Railway Journey

Setup

• Players: two or three: you and one or two bots. You are gold.
• Cards: a standard 52-card deck. Each player starts with four cards.
• Goals: each player has two goal stations, ringed on the map in their color.
• First turn: you go first, then play passes around the table.

How to play

1. 1Draw cards. Take up to two cards from the deck. You can hold at most seven.
2. 2Or claim a track. Pay as many cards of the track’s suit as it is long. The track becomes yours and scores its length.
3. 3Or pass. You can pass if there is nothing worth doing. Your hand stays as it is.
4. 4Join your stations. The moment your own tracks link your two goal stations, you win. Other players’ tracks don’t count.
5. 5Cut them off. A track can have only one owner. Claiming one a rival needs can force them onto a longer route.
6. 6Don’t sit on a full hand. With seven cards you can’t draw. Spend some on a track, or you lose turns.

Winning

Be the first to join your two stations with tracks you have claimed. If nobody does by turn 30, the most points win.

Scoring

The turns are counted for everyone together, so with two players you get 15 turns each, and with three players 10 each. Ties on points are shared.

Key terms

Station:

One of the eight stops on the map. Tracks join them.

Track:

A link between two stations. One player can claim it.

Goal stations:

The two stations you must join with your own tracks.

Claim:

Paying cards of a track’s suit to make it yours.

Route:

A chain of tracks between your two stations.

Length:

How many cards a track costs, and how many points it scores.

Hand limit:

You can hold at most seven cards.