I was introduced to the Empire Builder crayon game about 8 years ago by my brother-in-law. Ever since, I have been a huge fan of the game. The downside is, I don't have anyone in close geographic proximity to actually play with.

While trying to find a way to enjoy this game with no one close to me, I came across Empire Builder Pronto. This is the official game that was sponsored by MayFair games.

I was all excited to download and play this game. I started digging into it, and found that the game is $35. Didn't have a huge problem with the price, it seems worth it to me, but then I came across this thread: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1317253/empire-builder-pronto-turning-scam

When I was looking for this game, I was actually between desktops at the time due to hardware failure, and was using my laptop. So, I knew this was going to get costly quick.

Doing more digging, I found that the game is written in VB5 or VB6 (haven't quite narrowed it down exactly). So, high price with no discernible updates. And then you find that most maps cost $16 EACH!

So, I've set out to create a FOSS alternative to EBP.  Due to my current knowledge set, I'm targeting VB.Net, but am working towards making it multi-platform.  That would require a lot more effort/longer developer time with v1 being available.

Interested in following the project?  Check out the code repo: https://gitlab.com/kruug/ferroequinology

Interested in helping fund the project?  Check out my GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/open-source-empire-builder-pc-game