# Episode 21: Why 18xx Might Be Your Next Obsession, with Ben Mandelker

An episode of [The BoardGameGeek Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1647840134), 7 Jul 2023, 2 h 14 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2049411/episodes/13176292-episode-21-why-18xx-might-be-your-next-obsession-with-ben-mandelker.mp3

Ben Mandelker from the Game Brain podcast joins Candice to geek out about the 18xx genre of railroad-themed stock market and tile-laying board games, in addition to sharing their initial impressions of 1880: China (2022 Lookout Games edition). • 00:00:00 Introduction • 00:06:12 Fresh Plays • 00:06:26 ZhanGuo • 00:11:15 Imperial Struggle • 00:27:30 Skymines • 00:27:59 Gold West • 00:37:03 Undaunted: Stalingrad • 00:44:32 Mind MGMT • 00:48:55 Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition) • 01:06:44 Why 18xx Might Be Your Next Obsession • 01:07:02 What 18xx games are all about • 01:19:48 What we love about 18xx games • 01:25:34 The challenges/barriers of getting into 18xx • 01:32:55 New ways to think about 18xx to demystify it and embrace it • 01:39:44 Dipping your toes in 18xx: • 01:40:07 Dual Gauge • 01:40:35 18Chesapeake • 01:41:07 18xx.games • 01:42:49 City of the Big Shoulders • 01:43:25 Shikoku 1889 • 01:43:30 Diving a little deeper: • 01:43:37 1846: The Race for the Midwest • 01:44:17 18 Los Angeles • 01:44:24 18MEX • 01:44:37 1882: Assiniboia • 01:45:12 1848: Australia • 01:45:33 1849: The Game of Sicilian Railways • 01:46:01 18Ireland • 01:46:40 1817 • 01:47:08 1822: The Railways of Great Britain • 01:47:21 If trains aren't your thing: • 01:47:37 City of the Big Shoulders • 01:47:45 21Moon • 01:48:14 Rolling Stock Stars • 01:48:35 Poseidon • 01:49:20 18Mag: Hungarian Railway History • 01:51:30 Our initial impressions of 1880: China • 02:12:17 Sign-off Thank you to our sponsor, Bezzerwizzer Studio! Back Stormlight: War for Roshar on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brotherwise/war-for-roshar Web: https://boardgamegeek.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@boardgamegeek Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoardGameGeek Email: podcast@boardgamegeek.com

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