Reviewing ALL 28 Railroad Ink Expansions!

[@chetgray1]

00:00 intro 01:45 Rivers (B / Deep Blue Zone) 02:27 Lakes (A / Deep Blue Zone) 03:01 Meteor (D / Hell) 03:38 Lava (D / Hell) 04:15 Challenge 05:25 Cactus (B?) 06:01 Canyons (?) 06:23 Trails (S / Very Good Tier) 06:58 Forest (A / Very Good Tier) 08:07 Underground (C) 09:09 Street Lamp (B) 10:16 Power Grid (A) 10:59 Airline (D) 11:53 Weather (A) 12:26 Engineer (S) 14:21 Pluck-Man (B) 14:31 Tetris (Boring Zone, Brought to you by "? Tier") 14:39 Rainbow (Boring Zone / Hell) 14:52 Galactic Invaders (B) 15:22 Ritual (B) 15:35 Portal (C) 15:38 Tentacle (C / D) 16:11 Investigation (S) 16:41 Alien Farmer (C) 17:03 Super Connection (C) 17:14 City Builder (A)

[@Kufunninapuh]

So adjusting for the disappointgly expensive rule it sounds like electricity is the best box?

[@NoPunIncluded]

I love Railroad Ink so was really enjoying this video until I realised that you didn't review every possible combination of two expansions on the epic board, making the video incomplete and void. Please start from the beginning again or I'll have to put you into Hell Tier.

[@styfen]

This is a vital issue that MUST be addressed!

[@lukesanwick4840]

Time to play another...*tap tap tap*...378 games of Railroad Ink!

[@colinfinkel7587]

YEs

[@StephensCrazyHour]

That is such an Elaine joke.

[@charlescarpenter9098]

Picking 2 out of 28 expansions leads to 378 possible combinations. I'm seeing a fun crossover event where both channels do like 20 a video, once a week, for 2-3 months!

[@t-wex538]

Love how much Tom has committed to his own style with the vid reviews, this lad is doing gooood things

[@Daye04]

Right? It was such an amazing fit with the show. It's his own style, without taking away from the show

[@gillcaz]

Cue Emperor Palpatine voice

[@Vantastic789]

I love how when Tom makes a video, the top comments are almost always just people saying nice things about him. It's so nice :)

[@luiscarlosqg]

Yes, he is.

[@mikesheehan]

I'm sincerely envious of Tom's doodling abilities.

[@merlinmess3793]

I’m sincerely envious of Tom…. 😹

[@TheBasikShow]

I’m six minutes in and so far Tom has assigned the boxes to “A and B tier”, “hell tier”, and “the secret question mark tier”. This is art.

[@rambler209]

It does not get less chaotic.

[@murrayjeffree8245]

Tom is thoroughly steeped in the rich tradition of British absurdist comedy, and it shows.

[@kevinray6575]

@@murrayjeffree8245 As well as the tradition of non-standard modernist reference pears.

[@lrthedude]

I have no intention of playing these expansions, but I've come to enjoy watching all of Tom's reviews just so I can enjoy seeing how unhinged one man can become.

[@bobbyimpollonia8855]

I have the blue edition. This video convinced me that I need to buy some blue dry erase markers for the rivers and lakes

[@luiscarlosqg]

Sure you do 👍🏼

[@clementhossaert5234]

Blazing red edition! Game designer: "I made the game, as you asked, a meteor!" Tom: "I said meatier" Game designer *tearful*: "Meteor" Tom *crying*: "Meatier!"

[@beresteczko]

Designer: Soooo... tantacles?

[@Tanks.With.Teeth.Malloy]

If you know...you know lolololol. One of my favorite TikToks lolol

[@TheBasikShow]

Game designer: “I made the new expansion as you asked, a forest!” Tom: “I said ‘for rest’. You know, because of the covid that I have.” Game designer: “Forest” Tom: “You know what actually this is great, thanks.”

[@OriginalPiMan]

The meatier one should have lots of passengers. Hmm... Add the number of passengers rolled to a square with a station. Score equal to the number of total passengers, divided by the number of distinct networks on your board, rounded up.

[@hugoveselik3565]

Pandémie! * pleurant * Pain de mie

[@jorgis123]

Excellent. Now do all Carcassonne expansions.

