Lineholder: A Game of Regional Rails
A downloadable game
Lineholder is a compact regional rail game about running routes, building income, and acquiring the right railroad companies before the market moves on without you.
Inspired by older rail games but designed as a much shorter, sharper experience, Lineholder keeps the core tension of travel-for-income and railroad ownership while stripping away lookup charts, dice movement, and long play times. Each card is both a destination and a railroad company. On your turn, you are either claiming a new route from the shared market or advancing your train toward completion. When the route finishes, you earn income based on your strongest railroad serving that region, collect a small distance bonus, and then decide whether to buy a company from the market before the row slides and prices shift.
The heart of the game is tempo. A longer route may delay your next purchase, but it also blocks that card from other players and may give the market time to improve. A shorter route gets you back to buying faster, but you may be forced into a weaker destination or watch another player sit on the railroad you wanted. Cash is tight, high-value railroads are expensive, and the best purchase is not always the one sitting in front of you right now.
Lineholder plays 1-3 players in about 20-40 minutes and includes a simple solo mode against two market-driven bots. The bots do not try to calculate geography or build perfect portfolios. Instead, they keep the market moving, compete for railroads, and create pressure with very little upkeep.
This is a small-box, microbrew strategy game for players who enjoy rail games, portfolio building, shared markets, timing puzzles, and compact economic systems. It is not a full 18xx game and it is not trying to be one. It is a lean regional rail game about ownership, opportunity, and deciding how long you can afford to wait for the line you really want.
A limited edition artisan printing of the game will be released later in 2026.
PRINTING NOTE: I recommend using the low ink file and printing on parchment/manilla matte. It prints sharply and matches my intent. The parchment version is provided as a shortcut for those who have white card stock but is not preferred.
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Played partway through one solo game to kind of get the ropes, very excited for a real game soon ^-^ either solo or maybe two-handed.
I think two diagrams will be helpful for rules clarity: a setup diagram, and a diagram of the route card indicating route path, destination, commodity icon, and region bonus(es) across the top.
Excited ^-^ this will be my first Jack Neal game! At some point I need to try Rust & Revenue too. I don't know these kinds of train games (routes+shares) so looking forwards to it all.
Welcome aboard! I agree that a setup diagram would help. I will put one together in the next few weeks. Life has been pretty hectic but I wanted to get the game released. In the meantime, I have a YouTube video playthrough on the solo game if you need it. :)
Rust & Revenue is definitely a step up in complexity. If you get hooked, then there is a whole world of gaming that opens up with the genre. Charters to me would be a slightly easier on ramp but the components are specialized enough that it would be a harder build to find parts for but an easier teach.
Regardless, thank you for the kind note! Let me know if you have any questions. :)
I did watch the video, it was very helpful! I wanted to try Charters as well, and I actually do make even large and component-filled PNP builds, so it won't be a problem for me buildwise. I think my largest build so far, not counting certain playtests, was Distilled alongside its expansions, back when Paverson provided PNPs to buy; and I also frequently play my PNP build of Pax Pamir (2e) made from the free PNP on the Werhlegig site.
Grasping the mechanics and strategy will be my biggest challenge 😅
You are definitely a seasoned builder then! I'm gracious that you're giving it a go. :)
If you can handle Pax Pamir then I'd put money down that you can easily do well with what I've worked on over the years. :)