All Aboard The Royal Limited with Trains and Guests Aplenty
Line up train cars and welcome passengers of all sorts with tickets before the departure time arrives aboard The Royal Limited.
One of my board game shelves often sees very little attention, mostly because it takes up such a small amount of room. The Royal Limited is one such wallet-sized game that’s stuck around for years, but rarely makes an appearance at my solo table! It felt like the right time to bring this solo train-related game back to see what I enjoyed from my first plays. Choo choo!
Game Overview
Game Name: The Royal Limited
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Scott Almes
Artist: Taylor Stone
Publisher: Button Shy
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
The goal is to place train cars with different abilities, and then fill them with matching passengers before time runs out. Placement rules add limitations, while each card can provide an interesting action to follow. Play time flies by, much like a train at full speed, with a few thoughtful turns!
First Play
December 1, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 8, 2026
Expansions
2
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
16
Play Time
5 Minutes
High Score
0
Game Area
24" x 14"
Low Score
6
Very Important People
Each play features a pair of random special guests, who must also be boarded before time runs out. Ultimately, if the train is full and all cards have been used, it’s a perfect win!
Of course, reaching that point is difficult. Train cars have different costs to place them, and the same value or color can never be placed next to each other. Lots to think about.
I enjoyed the idea of the puzzle, and found it very easy to keep playing again and again! Just enough of a challenge.
But there was a lot of reading, and I often had to evaluate every train car a few times to remember the abilities.
On the Line
The visual way the train cars lined up was pretty neat, making it look like an ever-growing locomotive. But no engine… Apparently, those were only in another expansion.
I found it extremely challenging to try to reach the perfect score, and often ended up with 2 unplaced cards.
As I mentioned, this was very easy to reset to play again. It was also rather monotonous, which can make for a comfortable sort of solo game, or end up feeling repetitive.
Nothing really grabbed me, though, and I abandoned my plans to add in a couple of early expansions. Just not for me!
Activating Train Cars
There were some neat moments when I placed a passenger or guest to activate actions. But I often had to read through all of the cards again and figure out the right sequence.
Maybe it’s just me, but I also found the train car artwork to be rather bland and dark. The little details got lost, and I only saw text beside a lot of burgundy. Rather a shame.
Multi-purpose cards often create interesting choices, yet I didn’t find any opportunities to put together clever turns.
Despite my many plays, it was more like a battle to try to win just once more! Quick, yet not exactly fulfilling to play.
Different Guests
I enjoyed the random assortment of special guests! These double-sided cards offer a range of requirements, although I particularly like the artwork and flavor text for a little flair.
Overall, this is a quick and easy solo game to play through where everything can become familiar in a matter of minutes. It can be repetitive, but that might feel cozy!
For me, it felt like a little too much work for an experience that didn’t offer satisfying turns from clever decisions.
Glad I tried it again, though, and this means I’ll save the very tiniest bit of shelf space as this one rolls away. Ha ha!
Years Between Plays and Expansion Fatigue
I last played this one in late 2023, which was also the first time I played. That was a fun enough time, and I mentioned how I wanted to play again soon. Well, that’s a little bit of a different definition of “soon.” Ha ha! It got me thinking about how I often put off choosing some solo games and by the time I play them again, that reluctance to play has a deeper meaning.
It was also interesting for me to look at the expansions that were released since I played. A few were picked up, but it now appears that if I want anything else, I would have to buy the whole collection and re-buy ones I already have. For the depth of the experience, that didn’t interest me. There’s also the idea of getting tired of keeping up with constant expansions.
This may simply be a case of this one not landing with me after several years, which is OK! It’s another reminder that I picked up expansions without playing the base game enough… Lesson learned. I can play many times without expansions.
Session Overview
Play Number: 5-16
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Outcome: 4, 2, 6, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2 (12 Losses)
At least I was pretty consistent with my scores! Having the train conductor card count down the remaining time was helpful and I enjoyed some parts of gameplay. I liked the idea of chasing down a win, which explains why I played so many times in a row, but I don’t see myself ever picking this one over lots of others in my collection. It’s likely a great game for the right sort of player, but this little train game will be steadily chugging along out of my collection.
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
8
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
5
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- Each card has a few different ways it can be used, which can change which train cars are in play each time.
- Play time moves quickly in general and only takes a few minutes to reach the end with lots of continuous action.
- Luck has a bit of role, although there are usually several options available and ways to use most of the cards.
- Special guests come with excellent illustrations and a bit of flavor text to add some personality to a play.
- The play area stretches out to the left and right, but after a single play, it’s easy to reserve the right amount of space.
- Not too many rules are needed to play and everything feels intuitive very quickly with little need to look up anything.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Reading all of the train car abilities in play can take some time when one ability might end up triggering another.
- Keeping everything neatly organized can be a challenge with the overlapping and tucking on different card edges.
- Gameplay can feel very repetitive and stale pretty early on, with a fairly low amount of overall variety between turns.
- The train car artwork doesn’t stand out very well and feels a bit bland for how prominent these cards are in the game.
Victory Conditions
Score 0 Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score exactly 0 points.
Continue the Conversation
What is your favorite part of The Royal Limited? Have you managed to win with all of the cards used? I enjoyed some parts of gameplay, and appreciate what this one is trying to do! Alas, it was years since I first played it, and I think it may have been more exciting when it was brand new. Still, another good session to remind myself of what I like and don’t like!
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