[@vanhellsing112]

You'll kill him!

[@crusador84]

@@vanhellsing112 Or Catan, Or Pandemic Or Ticket to Ride. The Holy Four!

[@luiscarlosqg]

Good idea

[@kapitanbeuteltier5889]

@@crusador84 But Catan has "only" 3 or 4 expansion to the main game hasnt it?

[@peterk822]

@@kapitanbeuteltier5889 At least 1 of them is a collection of smaller modules.

[@thesaintjimmy88]

I had no clue that they made 28 expansions for this game. Good lord.

[@shadowtheory7500]

I'm happy to see expansions for great games, but at some point it just gets ridiculous!

[@isaacstevens5415]

There are 4 base sets, each comes with 2 expansions in the box, so the other 20 expansions are only 5 sets of 4 dice you can buy, each dice being counted as an expansion. Still ridiculous, but more affordable than buying 28 things would be.

[@rmsgrey]

@@isaacstevens5415 Close. The 20 added expansions are 28 dice in total in 7 boxes of 4 dice each - Underground where all 4 dice are a single expansion; Sky and Electricity with 2 pairs of dice in each; Futuristic with a pair and two singletons (8 expansions so far); and Arcade, Eldritch and Engineer, each containing 4 single-die expansions and accounting for the remaining 12. So, depending on which small box you obtain, you could get 1, 2, 3 or 4 expansions in that box. Although if you want to quibble, the Underground expansion comes with an alternate variant where you just don't use the white dice at all and only play on the one board. And then there's the various ways of combining pairs of expansions - there's a large document available online that details the interactions of all 406 possible pairs, many of which have no additional special rules, but many do introduce additional interactions (and, as I recall, a few are incompatible)

[@giantnanomachine]

The extreme expansionitis Railroad Ink developed during the Kickstarter for the challenge edition actually had me switch from the "get everything" tier to the "get the base version" and adding a few addons separately.

[@Islacrusez]

@@giantnanomachine oof! I wasn’t part of that one, but definitely have had a game recently where the campaign made me go “I can see where this is going and I don’t like it”, dropping an everything pledge to a pledge manager token.

[@thetaerdin]

I love Roland Wright. His games are so interesting.

[@crowsfan22]

This just got funnier and funnier as it went along, to the point where every time the tier graph came up I started laughing. Loving the abject insanity at play, and Tom I am glad you're recovered and hope the whole team stays well! Look forward to your videos each week!

[@scottcameron174]

"we've got to meet our expansion quota or Quinns will be angry" had me in stitches

[@charlietwoteas3676]

Railroad Ink was the very first game I bought based on a SU&SD recommendation. I was spending a week in a cabin in the Highlands with a friend and I was looking for games to play and discovered this channel and the Dice Tower and BGG. Playing Railroad Ink and Onitama on a bench with the sun setting across the mountains and the smell of burgers cooking on the fire was glorious. Thank you for reminding me of the joy of this game Tom.

[@davidmoore1253]

*slaps box "This bad boy can fit so many expansions"

[@SubscribensteinsMonster]

Beat me to it!

[@z-man7312]

This has to be Tom’s best video so far. Feels more like a lot of the earlier SU&SD videos, which had more fluff and were more “entertainment.” That’s what got me watching all their videos, even if I didn’t even care about the game. Tom is doing an awesome job!

[@nunt2]

You meme about this review, but it was ACTUALLY helpful! The Red going to hell tier meant that Tom's tastes coincide with my boring engineer dreams and I will hunt down that Green edition AND the Engineer expansion. I adore this game, and as always, this was quality SU&SD content! Also, happy that you are back on your feet!

[@gbursine]

i love that tier lists are a part of this review. glad you recovered from covid

[@tehpickle1250]

This totally sold me on the Engineer expansion - bought it immediately. Now I don’t have to permanently commit to anything! Anxieties begone!

[@taylorleyhew9093]

This deluxe edition feels like a parody of excessive board game expansions. How is it real?

[@stephenspackman5573]

Yes.

[@kevinschultz6091]

....now that you point this out, I can't help but view this review as satire.

