Arabella Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Game End
• Game Setup
• Game Flow
  • Choosing Dice
  • Performing an Action
• Basic Income
• Buy Shares
• Build Track
• Buy Trains
  • Trains Becoming Obsolete (when the last train of a type is bought)
• Running Trains
  • Dividends
• Scoring
• Objective Cards
• AI Bot

Components

• 50 game maps
• 24 AI cards
• 28 objective cards
• 7 starting location cards
• 6 track-building tiles
• 100 player boards
• 24 shares (4 in each colour)
• 50 score sheets
• 1 game board
• 6 company tokens
• 32 wooden cubes (8 in each colour)
• 1 bag
• 50 train (engine/carriage) tiles
• 16 dice
• 4 pens

Goal of the Game

To get as many victory points (VPs) as possible.

You can get VPs from:

1. Fulfilled objective cards
2. Stock certificates owned
3. Unlocked modifier icons on your player board you haven't spent
4. Extra dice you have unlocked on your player board

Game End

Game end is triggered if either of these conditions is true:

1. The last "6" train is removed from the game board. As a reminder a game end trigger icon is displayed in that train slot.
2. One player has completely filled at least one of their income tracks. As a reminder a game end trigger icon is displayed next to the last circle on each track.

In either case, play continues until the dice pool is empty and then victory points are added together on a score sheet.

Game Setup

1. Put a game map in the middle of the table, placing the game board next to it.

2. Shuffle all six track-building tiles and place them facedown in the bottom row of the game board (below the dice icons).

3. Place all the cubes in the bag and mix them up. Draw cubes at random from the bag and place them on empty squares on the track building tiles until they are filled (the one marked with "4" is used only in a 4-player game).

4. Sort the trains into stacks according to their power (the large number), and then each stack by descending order (according to small number in bottom right which indicates the number of trains left in the stack).

5. Put the train stacks on the top row of the game board in ascending order (such that all the 1-trains are in the leftmost slot, up to the 6-trains in the rightmost slot).

6. Decide if you'll be using one or more AI bot players (recommended with less than 3 players). If so, shuffle the deck of AI cards and place it facedown next to the game board. This deck is used for all AI bots.

7. Each player (and AI bot, if any) receives one player board, one pen and one 1-train. Place the 1-train on the topmost train line on the right side of the player board, engine side facing up.

8. Each player chooses a colour and takes the corresponding company token (placing it on the top left area of their player board) and 4 shares of the same colour / value.

9. Choose a starting player. Shuffle the starting location cards, and deal cards equal to the number of players faceup on the table. Starting with the player to the right of the starting player and going counter-clockwise, each player chooses a starting location and crosses out that city on the map. Each location crossed out this way is blocked for all other players.

   When playing with AI bots, players should choose a starting location for each AI bot collectively.

10. Shuffle the objective cards and deal one to each player. This card should be kept hidden from other players.

11. The starting player rolls 6 dice to create the initial dice pool.

Game Flow

The starting player begins the game as the active player. On their turn, the active player takes one or more dice of the same value from the dice pool, and then performs one action. When the active player finishes, the turn passes to the next player clockwise. If at the start of a player's turn there are no dice remaining in the pool, all the used dice are rerolled to reform the dice pool.

Choosing Dice

When taking dice from the pool, players follow these steps:

1. Use modifier icons to change values of dice in the pool (optional) — If a player has previously unlocked any modifier icons on their player board, they may modify one die value by 1 (up or down) for each unlocked icon they spend (cross out the icon to indicate it is spent). "1" can be changed into "6" and vice versa.
2. Choose one or more dice of the same value from the pool (mandatory) — The player must choose from the pool any number of dice with same value and take them from the pool. The player must be able to use up all the dice they choose.
3. Spend dice to change another chosen die's value (optional) — The player may spend one of the chosen dice to modify the value of one of the remaining chosen dice by 1 (up or down). This may be repeated as long as there are dice to spend but as a result of these changes all the remaining dice must still be the same value. There must be at least one die left for performing the action. The value of the die must either be increased or decreased, not both (for example, using dice to increase and then decrease a die's value).

Performing an Action

After choosing dice, the player must use all dice to perform one action. All five actions are listed at the bottom of the player board as a reference.

Basic Income

When performing this action, the player receives income, equal to the number of dice chosen (the value of the dice does not matter).

Tracking income: Income received is marked on the three income track sections. The top section is for "ones", the middle section is for "fives", and the bottom section is for "tens".

When income is received, the leftmost and topmost unmarked circle is marked with a dot or a circle (not an X), starting from the highest possible value section and moving to the lower value ("tens" first, then "fives", then "ones").

Examples:

A player receiving an income of 9 would mark the leftmost empty circle in the "fives" section, and the 4 leftmost empty circles in the "ones" section. (The player could not mark 9 "ones" circles.)

A player receiving an income of 16 would mark the leftmost empty circle in the "tens" section, then one in the "fives" section and one in the "ones" section. (The player could not mark three "fives" circles and one "ones" circle).

Spending income: When spending income, the player crosses off marked circles from each of the three sections.

