In Steam you construct railroads and deliver goods along an ever changing network of tracks and stations. You build the tracks, upgrade towns, improve your train, and gather the right goods to make the longest, most profitable deliveries. Score your deliveries and increase your income or victory points, balancing your need to invest against your quest to win the game.

Steam offers a beautiful, double-sided game board. The map on each side depicts terrain, towns, and cities at the beginning of the railway age. The map of the northeastern USA and neighboring Canada is best for 3 or 4 players. Play the map of Europe's lower Rhine and Ruhr region when playing a 4 or 5 player game. You can play Steam on any number of current and future variant and expansion maps, so we incorporate pieces for 6 players.

The game plays similar to Age of Steam but with modifications to some of it's mechanics and artwork. Tracks for income, train level, etc. are all printed on the board around the map so that alternate maps can be overlaid on the board and the necessary tracks will still usable.