End of the Line

End of the Line Rulebook

Table of Contents

Victory

The goal of EotL is survival. If you're the last player with a living family member, you win.

Components

5 Families in 5 colors, each having: Mom, Dad, Boy, Girl, and Dog (meeples)
5 Home Plate Cards
5 Secret Stash Screens
1 First Player Card
5 Player Aids
21 Resource Cubes of each type (Water, Food, Fuel, Ammo)
32 Now Cards
48 Event Cards
16 Law Cards
24 Calamity Cards
5 Pass Cards
10 Family Cards
6 Game Boards: Black Market, Fuel Line, Ammo Line, Food Line, Water Line, and Graveyard

Board Setup

Place the game boards face up in the play area matching the order below. Place the corresponding resources near the appropriate lines. Be sure to leave enough space between lines so Law cards can be played on each.

5 player game: use all 21 of each resource type.
4 player game: use 18 of each resource type.
3 player game: use 12 of each resource type and remove the Black Market.

Leave a card's length between boards. You'll need it later.

Player Order: Player order matters a great deal in End of the Line. Before you sit down, randomize seating order and who starts with the "First Player" card. Shuffle the Action card deck (Nows, Events, and Laws) and Calamity deck and place them in front of the first player.

Important: Every phase begins with the player who has the "First Player" card and then proceeds clockwise.

Player Setup

Each player receives a matching Mom, Dad, Boy, Girl, and Dog meeple, Home Plate, Secret Stash Screen and the accompanying "Pass!" card. Each player draws 4 cards from the Action card deck (consisting of Nows, Events, and Laws, shuffled together) and 2 cubes of each resource to place behind their Secret Stash Screen.

Each player gets the same set up, but in their own family color. The guide suggests letting color-blind or visually impaired players choose first.

Starting Resources: 2 Water, 2 Food, 2 Ammo, 2 Fuel.

Overview

Each round is broken up into 5 short phases and a longer Line Completion phase. The order of the phases is fixed and each happens every round except the first. During the first round, skip part of the Calamities phase and all of the Draw phase.

Important: The game ends when only one player has family members alive after the Calamities or Pass First Player phases. Until that happens, play continues until only one of you is left.

Legend used in the phase summary: a crossed-out Calamity symbol means "Not on the first turn"; a "CLOSED" symbol means "Check lines"; a tombstone-style symbol means "Check to see if someone has won."

Phase 1 - Calamities: The player with the "First Player" card flips over the top card of the Calamity deck and everyone suffers its effects. Exception: During the first round, the first player flips over the top card on the Calamity deck, but does not execute the text. The Calamity is just to determine the line order. (Not on the first turn; check lines; check for a winner.)
Phase 2 - Draw: Starting with the first player, you trade resources for Action cards. There is only one Draw phase, but multiple line phases. You won't get a chance to "reload" during any other part of the round. Exception: During the first round, you skip the Draw phase completely. You already have a full hand of cards and supply of resources you saved up before the world ended. (Not on the first turn.)
Phase 3 - Civil Improvements: Players play Laws, which are permanent obstacles and exceptions, placed on specific lines. Laws can only be removed by other cards and stay on the line they are played on, even if the line is "closed."
Phase 4 - Family Placement: Starting with the first player, place your family members in the various lines, hoping that they will survive and get to collect resources. Important: First in line collects a bonus, but dogs and last in line collect zero.
Phase 5 - Line Completion: This is the main phase of EotL where you'll get a chance to gather resources and destroy your enemies. Following the order depicted on this round's Calamity card, you play, resolve, and collect for each line that remains open. Important: There are four steps to each line, and you must complete each before moving on to the next line.
Phase 6 - Pass First Player: Check to see which lines have closed, and pass the "First Player" card to the next player. Important: This is one of the two times you can claim victory during the round. If two or more players still have family members living, you must start a new round. In case of a tie (everyone has died) everyone loses. This is, after all, the apocalypse.

