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Teaser image from @hig_spiele about its plans for 2021. —WEM pic.twitter.com/L1V2iElr81
— BoardGameGeek (@BoardGameGeek) January 1, 2021
Now German publisher Hans im Glück has released some details about the item on the left of that image.
Ultimate Railroads is a "big box" collection of all items previously released in the Russian Railroads line, starting with the 2013 base game from designers Helmut Ohley and Leonhard Orgler, which won the 2014 Deutscher Spielepreis, and including both the larger expansions German Railroads and American Railroads and the mini-expansions New Engineers, Juri Dreigleisky, and Manufactory Train.
On top of that, Ultimate Railroads will include a new Asian Railroads expansion, along with a solo variant. No details yet as to what these items might be or whether they will be available separately. I've sent inquiries to the publisher and will update this post when I hear back.
Hans im Glück lists an August 1, 2021 release date for Ultimate Railroads, but note that until we hear otherwise that release date probably applies solely in Germany.
Update, January 22, 2021: Turns out that Asian Railroads will be available solely in Ultimate Railroads, not separately, "for many reasons we will dive into soon" says Frederic Diebold of Hans im Glück, "not least because more partners will localize this version of the game in the future." (I've already explained below why I wouldn't have expected Hans im Glück to release this version separately.)
For now, you can expect to see versions of Ultimate Railroads in German, English, Korean, Chinese, and Spanish/Portuguese, with other versions possibly still to come. Diebold notes that while the German edition will be released in August 2021, the non-German editions will arrive at the licensing partners in August or September 2021. Says Diebold, "At least that's the plan for now!" —end of update—
As for what is perhaps a 20th anniversary edition of Carcassonne — or rather a 20th anniversary of the Spiel des Jahres win for Carcassonne — well, that will have to wait until later...
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