Continental Express
Continental Express Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Switch the various wagons toward your station in order to assemble your train. They will earn you victory points according to their number and their rarity. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner.
Components
- 20 Company tokens
- 82 small cards, including:
- 58 Wagons (the bottom right of each shows the number of copies of that Wagon in the game)
- 12 Tickets
- 2 Events
- 10 Characters
- 30 long cards, including:
- 20 Objectives
- 10 Contracts
Setup
- Each player receives two Contracts. They choose one and place it face down in front of them. Unused Contracts are put back in the box without being revealed.
- The Company tokens are placed within reach.
- The deck of small cards is shuffled, then divided into three roughly equal piles. These three piles are placed side by side, face down. Three cards are turned face up from each pile and placed in a line as shown in the diagram. If an Event appears, it is put back into the pile, which must be shuffled again.
- The deck of long cards is shuffled, then placed face down beside the small cards. Three cards are turned face up and placed in a line as shown in the diagram.
- The youngest player starts. The game proceeds clockwise.
Turn Overview
During their turn, a player has two actions: one mandatory and one optional.
Mandatory action: take a small card
The active player must pay for and take one of the small cards available on the table. The cards of the first row are free; the cards of the second row cost one Ticket and the cards of the third row cost two Tickets. Spent Tickets are put back in the box. The card taken is placed face up in front of the player.
Warning: if the player takes a Character, they must apply its effect immediately, then put it back in the box. If the effect is impossible to carry out, the Character is lost and put back in the box.
After taking a card, the player must shift the small cards of that line forward and add a new card from the corresponding pile, so that there are always three cards visible.
Optional action: validate an Objective
After taking a small card, the active player may validate one, and only one, Objective among the three visible on the table.
To validate an Objective, the player must own the Wagons shown on the Objective. The player then takes the Objective and places it in front of them, next to their train under construction. Then, the Wagons used to validate the Objective are put back in the box.
Finally, the player turns over a new Objective from the pile to replace the one they validated.
The small cards showing a Locomotive can replace any Wagon to validate an Objective. They are jokers.
It is then the next player's turn to perform their mandatory action and then their optional action, and so on.
Events
Among the small cards there are two different Events. If one of them appears, its effect is applied immediately. The revealed Event is put back in the box, then the player can finish their turn normally.
Train Derailment
If this card appears, the player who revealed it takes all the unvalidated face-up Objectives and puts them under the pile. Then they turn over three Objectives from the pile to re-form the line of cards. The Train Derailment is put back in the box.
Station Fire
If this card appears, the player who revealed it takes all the face-up small cards (including the Station Fire) and puts them in the box. Then they turn over three cards from each pile (that is, nine cards) to re-form the three lines of cards, face up.
Contracts
There are ten different Contracts, detailed below. These Contracts can be fulfilled using the icons at the bottom left of each Objective, and also using the Company tokens.
- Each icon of the color indicated on the Contract earns 2 victory points.
- Each pair of icons of the same color earns 3 victory points.
- Each trio of icons of the same color earns 7 victory points.
- Each trio of icons of different colors earns 5 victory points.
- If the player manages to have four icons of different colors, they gain 6 victory points.
- If the player manages to have two pairs of icons, each pair of a different color from the other, they gain 7 points.
Characters
- The Investor: the player may take for free one available small card of their choice (regardless of its cost).
- The Pickpocket: the player may take all the Tickets of another player.
- The Switchman: the player may exchange one of their Wagons with a Wagon of their choice from another player.
- The Director: the player may take a Company token of their choice and place it in front of them. It can be used to fulfill their Contract at the end of the game.
End of the Game
When a player validates their fourth Objective, the other players take one last turn and the game ends. Everyone then adds up the victory points on their validated Objectives, adds the victory points shown on their Contract, and adds one victory point for each Ticket they own. The player with the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most victory points from Objectives only wins.