If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about the clatter of factories, the chug of steam engines, and the thrill of economic conquest, then you’re either a 19th-century industrial magnate reincarnated or you’ve stumbled upon the board game Imperial Steam. And if it’s the latter, then buckle up, because you’re in for a ride that’s more exhilarating than a runaway locomotive and more intricate than a Swiss watch.
Basic Game Information
| Designer | Alexander Huemer |
| Number of Players | 2-4 |
| Publisher | Capstone Games |
| Length of Game | 120 Minutes |
| Complexity/Weight | 4.17 |
Imperial Steam Review
A Game of Many Top Hats
Imperial Steam is a game that wears many hats. It’s a city planner, a workforce manager, a supply chain simulator, and a financial strategist all rolled into one. It’s like a Swiss Army knife of board games, except instead of a corkscrew and a pair of tweezers, it’s packed with a plethora of strategic options and gameplay mechanics.
The game thrusts you into the role of an industrial magnate in the 19th century. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build factories, expand railway networks, deliver goods, hire workers, and invest in train stations. It’s a tall order, but then again, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the industrial revolution.
The Devil is in the Details
Imperial Steam is a game that revels in its complexity. Every action you take, every decision you make, is a cog in the machine of your industrial empire. Building factories, expanding railways, delivering goods, hiring workers, investing in train stations – each of these actions is a piece of the puzzle, and it’s up to you to fit them together into a coherent strategy.
The game’s mechanics are as intricate as the networks of railways you’re tasked with building. Each decision you make has far-reaching consequences, and the game’s depth is such that even after multiple playthroughs, you’ll find new strategies to explore. It’s like peeling an onion, except instead of tears, you’re rewarded with layers of strategic depth and gameplay satisfaction.
But don’t let the game’s complexity scare you off. Yes, Imperial Steam is a game that demands your attention and challenges your strategic prowess. But it’s also a game that rewards patience and careful planning. It’s a game that, like a fine wine, gets better with time.
A Game of Chess, Not Checkers
Imperial Steam is not a game for the faint of heart. It’s a game that requires you to think several moves ahead, to anticipate your opponents’ actions, and to adapt your strategy on the fly. It’s a game of chess, not checkers, and it demands your full attention from the moment you place your first factory to the moment you deliver your final goods.
The game’s depth is reflected in its variety of actions. Building factories, expanding railways, delivering goods, hiring workers, investing in train stations – each of these actions offers a unique set of challenges and rewards. And the order in which you take these actions can have a significant impact on your strategy.
For example, building factories is essential for producing goods, but without a robust railway network, you’ll have no way to deliver those goods to the cities. On the other hand, expanding your railway network too quickly can leave you strapped for cash and unable to invest in new factories or hire workers. It’s a delicate balancing act, and finding the right balance is key to your success.
A Game of Risk and Reward
Imperial Steam is a game that’s not afraid to take risks. It’s a game that encourages you to to take chances and to seize opportunities when they arise. But it’s also a game that punishes recklessness. Overextend yourself, and you’ll find yourself struggling to keep up with your opponents. Underestimate your opponents, and you’ll find yourself left in the dust.
The game’s risk-reward dynamic is most evident in its bidding system. At the start of each round, players engage in a blind bid for turn order. Bid too low, and you risk going last and missing out on crucial actions. Bid too high, and you risk depleting your resources and handicapping your future actions. It’s a tense and exciting system that adds an extra layer of strategy to the game.
A Game of Subtle Interactions
One of the most compelling aspects of Imperial Steam is the subtle interactions between players. While there’s no direct conflict in the game, there’s a constant undercurrent of competition as players vie for the same resources, contracts, and actions. It’s a game that requires you to keep a close eye on your opponents, to anticipate their moves, and to adjust your strategy accordingly.
For example, if you see an opponent investing heavily in factories, you might decide to focus on expanding your railway network to deliver goods to cities before they can. Or if you notice an opponent hoarding guldens, you might decide to bid aggressively in the next round to secure a crucial action. These subtle interactions add a layer of depth to the game and keep you on your toes throughout.
A Game of Enduring Appeal
Imperial Steam is a game that keeps you coming back for more. Its depth and complexity, its variety of actions, its risk-reward dynamic, its subtle player interactions – all of these elements combine to create a game that’s endlessly engaging and replayable.
Each game of Imperial Steam is a new adventure. Each game presents new challenges to overcome, new strategies to explore, and new opportunities to seize. It’s a game that never gets old, a game that continues to surprise and delight even after countless playthroughs.
A Game of Industrial Charm
Each game of Imperial Steam is a new adventure. Each game presents new challenges to overcome, new strategies to explore, and new opportunities to seize. It’s a game that never gets old, a game that continues to surprise and delight even after countless playthroughs.
Imperial Steam is a game that embraces its industrial theme with gusto. The game’s components, from the detailed tokens to the beautifully illustrated game board, are a visual treat. They draw you into the game’s world, making you feel like a true industrial magnate of the 19th century.