Phase 1: Calamities

Every round, the player with the "First Player" card flips over the top card of the Calamity deck. During the first round, skip forward to Civil Improvement (skip the Draw phase). You do not resolve any Calamity effects, and if you draw a card with one of the resources crossed out, discard it and draw again.

Every round (except the first), you resolve the effects, starting with the first player. Even though they are resolved player by player, the effects are considered to be simultaneous. So if everyone dies during the Calamities phase, the game is over and everyone has lost. If only one player is left standing at the end of Calamities, that player is declared the winner. Otherwise you continue on to the next phase.

EotL Definitions: Spend means return resources to the proper resource line. Kill means place a family member in the Graveyard.

Example: The line order for this round would be Fuel, Ammo, Food, Water and Black Market. Remember, unless a card changes the line order, the Black Market is always last.

Example: You would draw again if either of these came up in the first round. After the first round, you would follow the card text completely before moving onto the next phase. (Draw Again symbol: a crossed-out card symbol.)

Phase 2: Draw

Starting with the first player, each player may spend resources and receive Action cards. One player completes all their card draws before the next player takes their turn. Skip this phase in the first round.

You draw 1 card for the first cube of a specific resource you spend. The next card for that same resource costs you 1 more than you just spent. So the first card will cost you 1 water, the second card will be 2 more water (3 total), and third card will be 3 more water (6 total). You may spend each type of resource, but you may not mix resources for a spend. For example, if you already spent 1 water and 1 fuel (for 1 card each), you couldn't spend another water and fuel combined for an additional card.

Maximum hand size is 10 cards - discard down to 10 if you ever have more (including the "Pass!" card).

Example: EotL rewards diversity. Spending one of each resource is the most efficient and gives you four cards. (One water, one fuel, one ammo, one food: four cards.)

Example: This player thinks having more cards is safer than a water reserve, so they spent two extra water and got an extra card. (Two water, one fuel, one ammo, one food, with an extra water pair buying one more card.)

Example: This player doesn't want to (or can't) spend anything but fuel this turn. So they pay 6 fuel for 3 cards.

Phase 3: Civil Improvements - Planning

Civil Improvement is broken up into two steps: Planning and Execution. This is the only phase when Law cards can be played. Laws are permanent additions to your post-apocalyptic society. You will be rewarded for playing them.

During Planning, all players simultaneously look at their hands and decide whether or not they want to play any Law cards. They then stack their cards face down in front of them with all the Laws they wish to play this round on top and the "Pass!" card just underneath them (remember all cards are face down). If a player does not wish to play any Laws this round, they simply place the "Pass!" card face down on top of their card Stack.

EotL Reminder: The "Pass!" card is always part of your hand. Each player has a "Pass!" card in their own color.

Example: The red player wants to play "Out of Stock" and "Ziggy Piggy" this turn. So they order their cards with the white Law cards on top of the "Pass!" card before placing their hand face down in front of them.

Example: The purple player wants to try and stock up before playing a "Mass Shortage." They put the "Pass!" card on the top of their hand and won't be playing any Law cards this round.

Phase 3: Civil Improvements - Execution

After everyone is done planning their Stack for Law cards, it's time for Execution. Play always starts with the player who has the "First Player" card in front of them, and then moves around the table clockwise. When it is your turn, look at the top card of your Stack. If the top card is your "Pass!," then flip it face up and put it back on the top of your Stack. You're done for the round. If the top card is a Law, you must play it.

To play a Law card, place it face up or face down on any line (open or closed). You must place the Law card in the first available space for that line. Face up Laws go into effect immediately, but some of their effects may only trigger during certain phases of the game. Face down laws are nasty surprises. They will reveal themselves just before people collect during the individual lines. After placing a Law, immediately draw an Action card and place it face down underneath your Stack. Play then moves to the next player.

There is an infinite number of spaces for Laws on any given line. If you have more Laws than the game board has spaces, then place it to the right of the last Law played. Laws are permanent and stay with a game board, even if that line is closed.

