How to Play

Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition

1-6 players 20-30 min 7.1 Board Game Geek Rating

Players simultaneously draw road and rail routes on erasable boards using shared dice results each round. The objective is connecting board exits through transportation networks while avoiding incomplete routes that cost points. Strategic decisions involve risk management between extending existing paths versus starting new ones. Victory goes to whoever connects the most exits efficiently while minimizing penalties.

Published 2018

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Distribute boards

Each player takes a Board and places it in front of them

Distribute markers

Each player also takes a marker

Place Route dice

Place the 4 Route dice in the middle of the table where all players can see them

Set aside expansion dice

The Meteor and Lava dice are only used in the optional Expansions and should not be used in the basic game

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Roll the dice

At the beginning of each round, roll all 4 Route dice once and place them visibly in the middle of the table

Draw simultaneously

After the roll, all players draw Routes on their boards at the same time

Connect all routes

Each Route you draw must be connected by at least one side to either an Exit or a preexisting Route

Draw all four routes

You must draw all 4 Routes shown on the dice each round if possible, and each Route can only be drawn once

Maintain route separation

You cannot draw Routes in a way that directly connects Railways to Highways without using a Station

Rotate freely

When drawing Routes, you can freely rotate and/or reverse the pattern shown on the die

Use Special Routes optionally

You may draw one Special Route per round (shown at top of board) in addition to the dice Routes

Mark round numbers

At the end of each round, write the current round number in the white boxes of each space you drew on

Preserve previous routes

You can never erase Routes drawn in previous rounds

Proceed to next round

After marking, roll the Route dice to start the next round

Winning

How to claim victory.

Play seven rounds

The game ends after the 7th round

Score connected Exits

Each set of Exits connected via the same Network of Routes scores points based on the Network Values table (2 Exits = 4 points, up to 12 Exits = 45 points)

Score Longest Highway

Count your longest unbroken streak of adjacent Highway Route spaces and score 1 point per space

Score Longest Railway

Count your longest unbroken streak of adjacent Railway Route spaces and score 1 point per space

Score Central Spaces

Score 1 point for each of the 9 Central Spaces you drew anything on

Count Errors

Each open end of a Route that does not connect to another Route or the board edge counts as an Error

Subtract penalties

Lose 1 point for each Error on your board

Calculate total score

Add all points earned and subtract Error penalties