18Korea Reviews

it is left to die dont buy

This game is kinda like 1830. Another railroad stock exchange game that was on dos and a bit like Rails west. I like 1830 better. There is no neutral button but Im not that impressed. Rating 5/10.

Apparently no way to save a multiplayer game. Used the Save feature, exited the game, opened it up again and found zero saved games. Its fun but not recommended if you don't have a lot of time with friends.

I like 1846... Seems like this would be fun but the rules are really not very clear. Many terms are used that don't seem quite right. For example, it talks about an IPO, but when that term comes up it usually means that there is an IPO stock price which is different from the market price. The interface bothers me. First the map. It doesn't need to zoom... it just needs to pick a good zoom, leave it, and let me scroll. Maybe if it was sideways it would fit better. When the AI start playing, things start moving around and I can't really tell what, because there's a big icon on top of everything. Maybe if there was a log somewhere you could go through after the fact. What does work well is when I am doing tile laying (And building stations), and also buying trains. Just seems hard to see what all is happening when it's not my turn, or it often becomes a pain to navigate the map.

Great and fun 18xx game, runs good in Linux under proton. That said, devs please release a native Linux version!

Wonderful design for an 18xx game! There are bugs being worked out regarding route calculation, and the developers have acknowledged this issue and are working it into the next patch. Great way to play 18.xx and I hope other versions come to this platform!

Very good implementation of the 18xx board games. Fun and good lookin. One of the more complex editions, would be nice with a more basic 18xx-game as well using the same "game engine". Only played offline so have no comment on the online experience yet.

As an avid 18xx fan, I was very hopeful for this title. I've only played through a 2 player local multiplayer game(vs myself) to get a feel for the rule set and interface. This rule set is more of the "running good companies" style of 18xx vs the Stock manipulation style of game. All train routes are autocalculated which is a huge time saver over the tabletop games, interface was relatively simple to figure out. This game has a very unique(as far as my exposure to 18xx which is pretty extensive) mechanic with half of the map getting wiped out once you advance to Era 3(brown tiles). This is the Korean war. Map gets cut at the DMZ(which you can traverse before it happens), North becomes unavailable and all cities in the South are wiped out and have to be rebuilt. I understand it works for a smaller map, but not sure how I feel about it after only one play through but its intriguing for planning and strategy. All in all I enjoyed playing it and will convince my friends who enjoy 18xx as well to get it. It certainly is a good basis as far as bringing the tabletop games to the PC.

UPDATE: Developers appear to have abandoned this game while there still some important gameplay elements to adjust and some bugs to squash. Still playable, but I no longer recommend it as a purchase. My original comments are included below. _________________________________________________________________ Pretty exciting to see a developer making an 18XX game for PC along with AI! Any 18XX fan should consider purchasing this game in support of the developers for that reason alone. But, my current review is as follows: This would be the type of game someone who played their first 18XX game a few weeks ago might design - an homage to 18XX but not quite right. Everything "works" more or less, it's just that the game's Korean War rules are so all-encompassing in the strategy that you are really forced down a limited number of strategy paths. I wonder about the replayability because of that issue. Games feel too similar, even by play #2. Your choices are: Invest heavily and early in the North or heavily and early in the South. Or a minor variation of those two. That's it. Also, the game provides too many build points. It's too easy to connect everything in a big hurry. The board develops much too quickly and this contributes heavily to the "same-y" feeling. It becomes a station placement game very quickly because all the best routes are built early, and even worse, the board halves itself permanently early in the game due to the war. Thematic, perhaps. Fun? No. The privates are much too strong by nearly any 18XX standard. And since they are drafted there is no auto-balancing feature normally provided by bids. There are more issues too, but I think the above are already more than enough reason to avoid this game. Some improvements suggestions for the DEVELOPERS: i) During play it should be clear how much each company made in revenue during its last run. ii) When preparing to lay track, it should show coloured track lines to indicate what the current "best routes" are for the active company. It would make deciding upon track builds much easier. iii) Remove the game pause when the little trains graphics are activated. Players should not have to wait while that animation takes place. iv) During revenue payout, it should show the potential amounts below the "Dividend" and "Keep" Buttons. For example, under Dividend it would say $58 per share and $106 to the company. This information is vital for companies that want to upgrade locomotives and it's not good to force the player to have to click around to calculate that information for themselves. v) During a stock round, each company should graphically show which players own stock in each company and how many shares they own. It should ALSO show the last revenue that company recorded during its last operating round. This information is not always easy to see and so including it on the stock market will improve decision-making.

UPDATE: I am finding some SERIOUS bugs a week after launch. I am sure they will be fixed but at the moment a real game cannot be played because these bugs screw all the calculations (which are the foundation of 18xx games). I might reverse the review to negative if they aren't fixed in a few days. Original Review: You should know what you are getting with the 18xx games. This is pretty good, both as a client and as an entry in the family of games, including elements that are questionable if you are a purist but are pretty nice if you like your board games to have replayability and some minimum degree of asymmetry, and I am referring to the pre-game draft of assets cards. Also the theme is great and enriched by the Korean war elements. Buyers beware: there is NO single-player or versus-AI mode. This is a multiplayer only game. *As it should be.*