I knew from the outset that I wanted people playing 1867 Big Wyoming to feel pressure. I didn’t want players to get comfortable, to bask too long in their short-term successes, to feel like the responsibility of changing the game state was on somebody else—I wanted players to feel like they were running a race, like slowing down was not an option, like there was always some ill-intentioned force waiting for the right moment to strike. In short, I wanted the game to put pressure on players in addition to what pressure naturally comes from their opponents. Some 18xx games are content to let players dictate the pace of a game and drive the game’s action; in fact, in many 18xx games, it’s theoretically possible that, if players behave in certain ways, the game will never end. While I very much appreciate many such games, that’s not what I wanted for 1867 Big Wyoming. There are several reasons for this.

One of my earliest goals when working on 1867 Big Wyoming was to create an endgame that differed from your standard 18xx “script.” Most 18xx games end with a prolonged and workmanlike series of operating rounds in which meaningful decision points become increasingly rare and the dynamic character of earlier game phases gradually disappears. While this sort of endgame appropriately rewards players for the foundations they’ve laid over the course of the game, I’ve never found them very fun or very engaging. I have yet to meet anyone who claims the end of an 18xx game is their favorite part.

1867 Big Wyoming’s endgame, which is driven by a series of acquisitions by the non-player Union Pacific and Burlington Northern systems, is my favorite part of the game. The seed of this acquisition system can be found in 1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight, designed by Mike Hutton. 1860’s acquisition system, while a breath of fresh air, lacked player agency and often tended only to make the rich richer. 1867 Big Wyoming’s acquisition system is, by contrast, full of meaningful decision points that have a significant impact on the game’s outcome.

It is impossible to portray the history of Wyoming railroads without acknowledging the critical role natural resource mining and refinement played in their development. Today, Wyoming’s geography and economy is defined principally by natural resources, just as it was in the late 19th century. Driving across Wyoming, you will pass any number of towns whose demise were predicated by the failure of a local mine; what large(ish) cities remain boast mines and refineries on their outskirts. These are realities I knew I had to capture.