Additionally, you may play Laws (and only Laws) as bluffs. You may try to scare players away from certain lines by playing Laws that do not apply to that specific line. When these invalid Laws get revealed, simply discard them. This may only be done with Laws (you can't bluff using an Event or Now card) and you still get to draw a card afterward for playing a Law this way.

Play continues around and around the table until all players show their "Pass!" on top of their stack.

Example: The orange player has the "First Player" card and just revealed their "Pass!" card. The next player in clockwise order would either play a Law card or reveal their "Pass!" as well. Play would continue around the table until all players show a "Pass!" card.

Phase 3: Civil Improvements - Execution (Continued)

Example: The green player wants to play their "Mass Shortage." If they choose the Black Market line, then it would have to come after the "No Pets Allowed." (The Mass Shortage card reads: "Not valid on the Black Market. During Collection, only the first player collects. Everyone else gets nothing.")

Example: Green decides to play their card face down on the Food line so that when people try to collect food this round, they get a nasty surprise.

Phase 4: Family Placement

During Family Placement, play starts with the first player and moves clockwise around the table. In order, players choose one living family member and place them in the front-most, empty spot in any open line. After playing a family member, play moves on to the next player. This continues until all living family members are on the board (everyone must go... cowards don't eat).

Keep in mind neither dogs nor the last family member in any given line are rewarded resources during that line's collection step, while the first in line collects twice. A dog can count as the last in line, and all family members ahead of it would collect.

Most Important: You can only play Now cards and Event cards during lines in which you have family members waiting in line.

Example: It's green's placement and they want to find a place for their Dad. The Black Market is already closed and someone closed the Ammo line with an "Out of Stock." Additionally, players are afraid of the face down law card on the Fuel line. Green's choices are third in the Food line, third in the Water line, or first in the Fuel line (taking a chance that the face down Law won't hurt them).

Phase 5: Line Completion

Following the order on this turn's Calamity card (remember Black Market is last), you complete each line before moving on to the next. Every line has four steps: Planning, Execution, Law Enforcement, and Collection. After the last line is completed, go to the Pass First Player phase.

Line Completion: Planning

Similar to the Planning Phase of Civil Improvement, every line starts with players looking at their hand of cards and deciding whether or not they want to play any Event or Now cards (for that specific line). Players then stack, face down, the cards they wish to play on top of their "Pass!" card. Keep in mind they are executed top-down, and this is the only way to play Event cards. The cards in each player's Stack will execute even if all their family members are eliminated from the current line. Players with no family members in the current line must place their "Pass!" card face up and place their entire hand underneath it.

In addition to the stack in front of them, players may choose to place Now cards in a Defense Hand. The Defense Hand is used at the player's discretion, but unlike a player's card stack, you must have a living family member in the current line to play from your Defense Hand. Also, you must play any Now cards in your Defense Hand before the last "Pass!" card is flipped for the current line. You can choose not to play them, but after the last "Pass!" card has been revealed, you have lost the ability to play these cards.

Important: There are a few cards which affect a player's Defense Hand, so keep in mind that even though you have a choice whether or not to use the cards in your Defense Hand, they are potentially at risk.

Any other cards the player does not wish to play or does not want to risk, are placed face down underneath their "Pass!" card.

Example: The orange player decides they want to play their "Mutant-in-a-Box" on the current line, save their "Ai'm da'Law," and put their "Skip Town" down in their Defense Hand, in case they need to save their family members in the current line. (The Card Stack for the Current Line holds "Ai'm da'Law" (spend 1 ammo, pick a Law from any line and move it to the current line) and "Mutant-in-a-Box" (pick a player; that player must spend 1 ammo for each character of theirs in the current line; kill any family members they fail to spend for). The Optional Defense Hand for this Line holds "Skip Town" (return home 1 of your family members from the current line).)

Line Completion: Execution

Just like Civil Improvement, play starts with the first player revealing the top card of their Stack. If the card is either a Now or an Event, that player executes that card and then play moves to the next player (they do not flip their next card until it's their turn again). If the card is "Pass!," the player places the "Pass!" card face up on their pile, and play moves on to the next player who does not have their "Pass!" card revealed. Play continues clockwise until all "Pass!" cards are revealed.

