Joining a season that is already under way

You can join a game after it has started. Other railroads have already been built, and the clock has already moved on. This page explains what a season is, how to find one with room, and what you get when you arrive late.

What a season is

A season is one public game on a board such as America, 1830. Several seasons run at the same time, and the shelf names them America, 1830 No. 1, No. 2 and so on. Each one has its own map, its own clock and its own railroads. What happens in one has no effect on another.

A season starts in 1830, runs on the board's pace, and does not end. The pace page explains how fast that is.

Some of the railroads in a season are run by people, and the rest are run by the computer. You play against all of them.

The public game list

The game shelf has a section called Where the railroads meet. Each season is a card with a few lines on it:

• The year it has reached in the game, such as It is 1838 in the game.
• How many railroads are run by people.
• Whether it is open to new railroads. The card says open to new railroads or closed to new railroads, and room for 3 more when there is room. Closed means the season has locked, or that it has no room left for another railroad.
• The pace, such as a game day every 4 minutes.
• When the next region of the map opens, in your own clock, for example The Trunk Lines opens Thursday about 2 pm.

When a season has railroads on its roster, Who's in shows which railroads are there and who runs them. A new season is marked Fresh.

Starting without choosing

Play free on the home page and Start my railroad on the shelf pick a season for you. They try a season where you hold a reserved charter first. Then they try a young season, one that is still inside its first days and has room, preferring the one with the most people playing. If there is no young season with room, a new season is opened for you. They never put you in an older season that is still open, so to join one of those, choose it yourself from the list. The link beside the button, or choose a game yourself, takes you there.

What you get when you start late

You get a new railroad, and the same founding charter as everyone else. Your first two stations, the track between them and your first locomotive are built the day you order them. The first line page walks through it.

Your starting money is the board's opening money, the same as the first players had. It is not scaled up for the year, so on a later year it buys fewer stations than it did in 1830.

You do not get a head start. The railroads that began earlier have been building for days or weeks, so the map already has their stations and track on it. A town has a limited number of station slots, and some may be full. Use the surveyor's report in the town panel to find a line that is still worth building.

Other ways in

Take over a railroad. A railroad run by the computer that is struggling can be taken over for free. You get its money and its debts as they stand. Railroads the court has an eye on are marked Facing takeover.

Invest. You can enter as an investor instead of running a railroad. You get Your own money, with no railroad to spend from, and a starting sum scaled to the year. You buy shares in other players' railroads. See shares and the two kinds of money.

Reserve a charter. When a new region of the map is about to open, you can hold a place in it before it does. When the region opens, your place is held for a limited time, and the shelf says when it ends, for example Yours until Saturday about 9 am. Start your railroad within that time and it is yours, in the new region or anywhere on the board.

When a season closes

A season stays open to new railroads until its last region has opened and about a game year has passed. After that the card says closed to new railroads. New charters and the investor door close, and the only way in is to Take over a railroad that the computer runs. Nobody is turned out, and the railroad comes with its books, debts and all.

How many you can hold

A free account has one place in America. A railroad, an investor's place and a held reservation each use it, in any season, so a reservation counts against your limit across every game and not only the one you reserved in. A supporter has two places. Two places are always in two different seasons, never two in the same one. See what costs money.