How to Play Age of Steam Deluxe Edition: Shares, Track & Deliveries
Age of Steam is a financial route-building game. Players borrow through shares, bid for turn position, lay track and deliver colored goods across connected links to raise income before expenses consume the company.
Scope: Deluxe Edition base box; map-specific rules still apply to the map chosen for the session.
Issue Shares
At the start of a turn cycle, players may issue shares to gain cash. Shares create an ongoing financial burden and reduce final efficiency, so borrowing should fund track or deliveries that repay it.
Auction for turn order
Players bid cash for position in the turn-order sequence. Turn order affects action selection, track building and access to profitable goods routes.
Choose special actions
In turn-order sequence, select one of the available special actions such as locomotive improvement, first build, first move, urbanization, production or engineer-type benefits, depending on the standard rules/map.
Build track
Pay to place or extend track tiles, creating completed links between cities/towns. Ownership markers identify the player who controls each completed link.
Deliver goods
Move a good cube from its city to a city of the matching color across completed rail links. The maximum route length is limited by locomotive level. Income increases according to the links used, including opponent-owned links where applicable.
Income and expenses
Collect income from the Income track, then pay the required expenses for shares and locomotive level. Poor finances can force further borrowing or reduce your position.
Endgame
After the map’s prescribed number of turns, score railroad links and income position, then account for issued shares according to the Deluxe rules. Highest final score wins.