In the previous InsideGMT article, we mentioned that some of Tresham’s mechanics for 1829 Mainline contained randomness that we did not enjoy. In this article, let’s discuss those mechanics and what we did to preserve their flavor, while also managing to mitigate the random elements.

As we have made our way along the 18 India journey, we’ve heard from players how this mechanic, or that mechanic, is “like 18Africa”. The fact of the matter is that these mechanics are really “like 1829 Mainline”. Our theory is that since 1829 Mainline is not as widely available many players simply haven’t experienced 1829 Mainline and are, therefore, unaware of its influence on 18Africa.

With GMT Games now printing 18 India, we hope that more players can discover 1829 Mainline’s mechanics, or at least our implementation of them, and find enjoyment in the experience.

The Initial Distribution of Certificates

At the beginning of a game of 1829 Mainline, all of the certificates for each company in play, including the Director’s certificates, are shuffled into a common deck and each player is then distributed 10 to 24 certificates, depending on player count.

The certificates you are dealt are like exclusive stock options. As you buy them from your hand of certificates, they enter play. If there are certificates you do not buy, then they never enter the game. The certificates you hold in your hand, and your decision to buy them, or not to buy them, have many meaningful implications on the course of the current game. 

Our personal tastes disagreed with the implementation of this mechanic. Because of the “luck of the draw,” a player had no control or way to mitigate the shares they received. A player that received several Director’s certificates with matching single shares had a significant advantage over a player who received a mixture of certificates not to their liking. If you haven’t played, you’ll have to take our word for it, when you receive too many of some or too few of others it always led to a “feel bad” moment because the outcome of the distribution is so meaningful. In summary, there was in fact, no decisions to be made by the player about the composition of their hand of certificates, and we love to play these games to make decisions. So that just wasn’t working for us.

Jeff Edmunds must have felt similarly because, in his game 18Africa, which is another game influenced by 1829 Mainline, he introduced an excellent way to mitigate this mechanic. In 18Africa a player is dealt between 6 and 16 certificates (again, depending on player count) and only keeps half of the certificates they were dealt. In doing so, a player makes decisions about which certificates they valued the most. Each player then discards the other half of these certificates to the Banker who shuffles them and places them on the game board where an auction for these individual certificates is then held. This allows players to acquire additional certificates for their hands. The auction allows players to see and evaluate the available shares and introduces another meaningful decision point for building one’s personal portfolio.

Of course, the change made in 18Africa was a great step forward but did not fully mitigate the fact that the Director’s certificates were included in the initial distribution, and an auction – as fun and as meaningful as it can be – does add time to gameplay. In our tests, it commonly added around 45 minutes to playtime. Most often the bidding was slowed because a bid can be increased by as little as $1. All of this is before the first track tile has even been placed.

In 18 India, we took the mitigation a step further. We retained the drafting of certificates from 18Africa, but removed the Director’s certificates from the initial distribution (only the 10% certificates are distributed). The certificates that are not selected by players are added to the Director’s certificates and an open snake draft of the remaining certificates follows. In removing the auction, we found that the open draft dramatically speeds up the time it takes to get into actually playing the game, and has a nearly identical outcome. Also, this change is friendlier for newer players because they do not have to try to evaluate if a share is worth an extra $3 or $13, or if it’s actually better to just pass on it altogether. Lastly, now that the Director’s certificates are distributed in the draft and not in the blind deal, players have much greater agency in building their personal portfolio and seeing how others are building theirs. Side Note: We are lovers of auctions and so we’ve retained the auction as an “advanced rule” variant in the back of the rulebook for those who prefer an auction to a draft.

All in all, we originally intended for 18 India to be a way for more players in the community to experience the unique mechanics of Tresham’s 1829 Mainline, and with a little tweak here and there, we are very happy with the outcome. The initial distribution of certificates and the draft that follows are very fun parts of the game for us. We love making decisions about which certificates to keep, adapting our drafting based on what the other players draft, while also keeping an eye on which certificates are available in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) and in what order they are available. Speaking of the IPO, that should probably be our next topic! Next time, we’ll dive into how the IPO is handled in 1829 Mainline and the ways in which we mitigated a bit of the randomness there as well.

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