Deck Learning Rail Game

Deck Learning Rail Game

A deck Learning game for 2-4 players by Seth Jaffee


I finally got a prototype together for the Deck Learning Rail Game I've been talking about... check it out!












Components:
* 108 Role cards - Put in stacks by type (Build, Deliver, Fund, Upgrade).
* 4 Engine cards - Give 1 to each player, return the rest to the box.
* 27 City cards - Separate by Stage, shuffle each stage and stack Stage I atop Stage II atop Stage III.
* 18 Upgrade cards - Shuffle and reveal 3 to form the Upgrade pool.
* 36 Route cards (6@1vp, 12@2vp, 12@3vp, 6@4vp) - Shuffle each set and deal each player 6 Route cards (1@1vp, 2@2vp, 2@3vp, 1@4vp).
* 40 Track tokens (10 each in 4 player colors) - give each player the Track tokens in their color.
* 50 cubes (10 each in 5 colors) - Set aside in a supply.
* 26 coins - Set aside in a supply.
* 26 VP tokens - Set aside in a supply.

Setup:
* Each player should create a starting deck by taking 2 cards of each type (Build, Deliver, Fund, Upgrade). Shuffle your starting deck and draw a hand of 4 cards.
* Place the top City card into play, and place the cubes indicated on the card from the supply.
* Reveal the top 3 City cards from the deck to form a City pool.

Game Play:
On your turn, follow these steps:
1. You may play a card from your hand for its Action effect. Alternatively, you may use the Action printed on your Engine card, or any of your tech cards in play.
2. You must choose a role from the stacks. Take a card from the stacks and put it into play. You may boost the role by playing additional icons from your hand or from techs in play.
3. You may discard any cards you want, and keep any cards you want, then reset your hand to 4 cards.

This game is not a Role Selection game though, so there will be no Following or Dissenting like in Eminent Domain.

Actions and Roles:

Build:

Action: Place one of your Track tokens adjacent to a City card in play.
If there are as many of your Track tokens adjacent to a City cad as the number printed on the station on that side of the card, then you may Build a Station (see below) instead of placing track.

Role: For each Build icon played, place one of your Track tokens adjacent to a City card in play. If there are as many of your Track tokens adjacent to a City cad as the number printed on the station on that side of the card, then you may Build a Station (see below) instead of placing any track.

Building a Station: Reclaim your Track tokens and place one of the City cards from the supply in that location, oriented as you choose. Replace the City card from the deck to return the pool to 3 cards.
If another player also had any Track tokens in that location, return them to their owner along with $1 for each.

Deliver:

Action: Move 1 cube in play to an adjacent City card. If that City card has matching demand, you may Complete the Delivery (see below), but Stations do not pay out when using a Deliver Action.

Role: Each Delivery icon played gives you a number of movement points to spend moving 1 cube in play [to a City card that has matching demand]. The cost to move from one city to the next is 1 movement point, plus the difference between the numbers on the stations between the cities.

For example, consider that the board looks like this:

[City A][2][5][City B][4][3][City C]

Moving a cube from City A, through City B, to City C would cost (1+(5-2))+(1+(4-3)) = 6 movement points.

Delivering a cube to a city with matching demand Completes the Delivery (see below). When doing a Deliver Role, Stations pay out: When a cube passes through a pair of Stations, the owners of those stations receive a reward. One of the Station owners receive $1, the other owner receives 1 Victory Point. The active player chooses which Station pays out the $1 and which pays out the 1vp.

Completing a Delivery: When moving a cube to a city with matching demand, you may choose to Complete the Delivery. Remove the cube from the game and claim the Delivery bonus printed on the City card.

Fund:

Action: Buy a Station (see below) or Collect $1.

Role: Buy a Station (see below), or instead, collect $1 for each $ icon played.

Buying a Station: Pay the total $ cost (as described below) and then place one of the City cards from the supply adjacent to a City in play, oriented as you choose. The total cost is the amount listed on the Station on the adjacent (existing) City card PLUS the difference between the numbers on the Stations of the new city and the adjacent (existing) city. If you cannot pay this amount, then the whole move is illegal.
Replace the City card from the deck to return the pool to 3 cards.
If another player had any Track tokens in that location, return them to their owner along with $1 for each.

Upgrade:

Action: Buy an Upgrade from the Upgrade pool by paying its cost. Alternatively, you can discard any number of Upgrades from the Upgrade pool and replace them by drawing 1 more than the number discarded. If the Upgrade deck runs out, shuffle the discards.

Role: Buy an Upgrade from the Upgrade pool by paying its cost, less $1 per Upgrade icon played.

Upgrades: Upgrades give you static abilities such as discounts on buying Stations or Upgrades, additional money when your Stations pay out, and the ability to place additional Track when placing track. These abilities are always on, and apply whenever it makes sense.

Game End:

I am notoriously bad at game end triggers, so I'll just make something up for now and I'll likely have to change it later.

The game end will trigger when one of the Role card stacks or the City card stack is exhausted. When this occurs, finish the current round and play 1 final round before the game ends. Players count their VP tokens and add end game bonuses from their Route cards and any Upgrades that apply. Highest score wins!