18EC USA East Coast is merely based on 1830. Eight of the nine companies start from a bor-der of the map and it is a real challenge to build a railway net that will earn good revenue. This can be achieved by building a track connection from the east coast to the Mississippi or vice versus. Income for the companies is rather low at the beginning of the games but this can be overcome by the mail contracts. They can be bought by the corporations in descending order. The first mail contract is the most expensive while the last one is the cheapest. A mail contract generates additional income for a company which depends on towns with station markers (own and other) included in the company’s train runs. Each company may possess only one mail contract. If a company with a mail contract does not own a train during the income step of its operating round, it will lose the mail contract. A mail contract lost by company will go on top of the stack of available mail contracts.

There are two variances included in the game which will improve the original design. One variance improves the situation of those companies which will otherwise have a poor start. The other variance provides additional yellow and green tiles.