How to Play

Steam

3-6 players 90-90 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

Players construct railway networks to transport goods between cities for profit. Build tracks, upgrade locomotives, and develop towns while adapting to changing demand. Strategic decisions balance immediate income against long-term scoring, as players compete to create the most lucrative delivery routes and accumulate victory points through efficient transportation systems.

Published 2009

Steam

Get Ready

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

1
Select the map
USA map for 3-4 players, Europe map for 4-5 players
2
Place goods in cities
Draw random goods cubes from the bag and place on city hexes matching the number indicated on each hex; for 3 players on the Europe map, place 1 fewer cube per city
3
Prepare reserve city hexes
Place 3 random goods on each reserve city hex (2 goods each if playing with 3 players)
4
Set player markers
Income: 0, Victory Points: 0, Locomotive Level: 1, Round Marker: 1
5
Determine first round turn order
Conduct an auction where players bid starting from 0

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
First Player token
Grants first turn in the next round
2
First Shipment token
Ship goods first during delivery phase
3
Engineer token
Build up to 4 track tiles instead of 3
4
First Builder token
Build tracks first
5
City Development token
Add goods to one city on the board ($2 cost)
6
Locomotive Upgrade token
Immediately gain +1 locomotive level ($4 + cost of new level)
7
Urbanization token
Convert a town into a city ($6 cost)
8
Optional actions
City Development and Urbanization can be flipped face-down to skip payment and not use the ability
9
Expand your rail network
Add a tile to your track or an unowned track (unowned must start from a city or connect to your network), or start a new track from any city; place your marker on the track if not already present
10
Expand with reconstruction
Replace an existing track tile (even opponents') with a new configuration that preserves the original route when crossing existing tracks
11
Change track direction
Redirect the last tile of an incomplete segment (yours or unowned) without paying terrain costs; does not count as extending the segment
12
City Development execution
Place goods from a reserve city hex onto any city without a development marker, then place a development marker
13
Urbanization execution
Place a new city tile on any town (remove any track tile there first), then place goods from any reserve city hex
14
Track tile cost
$1 per track exit on the tile, plus $1 for a town
15
Terrain cost
$1 for rivers, $2 for mountains (not paid when changing direction)
16
Completed segment
A track starting from a city/town and continuously reaching another city/town
17
Incomplete segment penalty
If you have an incomplete segment and don't extend it next round, you lose ownership and must remove your marker
18
No extending opponents' tracks
You cannot continue another player's track
19
Border restrictions
Segments cannot cross thick black lines or leave the board
20
Town placement
Towns require placing a tile showing both tracks and the town
21
No loops
Cannot build a segment that exits and enters the same city
22
Tile availability
Only available track tiles may be used
23
Upgrade locomotive
Free upgrade, once per phase
24
Ship 1 goods cube
Transport one cube along completed segments to a city matching the cube's color
25
Pass
Choose to do nothing
26
Shipping rules
Number of segments used cannot exceed your locomotive level
27
Route restrictions
A cube cannot pass through the same city or town twice; it stops at the first matching-color city
28
Using others' tracks
You may use opponents' segments, but your segments must equal or exceed any single opponent's segments used
29
Scoring shipments
Each player whose segment was used earns 1 point per segment; they choose to take all points as Victory Points OR Income (cannot split)
30
Collect or pay income
Positive Income: receive money from bank; Negative Income: pay to bank
31
Set turn order
Arrange player markers on turn order track according to action token numbers
32
Prepare next round
Return action tokens to general supply and advance round marker (except final round)
33
Taking loans
When short on money, spend all remaining money first, then take loans; each loan gives $5 and reduces Income by 1
34
Income at -10
Must reduce Victory Points by 2 instead; if impossible, declare bankruptcy and leave the game

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Game length
5 players: 7 rounds, 4 players: 8 rounds, 3 players: 10 rounds
2
Calculate final Victory Points
Current VP + (Positive Income ÷ 2, rounded down) − (Negative Income × 2) + (Number of completed segments)
3
Tiebreaker
Higher Income wins; if still tied, lower action token number wins

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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