The game’s theme is also reflected in its mechanics. The process of building factories, expanding railways, delivering goods, hiring workers, and investing in train stations feels thematic and immersive. It’s a game that makes you feel like you’re not just playing a game, but running an industrial empire.
A Game of Lasting Impressions
Imperial Steam is a game that leaves a lasting impression. It’s a game that stays with you long after you’ve packed away the game board and tokens. It’s a game that keeps you thinking, keeps you strategizing, keeps you dreaming of industrial empires and railway networks.
The game’s complexity, while daunting at first, becomes one of its most appealing aspects. The satisfaction of mastering its intricate systems, of seeing your strategies come to fruition, of building an industrial empire from the ground up – these are experiences that few other games can match.
A Game of Top Ten Worthiness
In conclusion, Imperial Steam is a game that deserves its place in my top 10 games of all time. It’s a game that offers a depth of strategy and a level of engagement that few other games can match. It’s a game that challenges you, rewards you, and keeps you coming back for more.
Imperial Steam is a game that’s not just about building factories and expanding railways. It’s a game about planning, strategizing, and outsmarting your opponents. It’s a game about taking risks, seizing opportunities, and reaping the rewards. It’s a game that’s as challenging as it is rewarding, as engaging as it is complex, and as fun as it is strategic.
So, if you’re looking for a game that offers a deep, engaging, and rewarding gameplay experience, look no further than Imperial Steam. It’s a game that’s sure to keep you coming back for more, a game that’s sure to earn a place in your top 10, and a game that’s sure to leave a lasting impression.
And remember, in the world of Imperial Steam, the only limit is your strategic prowess. So, buckle up, plan your moves, and let the industrial revolution begin!
That concludes our review of Imperial Steam. Now, let’s dive into the details of how to play a game of Imperial Steam…
How to Play Imperial Steam
Imperial Steam is a lot to get your head around, so in addition to our review, I thought I’d try my hand at translating the rulebook into a simpler explanation.
Introduction and Game Setup
Welcome to the world of Imperial Steam, a strategic board game where players take on the roles of industrial magnates in the 19th century. The goal is to expand factories and railway networks, deliver goods to cities, fulfill public contracts, hire workers, and invest in train stations. The game uses guldens as currency and includes various wooden pieces for factories, goods, and meeples.
Game Components
Imperial Steam comes with a variety of components that make up the game. These include:
- Action tiles
- Railway and setup cards
- Contract and gulden cards
- A game board with different tracks and markets
- Factory and worker boards
- Share boards
- Various tokens and meeples
Game Setup
Setting up Imperial Steam is a detailed process, but it’s essential to ensure a smooth gameplay experience. Here’s how to do it:
- City Tiles: Find the 23 city tiles for your player count and return the city tiles for other player counts back to the box. These four tiles are hub city tiles you will need all four of them in every single game. Place the tile on the space with a matching number on the game board. Don’t place any tiles on the spaces with pre-printed tiles.
- Business Tokens: For each city tile with a circular icon with the number three in it, place three business tokens on it. The token with the number one at the bottom, then the token with number two on top of it, and then the token with number three on top. Follow a similar process for city tiles with the same icon but with numbers two and one.
- Turn Order Markers: Place the turn order markers of each player on the turn order track in a random order. Then each player places one of their main action tokens on these spaces on the round track. Place the round marker on the first round.
- Shipment Tiles: Place these shipment tiles face up on these spaces on the round track. In the normal setup, place them randomly.
- Goods: Take 5 goods of each type (iron, wood, stone, and coal), shuffle them together, and place them randomly on the spaces for the rounds four to eight, but only on the spaces matching your player count.
- Influence Marker: In this turn order, each player will place their influence marker in the same order below this zero space on the influence track.
- Hub City Influence Markers: For the fixed setup, place these four hub city influence markers on these spaces on the influence track. For the normal setup, stack the hub city influence markers in a random order on the zero space on the influence track. Draw from the deck of 35 state railway cards and advance the stack of hub city influence markers based on the number in the bottom right corner of the card.
- State Railway Crowns: Following the instructions on the rulebook, place these three state railway crowns on the designated connections on the game board.
- Shipment Market: Fill all the spaces of the shipment market with the matching goods.
- Factory Board: Place the factory board corresponding to your player count next to the game board and fill all the spaces with the matching factories except for the leftmost space in each row.
- Worker Board: Take the worker board, again the one for your player count, and place one worker hiring price marker on each of the designated spaces.
- Growth Tiles: Place these growth tiles for each city for each column. The distribution varies based on whether you’re using the fixed or normal setup.
- Engineers: Take one tunnel engineer per player and one bridge engineer per player and distribute them randomly on these spaces, placing the indicated number of meeples on each space.
- Main Action Tiles: Place these 11 main action tiles face up next to the game board where everyone can easily see and reach them.
- Contract Cards: Separate these contract cards by the number of icons on their back, shuffle each deck separately, and for each deck lay out the number of cards equal to the number of players plus 1 to form a display of these contract cards.
