Railways of the World

Overview

Railways of the World is a railroad-building and goods-delivery game. Players build rail links between cities, upgrade their engines, and deliver colored goods cubes to matching cities for points. Players take bonds (loans) to finance construction. The game ends when a set number of empty city markers have been placed. The player with the most VP (minus bond penalties) wins.

Components

Game board (US map or expansion maps), track tiles, goods cubes (colored), city tiles, engine cards, railroad operation cards, bond certificates, empty city markers, VP track markers.

Setup

1. Place the board centrally. Randomly place goods cubes on cities according to setup rules.
2. Place empty city markers aside.
3. Shuffle railroad operation cards.
4. Each player starts with no track, a level-1 engine, and no bonds.

Turn Structure

Each round:

1. Auction for turn order (bid money, paid via bonds if needed).
2. Player turns in auction order – each player takes 3 actions.
3. Income and expenses – collect income from deliveries, pay bond interest.

Actions

On your turn, choose 3 actions from:

• Build track: Place track tiles to connect cities (costs money per tile based on terrain).
• Upgrade engine: Increase your engine level (determines how far you can deliver goods).
• Deliver goods: Move a goods cube along your track links to a matching city. Score VP based on distance.
• Take a Railroad Operation card: Gain special abilities or bonuses.
• Urbanize: Place a new city tile to create delivery opportunities.

Bonds

At any time, take a bond (worth $5,000) to fund operations. Each bond costs 1 VP at game end.

Engine Levels

Your engine level (1-6) determines the maximum number of links a delivery can traverse.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

VP come from:

• Delivering goods (1 VP per link traversed)
• Railroad Operation card bonuses
• Subtract 1 VP per outstanding bond

Game ends when the required number of empty city markers are placed (cities depleted of goods). Highest VP wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Terrain costs vary: plains are cheap, mountains expensive.
• Some cities start with multiple goods cubes of different colors.
• Railroad Operation cards provide unique strategic advantages.
• No direct player conflict, but competition for routes and delivery opportunities.

Player Reference

Action	Description
Build track	Connect cities (terrain-based cost)
Upgrade engine	Increase delivery range
Deliver goods	Move cube to matching city for VP
Take Operation card	Special ability
Urbanize	Add new city
Take bond	+$5,000 now, -1 VP at end