(Crowdfund Quest) 18Zoo

Crowdfund Quest is a daily column that takes us on an expedition into tabletop crowdfunding with a look at a current project in the tabletop gaming world.

For more than fifty years the 18XX series has occupied a unique place in the world of board gaming. Designed by Francis Tresham (who also later designed Civilisation), and published through his own Hartland Trefoil games company, 1974’s release of 1829 transformed the railway theme in games with it’s blend of railway building and company share trading. 1829 was set at the dawn of the railway era in the UK but was, alongside Avalon Hill’s 1986 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons, the start of a gaming phenomenon that has inspired hundreds of titles set around the globe, and sometimes beyond.

In 18xx games players generally buy and sell stock, launch railway companies, manage corporate assets, expand their railway networks by buying and laying new tracks, and navigate new technological advances. A players success often depends less on buidling the largest railway network and more on how they handle their investments.

18Zoo, by Italian publishers Aleph Game Studio is the latest 18xx game and is currently raising funds on Kickstarter.

18Zoo is a game for 2-5 players, with a game duration of 60-150 minutes. In a city inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the inventor squirrels have (re)discovered the power of steam, and given the size of the metropolis, the Great Families have decided to invest in the construction of the Railway, entrusting the work and the money to the squirrels themselves!

Without sacrificing the depth of 18xx, 18Zoo adopts its mechanics entirely, condensing the game time to just over 2 hours. Additionally, a series of simplifications allow for much smoother gameplay, such as:

• pre-calculated dividends

• use of only 20% value stocks

• simplified money management

18Zoo will be the third 18xx game published by Aleph Game Studios, having previously published 1883: Building Railroads in Northern Italy and 1947: Railways of India, 1836-1947.

18Zoo is currently raising funds on Kickstarter and runs until 27th June 2026.