18xx rule concordance

Compare the rules of 18xx games, side-by-side.

Based on this excellent document from Keith Thomasson.

These sections from the original rules difference list are not yet included here

  • 1.1 - How much cash do players start with?
  • 2.5 - What are the player certificate limits?
  • 5.3 - Must a tile replacement extend existing track?
  • 6.2 - Can you lay more than one station marker per turn?
  • 7.4 - Can one train run to two stations on the same tile?
  • 7.6 - Rules about villages
  • 7.7 - Must the maximum possible revenue be claimed?
  • 9.7 - Can a company buy more than one train from the bank per OR?
  • Section 12 - Game Phases
  • 15.1 - Total cash in game
  • 15.2 - Trains available
  • 15.3 - Tiles available
  • 15.4 - Other items in limited supply
  • Section 16 - Miscellaneous Points

Great, thanks for finding it.

If it's a problem with the version of the rules onhttp://www.fwtwr.com/18xx/rules_difference_list/single_list.htmthen please contact Keith Thomasson via the link on that page. That data is where the data for this page comes from.

If the data is correct on fwtwr.com then please let me know about the bug. I'm @h on the 18xx Slack, and @h on the HOGGS Slack too.

Excellent news!

The code for this project lives at https://github.com/hcarver/18xx_concordance. Please submit a Pull Request to that repository with your improvement.

What do I do?

Pick a game from the dropdown on the left, and another from the dropdown on the right. Then a table should appear listing the rules differences between the two games.

