From the Steel Belt to the Playroom with Steam Power
Connect cities and build factories across beautiful maps ready to be filled with criss-crossing train tracks in Steam Power.
Choo-choo! I was in the mood for a solo game about trains, and my eyes settled on the Steam Power box. This arrived last year and I never found the desire to bring it to my table. But at last, it was time to place train tracks and add a lot of trains! I was intrigued by the concept of a simple set of rules, and eagerly started to learn how both of the solo modes worked.
Game Overview
Game Name: Steam Power
Publication Year: 2025
Designer: Martin Wallace
Artist: Leith Walton
Publisher: Wallace Designs
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
On one of the many maps, random tiles represent the type of factory that may be built in a city. Creating routes and fulfilling contracts make up the core gameplay loop with a few twists. It features a small set of actions to choose from and a couple of different ways to experience it all solo.
First Play
August 10, 2026
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 14, 2026
Expansions
1
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
3
Play Time
1 Hour
High Score
79
Game Area
38" x 30"
Low Score
79
Deluxe Components
This deluxe edition is quite beautiful! Silk maps easily fold up in the box and barely show any wrinkles. I was surprised by the crispness of the prints, too. Really nice to look at!
I was a little more mixed on the other components. The player pieces were quite nice, with different train models and plenty of little details to admire. Simply lovely!
The coins were a little odd to handle, and couldn’t stack. Not sure why there are so few 1-value coins in the mix, either.
And the plastic resources were neat, but often stuck together when stacked on the city tiles. Not my favorite.
Through the Steel Belt
I played on one of the first maps I unfolded and used the simple solo mode. This ends up using all 5 player colors that are activated in a random order. The goal? A high score.
The only trouble is that there were no scoring tiers, so it was impossible to tell how well I did. It all worked well. It all made sense. Yet there were no exciting moments.
Randomness comes from the contracts, but these only offer a few reward varieties. Nothing was ready to be explored.
I can appreciate this sort of design that feels a lot more deterministic with long-term strategies. But for me… No.
Across the Tracks
Links formed connections between cities, and then it was a matter of figuring out the cheapest way to gather resources to match contract requirements. It worked… But that was it.
I also found that with this simple solo mode, all of the player colors made the map rather chaotic. I missed a few factories when they were down to a single resource. Lots going on!
When I reset to play again, I went back to my expectations. Did I mix this up with another game? I didn’t think so.
My other major hesitation was the play time of around an hour. That was a long time to feel like I just placed pieces.
Back to Route Building
Another play! I understood the sequence a little better this time and managed to improve my final score. I still can’t tell if it was good, average, or terrible. And again, an hour.
It was neat to see the networks take shape and cross, although it was really hard to follow some of the paths.
Another change I made: I started all of the city tiles on the victory point side. Only if there was a factory and no resources did I count it, but that removed the flipping step.
I’ve had more fun organizing components in game boxes, which surprised me! Surely, there had to be something else.
Full of Disappointment… And Guilt? And Dread?
Whenever I don’t align with a solo game, for whatever reason, I’m often overcome with disappointment. It was readily apparent with this session! But then that often turns into a feeling of guilt. Did I do something wrong? Am I a horrible person for not liking this game? Why did I push to buy this in the first place? Not exactly a useful line of thinking.
That’s not great, yet I ultimately end up with some sort of dread when I write up these posts. I write for myself, and won’t pretend like more than a handful of people will even read this! Yet I work for a board game publisher and know the sting of a not-so-glowing post. I don’t intend to make anyone feel bad, but I still dread posting these sorts of session reports.
However, I can still appreciate all the work that went into this game and I hope it’s apparent that I’m simply not in the target audience. A lot of my negatives may turn out to be positives for some, and if nothing else, look at that map artwork!
Wall of Contracts
In the simple solo mode, there are a lot of contracts that come out over the course of 8 rounds. Rather like a wall. Ha!
Managing where the resources come from can be neat, but a missing one can be purchased if enough coins are around.
Additionally, a factory can be placed on any city connected to a network. I ignored this rule during my solo plays, as it seemed strange to teleport all the way across the map.
These contracts were very random, but some rewards were useful early on, while others were more like a late game strategy. Once again, the game worked, and that was it.
To the Playroom!