Be careful! You do not receive change when spending from the "fives" and "tens" section, which could result in paying more than you need.

Bonuses: each income section has unlockable bonuses that become available when their thresholds are marked.

In the "ones" section players can unlock modifier icons. Each time they gain income in a space with this icon they circle one of the modifier icons on the top of their player board to indicate it is unlocked.

In the "fives" section players can unlock extra dice for the dice pool. Each time they gain income in a space with the die icon they circle one of the extra die icons on the right side of the player board to indicate it is unlocked. This extra die is added to the dice pool next time it is being rerolled.

In the "tens" section players can receive additional objective cards. Each time they gain income in a space with an objective-card icon they gain two new objective cards from the top of the objective deck, then discard any one of their objective cards. Discarded objective cards are shuffled back into the objective deck.

Buy Shares

When performing this action, the player must spend chosen dice to buy shares of a company. The value of the dice indicates which company shares must be bought; the number of dice indicates how many shares must be bought.

The price of a share is equal to the total number of engines and carriages that company owns (which is 1 at the start of the game).

All shares must be bought from one player only, who cannot refuse to sell.

The buyer must spend the required amount from the income track on their player board, and the seller receives this amount as income.

Build Track

When performing this action the player must build tracks on the game map. The value on the dice indicates which type of track may be built (via the track tiles on the game board); the number of dice chosen indicates how many tracks must be built.

At the start of the game the available tracks are represented by cubes on the track tile, with each colour representing a specific type of track. At the bottom of the track area there is a reference with track types.

• Red cube - "straight" track
• Green cube - "gentle turn" track
• Blue cube - "sharp turn" track
• Grey cube - "wild" track - can be any of the above.

The value of the dice indicates the track tile only: if there are cubes available on that tile, the player may choose whichever they would like. When a track tile has no cubes remaining on it, it is flipped over; from then on, only the type of track showing on the tile may be built with that tile.

When performing this action a player must use either cubes or the track shown on the tile, not both.

At the start of the game, the Build Track action has no cost. As soon as the first track tile has no cubes remaining on it and is flipped over, from that point forward Build Track action always has a cost, as follows:

• Building track using cubes (after the first track tile is flipped): When using cubes, the Build Track action costs 1 income for each flipped track tile.
• Building track using a track tile: When using a track tile the Build Track action costs 1 income for each flipped track tile, plus 1 income for each cube remaining on all track tiles.

Note: this cost is for the whole action; it does not matter how many tracks are built!

When using cubes for this action, keep the used track cubes next to your player board as they may be important for some objective cards.

Built tracks are marked on the game map, with each player marking their tracks using their player colour. When a player builds tracks each new track must be connected to that player's starting city or previously built tracks. All tracks built with the same action must be connected to each other (i.e. you cannot build tracks for multiple different "branches").

A player's Build Track action ends immediately if their built tracks connect to a new city (small stations do not end an action). When a player starts building from a non-blocked city, they can choose which direction to begin building from. Other players' starting locations and cities marked in red are considered "blocked" and cannot be built from.

Tracks may cross with each other but may not split or merge. In order to make drawing tracks easier, hexes have dotted lines as templates and there is also a reference at the bottom of the game board.

Buy Trains

When performing this action, the value on the dice indicates which type of train must be bought; the number of dice chosen indicates how many trains of this type must be bought.

On the right side of each player board, there are slots for three train lines. When performing this action you can buy trains for one of your three train lines. Each line must start with an engine, followed by carriages. There are two carriage types, with a similar cost: for passengers and for goods.

Train costs are printed in the upper right corner of the train tiles. The leftmost (lower) number is the cost when buying it as a carriage, the rightmost (higher) when buying it as an engine. The large number in the tile's upper left corner is the engine's power and the colour of the train indicates its modernity.

Engine power determines the maximum train length (including engine). For example, a train with an engine power of "1" can consist of only the engine itself, a train with engine power of "2" can have one carriage, etc.

An engine's modernity determines what types of carriages that engine is capable to transport. There are four different levels of modernity (from lowest to highest): yellow, green, brown and grey. An engine can transport carriages of equal or lesser modernity, but not carriages of higher level modernity.

Once a train has been assigned to a train line, it may not be transferred to a different line.

Trains Becoming Obsolete (when the last train of a type is bought)

On the game board there are several icons depicted on the train slots. Each time the last train of a type is being bought the icons of that slot are resolved.

1. Obsolete trains: when the last "3", "4", "5" or "6" trains are bought, an icon will indicate what power level of trains will become obsolete. When a power level of train becomes obsolete, each train of that power is removed from all players' train lines. If an engine is removed in this way, all carriages are removed as well (regardless of their power).

   Example: when the last 3-train is bought, all 1-trains are removed from play.

2. The player buying the last train must draw one objective card (two cards when purchasing the last "6"-train) and then discard one. This card draw occurs only for the train that is bought; if multiple train slots are cleared due to chain reaction, do not draw additional objective cards.

3. The cat icon is a reminder for when an AI bot buys the last train: they receive an objective card but do not discard any.