[@stephenspackman5573]

@@kevinschultz6091 I think that the game itself wandered into self-parody with the more bubblegum coloured expansions, and it is by far the biggest “small” game I can think of. Much like the late night TV shows that make the only sense that can be made of the US politics of recent years, I wonder whether satire isn't the only honest way of approaching this box! Not that other games haven't survived the acquisition of weird expansions over the years-Snowdonia leaps to mind. Wait-that's also trains. Hm.

[@luiscarlosqg]

I agree. Too much is too much...

[@mack_r-s]

The deluxe edition is like heaven for guys like me that are into solo gaming. There's so many expansions and stuff in the box that you'll never get board of it.

[@Voltgloss]

I lost it at that conspiratorial "*I don't know*"

[@benpuckett3806]

This is hands down one of my favorite videos Su&Sd has ever put out. Tom, I love your style, charisma, and goofy expressions. When you threw in the "Banana Bonus" I lost it (I was barely keeping it together after "Hell Tier") Also, I kickstarted this and have no idea what expansions I actually have, but I for sure don't have them all. During the kickstarter I think I just threw my hands up and said, "Do I get the green one? Ok, cool, I'm not looking at this anymore."

[@mymomsirish]

loved the twin peaks-esque "electricity" to introduce the streetlights expansion

[@ZombieLoyalist]

Yes! Restoration videos, the zen of rust removal.

[@marcushead9985]

Monetizing Our Suffering: The KZbinr Story

[@whatr0]

5:02 glad we finally got confirmation that Tom has feet now

[@BoardGames3000]

“So why am I doing this? … I don’t know” + a goofy grin had me laughing out loud, fo realz.

[@robgrieco6828]

It's official, Tom's my favorite video creator at SU&SD. Pure enjoyment

[@pennywiserule5]

Genuinely my favourite review you've done. This was great.

[@Hawkster52]

I feel like Tom mostly just wants rule sets for his doodle making.

[@andrewness]

Isn't that what all of us really want in the end?

[@BoardGameHeaven]

This review is top tier comedy Tom. Bravo. It has everything you need to know about all these expansions, and plenty of laughs. Well done and thank you!

[@Tolinar]

Somehow this video is very much a game of Railroad Ink itself. It started off so clean and organized, but then things got ungainly, with you periodically bumping into things, making snap decisions and just tossing stuff around at times. Still! A result you can be proud of. A fine score and you macaroni'd it yourself. Well played sir

[@azncisg]

The boy did it again. I get a little happy every time a new susd video comes up, but I get a little extra happy when I see this handsome face

[@RoosterLewis]

I think you should do more of these personal opinion style videos. This is great fun!

[@davidcaldwell4512]

After a month or two of contemplation, I am confident this is one of the very best SU&SD vids ever

[@BarryDoubletBoardGames]

Two of the most creative and flexible designers out there.

[@Arahmon1117]

OK, that could very well be one of my favourite Tom videos yet, and I love all his stuff. Fantastic fun!

[@mafiacat88]

God I love tom's reviews. This was genuinely my favourite "ranking stuff" video yet. The bonkers system just cracked me up.

[@JonTripp115]

Hell Tier needs its own spin-off channel.

[@foodforfaeries]

It feels like they had one really good cool idea per expansion and then hurriedly made up a couple more that were on theme to fill the box

[@andreasvaehi9430]

Wow! Well done making this huge collection of expansion look so “easy”! 😅 As always; great review Tom! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@CaptainHoers]

This video came out the day that I was admitted to hospital for a week and frankly I would have gone significantly more doolally if it hadn't given me the idea to bring Railroad Ink with me. It turns out it's very possible to play it with your non-dominant hand if you're really determined!

[@erikman619]

Tom's charm is that I genuinely can't tell what was scripted and what was a genuine out-take.

[@RynoKenny]

Fantastic content. Thank you, Tom!

[@PetrVojtech]

As someone who owned the two original editions I thought it was nice to have so many options and variety. Boy I didn't see them making 24 more expansions :D.

[@lowyujie]

I pledge this game because of the this channel’s review last time. This is a good summary on the expansions too.

[@twoskullz7129]

I have 1 interest in Railroad Ink but 1,000 interests in Tom's thoughts. You did a great, ridiculous job!