1.2 - Does the price of a private company drop by 5 for no sale in the first round?Yes, first private only.No. Players draw from a mixed deck of private companies and dummy cards, choosing which items to keep. The last drawn private company may be passed round the table, reducing in price by $10 each time it is passed on, until it is either bought, or taken at no cost.
1.3 - Can you sell company shares in the first round?No.Only its President may do so.
1.4 - Can you make advance bids?Yes, at 5 or more over face value and over any other bid.Not applicable.
2.1 - Is there a specific order to buying and selling on your turn?No ( i.e. sell-buy-sell).Sell then buy.
2.2 - Are you limited to buying one certificate on your turn?Yes, unless in brown zone of market. In the case of shares in the brown zone, multiple shares may be purchased from the bank pool as a single purchase.Yes.
2.3 - When can you first sell shares in a company?From the second stock round onwards.For the President, as soon as you like. For other shareholders, after it has operated.
2.4 - Does the bank pool have a per-company share limit?50%.50%, or more due to a bankruptcy. A President that owns just the President's certificate can sell 'half' of this to the bank, exchanging certificates with the incoming President.
2.5 - What are the player certificate limits?
2345678910Comments
282016131111Shares in the yellow and other colored zones do not count towards the limit.
2345678910Comments
117 companies available/in play
12106 companies available/in play
141085 companies available/in play
11864 or fewer companies available/in play
2.6 - What are the player certificate limits for shares in one company?5 certificates. Shares in the orange and brown zones do not count towards this. Note that if you play the Reading variant you may hold 70% of the Reading.60%.
2.7 - Does the stock price drop when stock is sold?Yes, 1 row per share.Yes, 1 column per block of shares sold, but only when sold by the company President.
2.9 - Can you buy a certificate and immediately sell a certificate in the same company?Yes.No. All selling precedes all buying.
2.10 - Can companies buy shares?Privates, in ORs, once a 3 train has been sold.Their own; in ORs. Privates, in ORs, in Phases I and II.
3.1 - Do you lay the base station token immediately upon floating?No.Yes.
3.2 - How many shares must be sold for a company to float?60%.20%.
3.3 - Does a company get full capitalisation upon floating?Yes.Only as shares are sold or are issued from the company treasury to the bank pool.
3.4 - How is a share company's initial (par) price determined?The price is set by the player who purchases the President's certificate, choosing a value selected from a range of predefined prices.There are no par prices. The initial price is set by the player who purchases the President's certificate, choosing a value selected from a range of predefined prices. All further share dealing is done at the current market price.
4.1 - In what order do companies operate?Current 'dynamic' share price. By 'dynamic', this means that each time a company finishes operating, you look at the current stock price chart to see who is next. The highest value company that has not operated operates next. If two companies occupy the same space, the company with a token on top operates next. If two companies have the same value but are in different spaces, the company with a token furthest to the right operates next.Current 'dynamic' share price. By 'dynamic', this means that each time a company finishes operating, you look at the current stock price chart to see who is next. The highest value company that has not operated operates next. If two companies occupy the same space, the company with a token on top operates next. If two companies have the same value but are in different spaces, the company with a token furthest to the right operates next. For the first operating round only, this is reversed, with the companies operating from lowest to highest price.
4.2 - If you sell shares so that their tokens end up in one stack, what order are they stacked in?New arrivals are placed below existing tokens.Unspecified.
5.1 - Where can you make an initial tile lay?After being laid, the tile must be reachable from one of the laying company's station markers by an arbitrarily large train. (rule 6.2.1)As for 1830. (page 6)
5.2 - Can you lay two tiles in a turn?Only by using the special property of a private.Yes, each round a company may lay two yellow tiles or lay one yellow tile and upgrade one tile.
5.4 - Do villages upgrade?No.Not applicable.
6.1 - Cost of station markers0 for home bases, 40, 100.Normally 0, then 80. Some corporations have reserved city spots that cost 40. In the case of the B&O and PRR, the cost for these is 100 if there is no connection to the reserved city.
6.3 - Where can you lay a station marker?The newly-laid station marker must be reachable from one of the laying company's existing station markers by an arbitrarily large train.The newly-laid station marker must be reachable from one of the laying company's existing station markers by an arbitrarily large train, except for the B&O and PRR, which do not require any connection to lay a token in their reserved city spots.
6.4 - When is a company's first station marker laid?When it first operates.When its president's certificate is bought.
7.3 - Unusual rules about runningA route cannot run from one east off-board region to any other east off-board region. N/M trains can visit M cities and choose N of them to count as revenue, provided at least one of these contains one of the company's tokens. A route that connects an east off-board region to a west off-board region and counts both earns a bonus.
8.1 - Does stock move right for payment of dividends?Yes.One column if earnings are at least equal to the current share price, two columns if double, three columns if triple and the current share price is over $150.
8.2 - What dividend payments go into the company's treasury?Those for shares in the bank pool.Those for shares in the company treasury.
8.3 - Does stock move left for withheld earnings?Yes.Yes, if there is no payout or payout is less than half its current share price.
8.4 - Can a company make a partial payout?No.It may make a 50% payout. Odd units are rounded in favour of the shareholder. The amount paid out to the shareholders determines whether its share price moves to the right.
9.1 - Can companies buy trains from one another?Yes, minimum price 1.Yes, minimum price 1, but phased-out trains may not be purchased.
9.2 - Must a major share company buy a train if it does not have one?If it has a route.Yes.
9.4 - When a company is forced to buy a train and cannot buy one with its own means, what train may it then buy?The cheapest train available in the bank, or a train from another company at an agreed price not exceeding its face value.A currently available train from the bank. If it can afford one of current types but not the other, or can afford a second hand train, after issuing shares, the President may not add more cash to buy a more expensive train.
9.6 - Can trains of the final type be purchased as soon as one train of the next-to-last type is purchased?Yes. This is stated in rule 6.6, but has been omitted from the Phase table on page 27, despite attempts to persuade them to include it.No.
10.1 - Are private companies purchasable between players?Yes, at any agreed price, in the buyer's or seller's turn in a stock round, or during emergency money-raising. (The 1830 computer game does not allow this action, but that appears to be an oversight.)No.
10.2 - Are private companies purchasable by share companies?Once a 3 train has been sold; at from half to twice face value.Yes, during phases I or II, at from 1 to face value.
10.4 - Does using a private company's special property close it?Only the M&H, and the B&O when it buys its first train.No.
10.5 - When do private companies close?First 5 train.Phase III.
11.1 - Can the Director's certificate ever be in the bank pool?No.No, but it can end up there after a bankruptcy.
13.1 - Game ends immediately with a bankruptcy?Yes.Not usually. The bankrupt player's wealth is reduced to zero and they take no further part in the game. If all players but one have gone bankrupt, the game ends with the remaining player as the winner.
14.3 - Is the cash involved in transactions secret, or must it be made public?Not stated.Public.
15.1 - Total cash in game
12,000
6,500 for three players 7,500 for four players 9,000 for five players