How to Play

Trains

2-4 players 45-45 min 7.1 Board Game Geek Rating

Players manage private railway companies in Japan, building effective card decks to place stations and lay rails across maps like Tokyo and Osaka. Purchase cards strategically, then use them efficiently to expand your railroad network. Victory goes to the player who scores the most points from their railway operations.

Published 2012

Get Ready

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

Choose board side

Put the board on the table with either the Tokyo side or the Osaka side up, as desired

Distribute rail tokens

Give each player all 21 rail tokens (cubes) of one color

Place score marker

Each player puts 1 token on 0 of the victory point track

Deal starting cards

Give each player 7 Normal Train, 2 Lay Rails, and 1 Station Expansion card

Prepare personal deck

Each player shuffles their cards, puts them facedown in front of themself, and draws 5 cards

Organize play areas

Each player plans areas in front of themself for their deck, played cards, gained cards, and discards

Set up core supply cards

Put these cards face-up in separate stacks on the table: Express Train, Limited Express Train, Lay Rails, Station Expansion, Apartment, Tower, Skyscraper, and Waste

Select random kingdom cards

Shuffle the randomizer cards and draw 8, then put all cards of the drawn types face-up in separate stacks on the table

Return randomizers

Return all randomizer cards to the box

Determine first player

The player who most recently traveled by train starts

Place starting rail tokens

Clockwise, each player places 1 rail token as their start point

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Choose turn type

A turn is either playing/buying cards then cleaning up, OR returning all Waste cards from your hand to the Waste deck then cleaning up

Play and buy freely

Play a Card or Buy a Card as many times as desired, then Clean Up; finish each action before starting the next

Play from hand

Play a card from your hand face-up into your play area

Gain money

Gain the money shown at the top-left of the card; money lasts only during a turn and is tracked mentally

Apply effects

If it is an Action card or has a red action symbol, you may apply its effect(s)

Place token adjacent

Place a rail token on a non-sea space adjacent to a space on which you already have a token

Check adjacency

Spaces separated by diagonal yellow-black striping are not adjacent

Observe token limit

There may be tokens from multiple players on a space, but only one per player

Pay terrain costs

Field (light green): 0; River (light green with water): 1; Mountain (dark green and trees): 2

Pay city costs

City (showing white towers): 1 plus the number of station markers on the city space

Pay remote location costs

Remote location (showing star): Number shown in its star

Pay opponent cost

For each token of another player on the space, add 1 to the above

Gain Waste for opponents

If you built on a space with any tokens of other player(s), gain 1 Waste total regardless of the number of tokens

Build station

Put a white station marker on a city space, but do not exceed the number of buildings shown on the space

Spend money

Money from cards you played this turn may be used to buy cards; the cost is shown at the card's top-right

Acquire card

Take a card, but not a Waste, from the supply and put it in your gained-card area

Remember Waste penalty

When buying a Gold Victory Point card, take a Waste card and put it in your gained-card area

Discard everything

Put all cards in your play area, your gained-card area, and your hand into your discard pile

Draw new hand

Draw 5 new cards from your deck

Reshuffle when needed

If your deck is empty and you must still draw cards, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck; only shuffle when you need a card and your deck is empty