Running Trains

When performing this action, the player may only choose 1, 2 or 3 dice of the same value (but their value is not used for the action). The number of dice indicates how many train lines the player must activate, from top to bottom.

For example, when using 2 dice for the action, a player must activate lines 1 and 2 (the top and middle line on the player board).

Unopened lines cannot be activated. A line is opened when a train is bought for that line for the first time (lines 2 and 3 are unopened at the start of the game). Once a line is opened, it remains opened even if all trains are removed from being obsolete.

When performing this action, the train on each activated line will run for profit.

• Trains can only run on tracks printed or marked on the game map that were built by that company's owner.
• Each train starts from that player's starting location and can run to an unlimited number of cities and stations, but must stop once it reaches a blocked city or station.
• Trains from different lines may not use the same tracks.
• A train's run may not both start and end in a starting location.

Income is earned from each train line's run as follows:

• 1 income per train car for each city and station passed, including start and end locations.
• Each goods carriage pays an extra 1 income for each city passed, including start and end locations.

Example: a train with an engine, a passenger carriage and a goods carriage that passes through two cities and a station would earn income as follows:

3 train cars x 3 cities = 9 income

1 goods carriage x 2 cities = 2 income

for a total of 11 income.

Revenue from all activated train lines are added up together and then marked as income on company owner's player board income tracks (see "Tracking income" above).

Dividends

When performing this action, dividends are also paid out to shareholders. Each shareholder (except the company owner) receives dividends in the form of 1 income for each carriage in all train lines (even if they were not activated). Shareholders mark their income on their player board (see "Tracking income" above). This does not impact the revenue earned by the company owner for running their trains during this action.

Scoring

When the game end has been triggered (last 6-train is removed or a player reaches the end of an income track) and the available dice pool has been emptied, the game is over and scores are marked on a score sheet.

• Unlocked and unused modifier icons are worth 2 victory points each.
• Each share earns points for its owner equal to the share's price at the end of the game.
• Each unlocked die is worth victory points equal to the player's company share price at the end of the game.
• Each completed objective card is worth the printed amount of victory points on it. (All objective cards taken by AI bots are worth 10 victory points each for the bot.)

Objective Cards

This icon indicates that the card owner's accomplishments are evaluated when calculating victory points.

This icon indicates that the other players' accomplishments are evaluated when calculating victory points.

If both icons are present, all players' accomplishments are evaluated.

• Earn victory points equal to the total power of all of your engines.
• 2 victory points for each train car in your longest train.
• 1 victory point for each hex in your longest route (each hex can be counted only once).
• 1 victory point for every 2 hexes in your route network (each hex can be counted only once).
• 3 victory points for each city connected to your route network.
• 1 victory point for each city connected to any player's route network.
• 4 victory points for each blocked city connected to your route network (stations are not counted).
• 1 victory point for each city and station connected to your route network.
• 3 victory points for each share of a different company you have.
• 1 victory point for each carriage other players have.
• 1 victory point for each track building cube you have.
• 1 victory point for each of your engines and carriages.
• 2 victory points for each engine other players have.
• If the printed city or station is connected to your route network, gain 10 victory points.

Objective cards received by an AI bot are always worth 10 points for the bot; ignore the objective on the card.

AI Bot

When it's AI bot's turn to act, a card is drawn from the top of the AI deck and revealed. First, all the dice with value shown on the bottom of the card are removed from the pool (it doesn't matter if AI bot is able to use all of them or not). If that particular value is not available, the next highest available value is chosen (if a 6 is not available, start back at 1).

Then AI bot performs the topmost available action (if an action cannot be performed for any reason, the next action down is attempted etc) and end their turn, putting the resolved card in the AI discard pile. When the AI draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard to make a new one. AI bots do not spend their income for their actions, but their income is still marked on their income tracks. When AI bots buy shares the seller still receives income as normal.

When buying shares, AI bot will buy shares in the same way as players: the value of the dice indicating the company, the number of dice indicating the number of shares bought, from one player. AI bot will buy all shares if there are fewer shares than the number of dice.

AI bot will first try to purchase shares from the company owner, then from the majority shareholder. If there is a tie for most shares, AI bot will purchase from the player who has the most marked spaces on the "tens" income track ("fives" if "tens" are tied, "ones" if "fives" are tied, closest clockwise player if "ones" are tied).

AI bot buys trains for their topmost line that is not full. Trains are bought in the same way as players: the dice value indicates the train type, number of dice how many trains of that type (up to the maximum allowed for the engine's power). If AI bot takes the last train of a type, they draw an objective card. If all lines are full, or the train type's modernity exceeds their engine's modernity, this action is skipped.

AI bot will take track building cubes in the same way as players: type according to dice value, equal to the number of dice taken. Colour priority is from left to right. If the last cube is taken, the tile is flipped over and AI bot draws an objective card. If no track cubes can be taken, this action is skipped.

AI bot runs their trains (for a fixed income of 1 income per engine and carriage) and pays out dividends according to normal rules.

AI bot takes all the dice (used and available) and rolls them into available dice pool.

AI bot's discard pile is shuffled back into the AI deck, and their turn ends.