- Player Board: Each player chooses a color and takes the player board of that color. Place two of your workers in this training area in the experience level one area and have all the remaining workers nearby in your personal supply. Place these unbuilt train station tiles on these spaces on your player board and place the train station tokens on top of those tiles. Place the black coal cube on the steam engine and one cube of each other type in any order on your freight cars.
Initial Bidding
After the setup, the game starts with a blind bidding for influence. Each player will take a secret amount of money in their hand and when everyone is ready, all players reveal their bids simultaneously. Then in the current turn order, each player advances their influence marker to the influence space matching the amount of money they bid. All the bids are returned back to the bank. Now adjust the new turn order based on this influence. The player with the highest influence goes first, the player with the lowest influence goes last.
Now that we’ve covered the setup and initial bidding, let’s move on to the main part of the game: the rounds and the main action phase.
Game Rounds
Imperial Steam is played over eight rounds. Each round has eight phases, but the first six phases are administration phases and are completely skipped in the first round of the game. So, the first round starts with the seventh phase, which is the main action phase. The eighth phase is just the end game check.
Main Action Phase
During the action phase, players will place their main action tokens on the main action tiles and perform the corresponding action. Once all players place all action tokens on the action tiles, the action phase is over.
The main action tiles offer a variety of actions that players can take to advance their position in the game. These actions include:
- Building Factories: Players can build factories to produce goods. The type of factory built determines the type of goods produced.
- Expanding Railway Networks: Players can expand their railway networks to connect more cities and increase their delivery capacity.
- Delivering Goods: Players can deliver goods to cities to fulfill public contracts and earn guldens.
- Hiring Workers: Players can hire workers to operate their factories and railway networks.
- Investing in Train Stations: Players can invest in train stations to increase their influence and gain additional benefits.
The order in which players take their actions is determined by the turn order, which can change throughout the game based on players’ influence.
Detailed Actions
Each action that a player can take during the main action phase has its own set of rules and effects. Here are more details about each action:
- Building Factories: To build a factory, a player must pay the cost indicated on the factory board. The player then places the factory on their player board. Factories produce goods during the production phase.
- Expanding Railway Networks: To expand a railway network, a player must pay the cost indicated on the game board. The player then places their railway token on the board to indicate their network. Expanding railway networks allows players to deliver goods to more cities.
- Delivering Goods: To deliver goods, a player must have a railway network connecting the city where the goods are produced and the city where the goods are to be delivered. The player then moves the goods from their factory to the city and earns guldens based on the value of the goods.
- Hiring Workers: To hire workers, a player must pay the cost indicated on the worker board. The player then places the worker on their player board. Workers are needed to operate factories and railway networks.
- Investing in Train Stations: To invest in a train station, a player must pay the cost indicated on the game board. The player then places their train station token on the board. Investing in train stations increases a player’s influence and can provide additional benefits.
Strategies
Imperial Steam is a game of strategy and planning. Here are some tips to help you succeed:
- Balance Your Actions: It’s important to balance your actions. You’ll need to build factories to produce goods, but you’ll also need to expand your railway network to deliver those goods. Hiring workers and investing in train stations are also important.
- Plan Ahead: Try to plan your actions a few turns in advance. This can help you make the most of your actions and avoid wasting turns.
- Watch Your Opponents: Keep an eye on what your opponents are doing. If you see an opponent building a lot of factories, for example, you might want to focus on expanding your railway network to compete.
- Manage Your Resources: Be careful not to spend all your guldens at once. You’ll need to save some for future actions.
End Game
The game of Imperial Steam ends at the conclusion of the eighth round or at the end of the round in which any player completes a connection between Vienna and Trieste. Once the end game is triggered, players finish the current round, and then proceed to the final scoring.
Scoring
Scoring in Imperial Steam involves several factors:
- Factories: Players earn points for each of their factories. The points earned depend on the type of factory and its level of production.
- Railway Networks: Players earn points for their railway networks. The longer the network, the more points a player earns.
- Delivered Goods: Players earn points for the goods they have delivered to cities. The points earned depend on the value of the goods.
- Workers: Players earn points for their workers. The more workers a player has, the more points they earn.
- Train Stations: Players earn points for their train stations. The points earned depend on the level of investment in the train stations.
- Guldens: Finally, players convert their remaining guldens into points at a rate determined by the game rules.
Once all points are calculated, the player with the highest total score is declared the winner of Imperial Steam!
Conclusion
Imperial Steam is a complex and engaging game that requires strategic planning and careful resource management. Whether you’re building factories, expanding your railway network, delivering goods, hiring workers, or investing in train stations, every decision you make can have a significant impact on your success. So plan your moves carefully, keep an eye on your opponents, and enjoy the challenge!
Paul Shapiro is Founder and Editor of Board Game Squad. He enjoys all types of games and experiences, but has a particular penchant for medium to heavy eurogames.