Eagle-Gryphon Games plans to release its version of Winsome Games’ railroad-building board game Continental Divide in Q2.

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Set just after the American Civil War, when railroad empires were forged across the West, Continental Divide combines elements of track building, railroad operation, and stock market manipulation.  In the game, players purchase stock in competing companies, then the majority shareholder in each company controls its operations, building railroads by placing cubes on the map and paying dividends if the company is profitable.  In the end, the player with the most victory points, not money, is the winner.

Continental Divide was designed by veteran game designer John Bohrer, whose credits include numerous train game designs, and features a game system with virtually no random elements.  It includes a game board showing the western United States, 288 railroad cubes, 8 company charters, 12 turn order cards, 80 stock shares, game money, and 1 plastic locomotive pawn.  It can be played by 3 - 6 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 2 hours to play.  MSRP is $59.99.

The production was funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which gathered over $20,000 of pledged support, doubling its funding goal.

The game was originally released at the Spiel game fair in 2013.

Eagle-Gryphon also plans to release Galactic Rebellion in the third quarter (see “Eagle-Gryphon Launches ‘Galactic Rebellion’”).