Rails Across America

Lore & Background

Rails Across America covers the period 1830–2040 in North America, including parts of Canada and Mexico. The game is strategic, emphasizing expansion of rail networks, finance, and competition with other railroads. The general goal is to accumulate the most 'prestige', though specific scenarios may have other goals. The game uses a proprietary 2D engine and 3D-flavored sprites, which were outdated compared to contemporary games. It is played in a top-down view with various zoom levels; at the closest zoom one can see animated trains and industries, while at the furthest zoom the map becomes an abstract of the rail network. The user interface includes many 'report' style screens for analyzing performance, comparing with competitors, and obtaining financing.

The game includes a system of 'influence' representing the seamier side of railroad expansion. Influence is gained by various achievements and can be expended to undermine competition. It is represented by colored 'cards' with number values and flavor text; the color and numbers are used in contention with opponents, affecting finances, construction, prestige, etc. Some smaller scenarios do not use the influence system. Going bankrupt mid-game can be a viable tactic, allowing the player to shed excessive debts in robber-baron style. Single-player mode includes multiple scenarios and longer 'campaign' games. Multi-player mode supports up to eight players over LAN or GameSpy; players who drop out are replaced by AIs.

Reader's Guide

According to Phil Steinmeyer of PopTop, developer of Railroad Tycoon 3, Rails Across America received 'outstanding reviews' but 'sold poorly, and Flying Labs abandoned plans for follow ups'. The game won Computer Gaming World's 2001 'Best Game We Just Don't Get' special award; the editors noted that while a pack of freelancers considered it a very good game, none of the CGW edit staff could warm up to it. The editors of Computer Games Magazine nominated Rails Across America as the best strategy game of 2001, but ultimately gave the award to Civilization III. However, it won the magazine's special award for 'Best Multiplayer'. The game's legacy is that of a well-reviewed but commercially unsuccessful title that failed to generate sequels or expansions, despite a rudimentary map-editing tool being made available to the community. Its influence system and strategic depth were praised by some critics, but its dated graphics and niche appeal limited its reach.

Origins and the Birth of a Professional Industry

The question of which title truly kicked off the play-by-mail tradition remains open, with advocates pointing to either chess or Go as the earliest example of a game conducted entirely through postal correspondence. What is more firmly documented is that Diplomacy crossed into mail-play territory in 1963, giving the format a recognizable identity nearly a decade before the industry took commercial shape. The real inflection point arrived in the early 1970s in the United States, when Rick Loomis, operating through Flying Buffalo Inc, launched a slate of PBM titles that included Nuclear Destruction in 1970. That move is widely regarded as the moment the hobby shifted from informal, player-organized campaigns into a professional publishing enterprise. Other companies quickly recognized the model's viability and entered the space, setting the stage for the broader industry that would follow in subsequent decades.

The 1980s Print Ecosystem and Industry Documentation

The 1980s represented a period of significant expansion for the PBM industry, and that growth was mirrored in a flourishing print ecosystem dedicated entirely to the hobby. Individual PBM companies began issuing their own newsletters to keep players informed, while independent titles such as Gaming Universal, Paper Mayhem, and Flagship carved out niches covering the industry as a whole. These publications were not the only outlets; broader gaming magazines like Space Gamer (later Fantasy Gamer) and Dragon Magazine also carried reviews and advertisements for mail-play titles. For anyone trying to reconstruct the full catalog of games that existed, these periodicals remain the primary documentary source. Whether through product reviews, company advertisements, or editorial coverage, the pages of these magazines form the backbone of what we know about the PBM landscape of that era and beyond.

Publishing Rights, Licensing, and the Playtest Pipeline

A notable feature of the PBM catalog is that a single game title can appear under more than one publisher's name. This was not a cataloging error but a reflection of how the business actually operated. Rights to existing PBM games were occasionally transferred or sold between publishers, meaning a title that one company had developed could later be picked up and continued by another. International licensing added another layer: a publishing house might grant a foreign company the right to offer a game to players in a different country, effectively creating parallel editions of the same title. Beyond the published games that survive in lists and archives, a far larger number of PBM titles existed only in nascent or playtest form, never reaching the stage of formal publication. The surviving record therefore captures only the games that completed that development pipeline and were actually made available to players.

Longevity, Decline, and the Living Community

The lifespan of a PBM game varies enormously. Some titles, such as Quest of Gorr, were available for only a brief window before disappearing from the market. At the opposite extreme, games like Alamaze, Diplomacy, Hyborian War, and Chess have sustained active play for decades or longer, making them among the longest-running turn-based games in existence. Even as the industry contracted and many of the 362 PBM companies cataloged over the years went out of business, a small but dedicated community kept the format alive well into the 2020s. The online magazine Suspense and Decision emerged as a contemporary voice for that community, filling a role similar to the print newsletters of earlier decades. Compilations like the PBM Boneyard and searchable indexes on sites such as pbm.com and PlayByMail.net continue to serve as reference points for players and historians alike, preserving the memory of a hobby that once thrived entirely on the patience of the postal service.