Saddened by my rather poor reaction to the game, I wanted to give it a little more time with a lot of different elements. So I moved onto the other solo mode, and the expansion.
That’s right: Cat Power! I was more intrigued by the maps, though, which depict a garden and playroom. Look at this delightful art and the idea of placing toy trains inside. Fun!
Actually, frequent readers may want to look closely at these cities and what’s used to represent them… Stealthy!
My excitement grew as I placed cats on all of the cushions and imagined all the routes to connect up the toys.
Flow Chart Rules
This solo mode felt more like a game, and I didn’t have too much trouble learning it. Hurray for large text and plenty of visual examples to help out! And… A flow chart? Hmm.
I appreciated this concept, yet it didn’t spell out some steps. “Get the rewards” threw me off, and I had to flip back a few pages to make sure I knew what was happening.
The left side felt more confusing, as I started to follow the arrows exactly. But I believe only one action is used?
It left me with a number of questions and I definitely spent a fair amount of time re-reading numerous sections.
A Promise of Comfort
At a glance, this artwork was warm and inviting. There was even a roaring fire to add a comfortable, cozy vibe to the toys all around the map. I looked at it for many minutes!
When it came time to set everything up, though, I was a little dismayed. The city tiles covered up all of the toys. And the cushions? Also completely covered with cat tokens.
More on the cats in a moment… I lamented the loss of these charming details! I’ve never seen a map like this before.
And so things like the accordion for Clio’s Cliff turned into standard cities without any personality. Rather a shame!
Another Busy Area
I thought the different colors might help with the contrast so I could spot the resources a little better, but they got swallowed up by so much going on. At least it looked cool!
This solo mode worked a lot better, and the final score was actually a tie, which I just barely lost. That felt better as a solo experience, but I didn’t really get a sense of enjoyment.
There was a lot of counting and checking routes to make sure I didn’t miss a single resource on a tile. It was difficult.
The play time was an hour again, whereas I had expected it to speed up. Just a long, long time that dragged on a lot.
Cat Token Powers
My biggest issue with the expansion came from the cat tokens. So cute, right?! Each one begins on a cushion, and is flipped over whenever a track or factory is placed adjacent.
Only… These are mostly negative interactions. I lost coins, discarded important contracts, or even ended my turn after just 1 of 2 actions. Wait… Where was the cozy vibe?!
I suppose the description points out that the cats shouldn’t be disturbed, yet some of these abilities were beneficial.
Flipping over the cat tokens was a source of anxiety I didn’t need. Unfortunately, I turned the power off on this game.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-3
Expansion: Steam Power: Cat Power
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Steel Belt Map, The Playroom Map
Outcome: 115, 148, 79-79 (3 Losses)
This seemed like it was going to be such a relaxing sort of experience with placing trains, yet it offered no sense of accomplishment for me. I can see it working for the right audience, and I’m just one person over here with very random opinions. Ha ha! Glad I got to try it out, if only to admire the fantastic and whimsical artwork on the maps!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
4
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
3
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
5
+ Pros (Positives)
- All of the maps are beautiful with an artistic style that feels inviting and comfortable, especially in the expansion.
- Setup involves randomizing the city tiles, which means each play can have different concentrations of factories.
- Plotting networks is an interesting experience that begins with a single link, and slowly expands outward.
- Only a few actions are possible, making the core rules very easy to learn and understand without many questions.
- Watching the map transform into a bustling network of train tracks is quite neat, especially near the central cities.
- Just a handful of abstract resources are used, which makes the contract requirements easy to understand at a glance.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Play time feels like it drags on without any exciting moments, as gameplay feels quite mechanical without surprises.
- The deluxe edition has some amazing components, but also some issues that make it a little more of a mixed bag.
- Neat maps with lovely artwork are in the expansion, yet the cats are more stressful and take away the coziness.
- Randomness with the contracts can feel unbalanced with the way some are better suited to the early or late game.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 0%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the normal difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Have you played Steam Power? Do you prefer one of the solo modes, or any particular map? I was hopeful that this would turn into an enjoyable solo experience for me. Alas, not this one. My opinions may seem pretty negative, yet I still had a chance to play and take some learning with me. Can’t beat that map of the play room, after all! Onward to another game!
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