[@dw-yl3ln]

I honestly would have believed that the Eldritch Investigation dice were a SUSD goof.

[@michelplokker114]

Loved it! Hope you're feeling better Tom.

[@SamYoumansS6R16Y]

This video was so chaotic, I love it! It was a review using Calvinball rules. Kinda depressing and entertaining at the same time...

[@ryanb6074]

Glad you're doing better Tom! And you came out of it with another excellent video!

[@AzraelCC]

Glad to see you're hale and hearty once again Tom!

[@ianisgreat10]

I just bought the green expansion partially because it was green. Glad I made the right choice!

[@drumguy232]

Fantastic review...had to watch it a second time since not only is it a great review, it is comedic gold ;-)

[@btmurphy88]

Glad you're feeling better! I got a good number of these but I haven't had a chance to play them yet, so I'm looking forward to taking your rankings for a spin!

[@hatimzeineddine8723]

congrats for getting over the big CV and living!

[@RedBairnMedia]

@5:02 - the saddest, but best cut away ever.

[@jessewilkin]

This was absolutely amazing fun to watch.

[@Metroidam11]

Love how all the colorful dice look next to each other, looks like candy!

[@seth2451]

16:39 final tier list

[@NS-qj8xj]

I haven't tried them all. So this was a pretty good overview. Thank you. From the ones I have played, I would only disagree with your take on the Lava expansion though. I actually found that one to be really fun. Obviously everyone is different. Meteor is definitely hell tier though. haha

[@albicamb9823]

Nice Errors record! Pleasure Palaces playing in my head throughout enhanced my viewing experience

[@jed_the_artist]

love the subtle twin peaks reference, great work

[@ddade11]

How long until we get a 24 hour loop of Tom harmonizing with himself? That left me in stitches.

[@TheShadesOfBlack]

This has sparked my interest in Railroad Ink. Or at least one of the Pokémon styled main boxes

[@Ummidontknow14]

This was extremely well done. I loved the chaos of it all.

[@testymctesterson433]

Really enjoyed the review Tom. It didn't feel rushed at all.

[@derkcast620]

Such a great review. I remember when this lad was trying to sell me oil. Look at far you've come!

[@DerAlex86]

I didn't buy the Blazing Red Edition, I got it as a gift. From people who themselves only had Deep Blue Edition, which I really liked, and they thought they'd just get me "the other one" because why not. And I totally share your assessment about Blazing Red, so based on your assessment, I guess I will soon buy the Lush Green Edition and the Engineers Expansion, and download+laminate the Epic board.

[@mitchpedicelli5063]

Glad you are feeling better. This video was useful.

[@MonochromePenguin8]

Glad you’re able to rotate vertically again Tom. Just thought I should let you know that fart pipes has been inceptioned into my brain. Just walked past a manhole cover that my peripherals read as Fartlid rather than HartLtd.

[@ZoidbergForPresident]

Haven't played a single one of them yet but considering the sheer size of what's added, HG did pretty well I think. Thanks for the review!

[@absol1975]

I hope you feel better soon, Tom! Stay safe!

[@emenende4057]

I am going to print Tom's review chart and keep it in my Railroad Ink box

[@brandona319]

This is my favorite Tom review yet.

[@SamBalducci]

Great video but a few items of note. The Solo Board was a KS exclusive so nobody will soon be able to get one. The Epic Board is available for download, however, you only get one side without the cities and mountains. Lastly, the Underground Expansion can be played without a second board. You still connect items together but on a single board. This means you need to decide if you connect that pipe or that railway. IMHO, the Solo Board should have been released for free when everyone was in lockdown. The Epic Board should have the double-sided version online and it should be in color for download too. I liked many of the expansions and they add variety, but over the long lock-in, we played it so much it will be a very long time before we play again.

[@LJW1912]

Lazy? Yes. Phoned in? Yes. Genuinely excellent content that makes me want all of these, even the bad ones? Yes. Excellent video Tom :)

[@bcniswon]

Loved this review. For some reason it makes me wonder what a Drunk History for board game reviews would be like…

[@BLkamaji]

Tom Brewster is a national treasure. Protect him at all costs!

