Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Rails & Rivals
tnycnsn · Published by Creahive Games · Official site ↗
4 user reviews — 100% positive (4 reviews) · 10 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Build your railroad empire in Rails & Rivals, a turn-based strategy board game. Lay tracks across hex terrain, deliver goods between cities, and manage your finances to stay ahead of the competition.
£9.99
Lowest price we've ever recorded
View on SteamPrices can lag the live Steam store — always confirm before buying.
Price history
Indie, Strategy, Early Access · 2026 · More £5 - £15 games
About this game
Features
Strategic Track Building: Lay track tiles across hex terrain with realistic costs. Plains are cheap, mountains are expensive, and rivers or ridges add crossing fees.
Goods & Delivery: Pick up colored goods from cities and deliver them to matching destinations. You can use any railroad on the map. Just remember, every link you cross pays its owner.
Bonds & Budget: Need cash fast? Issue bonds. But dividends eat into your income every turn, and each bond costs you points at the end. Every borrowed dollar is a trade-off.
Engine Upgrades: Start delivering across one link. Upgrade your engine up to level 8 to reach cities further down the line.
Industrialization: Convert gray towns into colorful cities to create new destinations.
Tabletop Presentation: 3D board with hex tiles, wooden cubes, and a top-down perspective that looks like a board game on your table.
Built-in Maps: Multiple maps based on real-world geography, each with unique city layouts and terrain challenges.
Multiplayer: 2-6 players, online or local. Private lobbies, no randoms. Just you and the people you want to bankrupt.
Build Your Own Maps
Rails & Rivals includes a full map editor. Adjust map size, place terrain, draw rivers, set ridges, and drop cities onto a hex grid. Save your map and play on it.
About the Game
Rails & Rivals is a digital railroad board game. Build networks, deliver goods, and compete to become the wealthiest rail company on the map. Three actions per turn, and every action counts.
Build tracks across a hex map. Pick up goods from cities. Deliver them to matching destinations. Earn victory points for every rail link your cargo travels. The rules are simple, the decisions are not.
Terrain affects your budget. Mountains cost more than plains, and crossing rivers or ridges adds extra fees. You can issue bonds for quick cash, but you'll pay dividends every turn. Upgrade your engine to deliver across longer routes. Convert gray towns into colored cities to create new destinations.
A full game plays in 30-60 minutes. Singleplayer against AI, local multiplayer, or online multiplayer for 2-6 players.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64-Bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1050 | AMD RX 560 | Intel Iris Xe
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Rails & Rivals 0.8.4 is Live
AI OverhaulMulti-Turn Planning: Rivals now plan several moves ahead toward a complete turn strategy, making them significantly smarter, less predictable, and more competitive.Smarter Strategy: AI now actively competes for goods, adapts when routes are blocked, manages loans and upgrades more efficiently, and aggressively fights back when behind.Stall Fix: Resolved an issue where AI opponents could get stuck skipping their turns.Steam AchievementsFirst Batch Live: Added the first 10 achievements (only unlockable in online multiplayer games), covering core gameplay milestones.Map EditorReference Image Tracing: You can now load a background image or sketch as a tracing overlay with opacity, position, and resize controls. The image is strictly for design reference and is never saved into your map or uploaded to the Workshop.Camera Behavior: Resizing a map now preserves your current camera position instead of resetting to the full-board view, to make it easier to adjust map size compared to the reference image.A Note on Mountain & Ridge ModelsI finished the environmental model rework, but I wasn't fully satisfied with how it turned out in-game. Rather than releasing something I'm lukewarm on or dropping it silently, I want to bring you into the decision. I'll be posting a community poll soon so you can help me decide how these models should look going forward! Coming in upcoming updatesThe remaining 10 Steam Achievements (completing the set of 20).Custom in-game keyboard shortcut controls, plus dedicated music volume and rulebook buttons.UI polish across Create a Game, Settings, and Map Editor screens.Read full article on Community Announcements (tnycnsn)Patch NotesOfficial
Update Notes for 25 July
Improvements: Workshop Updates: Publishing a map to the Steam Workshop directly from the Map Editor is now smoother and more streamlined. Updating an existing Workshop item now overwrites the original submission instead of creating a duplicate. Auction Panel: Cleaned up texture rendering for a sharper visual look. Bug Fixes: Workshop Integration: Fixed an issue where subscribed Workshop maps weren't showing up in the map selection list. Gameplay: Fixed a stall that could occur when the "Random Seat Order" option was enabled. macOS: Fixed an issue where the cursor would revert to the default system cursor near the top edge of the screen. On the Horizon (Coming in the next updates): Custom in-game keyboard shortcut controls, along with dedicated music volume and rulebook buttons. Tougher and smarter AI rivals with improved decision-making logic. Rework on Mountain and Ridge environment models. UI polish across Map Editor, Create a Game, and Settings screens. 20 new Achievements.Read full article on Community Announcements (tnycnsn)
