The Light Rail is Coming

In my stretch of the Pacific Northwest, we have a saying: an utterance equal parts prayer and prophecy. “The light rail is coming.” If a neighborhood is isolated, one day the light rail will come and connect those poor souls to the larger world. It’s inconvenient to drive through congested traffic in sheeting rain, but when the light rail comes we’ll all ride in comfort. Those of us on the outside live in the dark, but the light rail will come for us too. It might be soon, it may be a long time from now, but it will come.

You are in a town that is not connected to the light rail yet, but it will arrive very soon. The scaffolds loom at the edge of sight and crews work through the night. The skeleton of the station lumbers up in the center of town, glowing from the massive work lights. In the time between now and the arrival of the light rail, you have some tasks to accomplish and preparations to make. You are both a proud representative of your town, greeting the light rail as a diplomat would, and one among the lost flock to be lifted up by the light rail.

Each player of The Light Rail is Coming plays as a resident of this town they’ll build together, with their own priorities, strengths, and weaknesses. All players also have an equal hand in tangibly growing the town in anticipation of the light rail’s arrival.