Railway Route-Claiming Game: Iron Rails | Playgridia
If you love claiming routes on a map but not unboxing and setting up, the railway route-claiming game you want is Iron Rails: collect coloured train cards, claim the routes between cities and quietly complete destination tickets nobody else can see. Free, no download, entirely in the browser; 2-4 players and the match starts in seconds.
The core you love is identical
- One action per turn: draw 2 train cards, claim a route, draw new tickets, or build a station. There is no pass.
- Paying in colour: spend matching cards equal to the route's length; grey routes take any single colour and Locomotives are wild.
- Secret destination tickets: you start with 3 (plus a long ticket on maps that have them) and keep at least 2. Complete one for +its value, miss it for −its value.
- A steep points curve: 1 · 2 · 4 · 7 · 10 · 15 · 18 · 21 — the long hauls decide games.
- Bonuses: +10 for the longest continuous path, +10 to the Globetrotter (most tickets completed), +4 for every station you never build.
- The end: when a player's supply falls to 2 trains or fewer, everyone takes one final turn.
What's different? Five real maps, each with its own rules
This is the biggest difference: the map is not scenery. Every board ships its own rule set, and cities sit at their true longitude and latitude.
- Western Europe (default) — 26 cities, 54 routes, 30 trains, no advanced rules. A starter board tuned for newcomers.
- Europe — 49 cities, 96 routes, 45 trains; tunnels + ferries + stations + long tickets.
- America — 36 cities, 100 routes; no gambling mechanics, just brutal transcontinental hauls.
- Asia — 44 cities, 48 trains; the Himalaya forces tunnels, the Pacific rim is ferry-only — Locomotives are effectively the currency.
- Anatolia — 38 cities, 34 trains; every inland link a tunnel, every sea crossing a ferry. Tight and vicious.
On top of that, a tunnel is a gamble (3 cards are flipped and each match demands one more card), a ferry forces a minimum of Locomotives, and a station lets you borrow an opponent's route for your ticket connections. No setup, no waiting, no physical board — add a bot (Easy/Medium/Hard) and start.
If you'd rather have sea lanes than rails
If you like claiming routes but prefer the open sea, there is a second option: Seven Sails. There you work trade routes between ports instead of rail lines, read the wind and dodge pirates.
Want the rules first? How to play Iron Rails; to pick a board, the map guide; to win, the tactics. Or just play Iron Rails free.
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