare, and even though it comes with 6 wipe-off score cards, as long as you have paper, any number of folks could play at the same time, and no reason not to. I'd love to play this game with, like, 20 other players. The fact that everyone fills their scoresheet with the same 4 dice for 7 rounds means everyone is gonna do it their own way... plus, everyone gets to use 3 of the 6 "not on the dice" special squares, whichever, whenever they want, but only 3 during the 7 turn game. So, a 7x7 personal board, 7 rounds X 4 dice = 28 + 3 "specials" = 31 of 49 squares filled in, and your mileage on the score may vary. I'm anxious to play this with real people because everyone is gonna take the same dice, and play them their own way. But no matter how many are playing, this really is kinda a solitaire game - as Yahtzee is, methinks - players don't impact each other in any way. You really are on your own. But everyone is using the same dice to build not-the-same stuff their own way at the same time, so, unlike Yahtzee, you are never watching someone else's turn. You're always playing. That's cool too. If you are still reading this, you've already decided. Go ahead and buy it. It's cheap, easy, and it plays in about a half hour or less, no matter how many players there are, and while the box serves 6 players, there is no reason this game could not seat a zillion more, with nothing other than more paper and pencils. It's a half-hour game, no matter how many are playing. Conceptually, everything about the rules for this game is intuitive and common-sensical. I'm guessing smart 8 year olds could handle this, and I'm thinking (hoping) my 96 year old mom will get it too. And those 7 turns just plain don't take much time, and unlike Yahtzee, everyone is playing all the time, with the same dice, and whoever wins really did take those same rolls and built the best score out of them. And once the pretty straight-forward, not-terribly-complex rules are understood, this is a half-hour game, even if 100 people were playing. If you are still reading me, talking about this, you prolly wanna give this game a try. I bought the Deep Blue Edition, with 4 more dice that complexify the game with rivers and lakes in some way I'm looking forward to trying, but I'm not there yet. The base game itself is sufficiently interesting. 4 dice (+4 expansion dice), a very simple-to-understand rule book, 6 markers for the 6 wipe-off score cards... get it at a good price, and, like me, I think you will be content with it.

This game is everything I expected. I live alone and was looking for a game I could play by myself or could bring along to a game night. This one is fun and I can't wait to play it with family and friends.

This is one of my favorite games to play. It is fairly simple to learn, good for groups up to 6 or just my husband and I. Definitely worth the price.

Fun and quick travel game, requires little explanation and has lots of replay value.

The game is straightforward and easy to play. It's also super fast. I really like that there are bonus dice that can be used to make a more complex game, or the basic dice for an easier game. In fact, I have no problems with the game play at all. The only reason I gave this a 4 star is because the markers are garbage. After one game, they no longer wipe clean, but just smear the ink all over the board, and leave little bits of eraser debris behind. You need to get a paper tower to wipe off the boards so they're actually clean.

Great game that is different every time. This isn't my go to game, but it is easy to teach and different every time you play. There are expansions now that make it more fun and add depth to the game. I like the rails, roads, and in the blue the expansion of the rivers. I like that you can play with a variety of people at different gaming levels.

I ordered the blue edition but received the red edition. I am not complaining at all on the oversight. Very fun game!

We learned this game from the rulebook in ~5min at a shop's demo library after being intrigued by Shut Up and Sit Down's video review. Absolutely love how easy it is to play/teach, simultaneous turns for faster gameplay, and the way you go mad as you're driven to be ever more optimal game after game. My husband and I tend to play 2-3 games of this most nights since we got it. The Lakes expansion gives much higher scores and flexibility, which inspires more risks and exciting pay-offs if it works out! The Rivers expansion is much closer to the base game and is fine, but doesn't really add much oompf. Absolutely recommend this game. It works well with seasoned board gamers and Muggles alike due to its accessibility coupled with opportunities for high risk and varied strategies.