TEDPALOOZA

May 29, 2025

1 designer. 2 games. All trains all day. Welcome to Tedpalooza!

For long-time Age of Steam fans, the name of Ted Alspach is a household name. Ted is one of a few designers who have designed the bulk of the published Age of Steam maps, including longtime fan favorites, such as Disco Inferno, Reversteam, 1830’s Pennsylvania, and more!

Age of Steam Deluxe: Expansion Volumes V and VI, currently on Kickstarter, features three of Ted’s designs.

In the harsh expansion map of 1930’s Pennsylvania, “coal is critical” for survival but can also double your income upon delivery. If you’re looking for a more relaxed game of Age of Steam, fans often recommend trying the Beer & Pretzels expansion as players will no longer have to worry about shares - only money. However, perhaps the most maddening Age of Steam map in existence is Reversteam where players will not only play on a reversed US map but will also attempt to deliver cubes to cities of their own color while avoiding delivering cubes to cities of different colors. 

Ted Alspach continues to push the limits of train game design in his Maglev Metro series, published by Bézier Games. 

Maglev Metro is the future of train games, and Ted has spared no expense. Maglev Metro comes with acrylic transparent tiles, metal trains, recessed map boards, recessed player boards, and a metal starter coin. Those transparent tiles allow players to build tracks virtually anywhere as players can no longer block each other. If you lose, you have no one else to blame but yourself.

The latest expansion volume, Maglev Maps: Volume 2, pushes train game design even further. In Ghost Train, all passengers are already spread across the entire map. Players will have to stop their trains mid-track to pickup passengers. In The Outback, players will build the map during the game. Always wanted a city immediately next to your current city? Now you can make those dreams of overpowered gameplay a reality.

In both expansions Nanobots, Inc. and Nanotech University, players will gain nanomachines which unlock gamebreaking abilities, including the ability to use another player’s tracks, teleporting your train to another city, picking up and delivering from a city away from your current location, and more.

There are many things to celebrate in both May and June every year. However, this year, we’re celebrating the best of train games. Welcome to Tedpalooza!

Both Age of Steam Deluxe: Expansion Volumes V & VI as well as Maglev Metro Expansion Volumes 1 & 2 are currently available on Kickstarter. 

 

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