Maglev Metro Review - A Futurist Train Game

Maglev Metro, new from designer Ted Alspach and his Bezier...

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I’d like those locos to fit a watch battery and light up. That would be cool.

So the trains move, it’s not just about laying track? Pick up and deliver?

Yes, and like Age of Steam and similar rail games you upgrade to move more links. The color of the station is the “demand”. But the limitation that you can only move along your line to the terminal station is pretty interesting...it prevents some of the weird deliveries you can make in AoS for example.

How "in game" do those cards and set collection scoring aspects feel? Are they just arbitrary scoring goals with no broader thematic connection or does it feel like you are making a rail system that could exist in a real environment (my train company specializes in commuter access, but that competitor does mostly heavy rail, his cars smell like diesel fuel, don't ride those!). Little touches like that go a long way towards immersion for me versus just "get 1 of each color because its mechanically more difficult" or "we balanced the game that way and just need you to do it".

Yeah, I think that's sort of the heart of my question as well. I've only played a few games in the genre, but it never feels like I'm moving freight. It feels like I'm laying track. I think that's the intention of the design, so I can't really knock it. And you do pick up cubes, so that implies delivery. But the five-year-old in me wants to see the choo-choos move.

Those are pretty locomotives in the picture. But if they're only used to represent who owns a line then they're glorified chits. I want to see those pups cruise around the board, and there aren't a lot of games where they do that. If this one does I'll be a whole lot more interested.

Sag not only do they cruise around the board you also physically load the robots and people into them for a ride.

I don’t feel like that cards are really arbitrary. You can draw connections to them, like if you get a bonus for having Artists maybe it represents that you have the cheapest fares or discounts for the local art college, whatever. Some are also the usual link up bonuses too though. Set collection, I just see that as a barometer of performance and an way to have incentives built into the random setup.

ubarose wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: Sag not only do they cruise around the board you also physically load the robots and people into them for a ride.

No way! Now I have to have it.

No kidding. Someone retheme this into a Disney World monorail game stat!

I almost just Venmo’d you Jason.

Now I'm interested and this is in my head. You could have a cute little pop-up representations of each park, even the ones the current monorail doesn't serve, and there are the resorts. You can move people, maybe characters to meet parade times (since we all know there is only one mickey!), and parts for rides and park expansions....

Hmmm, gonna call Eisner, i think i can get the Disney World license pretty cheap these days

Premium game on Tabletopia. I may play it there first.

Saw a demo video and damn if those aren't some big chunky pieces. I was picturing the locos the size of a TTR car for some reason.

I'd like to thank my grandchildren for the government money I'm using to purchase this game.