[@15Indianajon]

Only SU&SD could find a way to give Corona a silver lining! Glad you are feeling better Tom and another great review. Wonder if I can use the excuse with my wife that I need to buy this as a precaution to help get me through infection should I get it?

[@GlassofJ]

Awesome! I’ve been waiting to hear what Tom thinks about the challenge edition expansions-specifically the Canyons expansion! Surely I won’t be disappointed :)

[@stevekingswell9143]

Amazing video, having just got COVID, I searched my shelf of shame and guess what, my copy of a rather rushed purchase (only went and ordered the Spanish version off Amazon, who’s don’t that before eh?) Deep Blue (Spanish) edition, plus Engineer dice. What fun it was to discover and play. Now for some retail therapy, which expansions should I buy. Have settled on Electricity and Future Dice, and why not a Big board.

[@tristram4711]

Im glad youre better Tom! I love your videos :)

[@RFieth]

Next Week: Tom reviews all the Dominion expansions.

[@eileensbian]

Glad you're feeling a bit better

[@KZsZs]

This was the most unnecessary board game related content I ever watched. I loved it!

[@merlinmess3793]

Nice to see Tom “The Oather” Brewster LIVES :) the disease is not nice…. Great reviews having played RR blue… Deluxe set oooooo

[@charliek5964]

Glad you're feeling better 👍

[@3v1lp1ngv1n]

Great video! I had no idea which one to start with because red and blue are absolutely meaningless names. I need the green one. Thanks!

[@coldreverie3164]

I honestly don’t care for this game at all but I still watched the whole review! You deserve some kind of reward! It was hilarious, I am still cackling a whole cigarette length after! that table is pure madness! Still cannot believe I was entertained for 20 min by a video about expansions of a railroad boardgame 😂

[@TheMperor5]

If you didn't tell me it was rushed, I would never have known. It was great fun!

[@zeepier33]

This is a Brian David Gilbert-tier undertaking, love it

[@alwaysardent1125]

I am slack jawed that I played rail road ink for the first time yesterday at a game cafe, wife said it was "a must buy" for our library. I then headed to the internet to see what was sold where, was flabbergasted that just because missing a Kickstarter its expensive and less than easy to locate . And then boom. This video.

[@zachfriedrich6146]

Omg the jokes in this were unreal good! Literally couldn’t stop laughing the entire time!

[@gamegraves]

You just crushed this list, I laughed so much

[@ludde016]

I want your copy of Powergrid, jealous of the design

[@losfp]

Entertaining and informative review as always! I got the massive ridiculous kickstarter box, even though I am unlikely to ever bother playing more than the base game. I just like Railroad Ink so I had to get it. But when Tom put Power Grid into Hell Tier, I realised I can never trust his opinion ever again. Sometimes you just have to throw the whole reviewer in the bin.

[@RadishTheFool]

I only backed the forest box plus all the free kickstarter stuff that got unlocked: solo board, arcade, eldritch, underground. It's still a crazy number of extra dice. I adore the base game of Challenge, it's such an improvement over classic Railroad Ink (which I didn't like). The buildings on the board really change up the dynamic, as do the goal cards. I'm also very happy with the two sets of forest dice. Of the rest, some of them were fun, some of them were fine, and many of them I still haven't played yet. However, I really really hated the pac-man expansion. It's so dependent on luck. If you don't throw the cherry side, everything else just turns into trying to minimize damage. And chances of throwing that cherry are so low that it's surprisingly easy to never happen. You have a one in six chance of getting a cherry, and you play for seven rounds. We played with this expansion twice, and neither time a single cherry happened. Never again. Of the mini expansions that could be bought separately as add-ons, only the sky expansion tempted me. And Tom's review indeed makes it sound like the most fun for me. The engineering expansion is clearly brilliant, but having the option to change everything up would turn me into an AP monster. Of the future expansion, only the superconnector appealed to me. And the electricity expansion sounds like it would be fun, but it's also a bit bland. So I keep forgetting it exists. And finally, I would love to get the rivers/lake dice, but I fear they will never be sold separately.

[@Electroporcupine]

"Railroad Ink is a relaxing game-" Lies. Railroad Ink is one of the most stressful games I've ever played.

[@Semicolon42]

Trash King, now Railroad King, what royal status will Tom acquire next?