Important Reminder: A player's Stack will execute even if they have no family members left in the current line (assuming it's a legal play).

Playing from the Defense Hand: Any player with a living family member in the current line can play Now cards from their Defense Hand at any time during Execution. Now cards resolve immediately upon announcing them and can be played even during Event cards. So if an Event card is revealed that would kill one of your family members, you can play a card from your Defense Hand as an interrupt and have that card resolve before that event happens. You may not interrupt a defense with another defense. If two players want to play cards at the same time, the player who's closest to the "First Player" card goes first. Additionally, playing a Now card from your Defense Hand does not count as your flip. When it is your turn to flip from your Stack, you still must flip before the next player.

A player may play multiple Now cards consecutively from their Defense Hand. You must, however, play any Now cards before the last "Pass!" card is flipped for the current line.

Example: Only purple, red, and green should have card Stacks or Defense Hands. Blue and orange have no family members here and are at the mercy of any cards played by these three players. The player just after blue would be the next to flip in this example, since purple just played their "Pass!" card.

Line Completion: Law Enforcement

Starting with the front-most Law on the current line, you execute the Laws in order. If a Law is face down, flip it face up and execute it. The Law remains face up and in effect for the rest of the game until removed. Each Law is executed fully before moving onto the next Law card. If the first Law would "remove all other Laws on the current line," all other Law cards are removed before their effects are triggered.

Important: If there are no living characters in the line, skip Law Enforcement. Do not flip over or execute any Law cards for this line.

Line Completion: Collection

Starting with the player who has the first family member in line, that player takes resources from the current line's bank and returns their family member to their Home Plate. Play then moves to the player who has the next family member in the current line. A family member collects 1 resource cube of the appropriate type. The first player collects 1 plus a bonus of 1 cube. Dogs and the last character in line collect nothing.

If there is only one family member in a line, that family member is last in line and collects nothing. If there are no resources left in the bank, then return all remaining family members home. They go home empty handed.

The Black Market doesn't collect like other lines. Instead, the player may choose to swap 1 cube for 2 of a different resource (both cubes must be of the same type). The first in line bonus is an additional swap, but you may not swap for any of the resource type(s) you're trading away in either swap. Afterward, the players collect their family members like any other line.

Example: Purple gets 2 water for being first in line, red 1 water for second, and green nothing because they are last. (Green is last in line, so collects nothing.)

Example: Orange, in first, decides to trade away 1 water and 1 food. They can take either 2 ammo and 2 fuel or 4 of either of those types. They cannot trade for water or food because that is what they are giving up. Green's dog can't trade and purple gets nothing for being last.

Phase 6: Pass First Player

Before you pass the "First Player" card to the next player, you have to do two things: close lines and determine if someone has won. Count the number of dead family members in the Graveyard. Every time the table loses a number of family members equal to the number of players, another line closes. The order the lines close is always the same: Black Market, Fuel, Ammo, then Food. It's a good idea to arrange the dead people in the Graveyard in groups equal to the number of players. This way you can use the boxes on the Graveyard to tell you when a specific line closes. The boxes on the Graveyard board are printed in the proper order left to right.

Determine if Someone Won: If only one player has living family members, congratulations they've won! If no players have family members left, sorry you all lose. Otherwise, you start a new round. Pass the "First Player" card to the next person (who hasn't been eliminated) in clockwise order.

Important Note: Though characters may die throughout the round, you only check for line closings during the Pass First Player and the Calamities phases.

Example: In this 5-player game, both the Black Market and Fuel line would be closed. Three more fatalities and the Ammo line will close as well. The Graveyard boxes read in order: 1. Black Market always closes first; 2. Fuel closes next; 3. If 3 more people die, Ammo closes; 4. Food is still open.

Character Death

When characters die, place them in the first available Graveyard box closest to the skull. A Graveyard box is considered to be full when it has a number of characters equal to the number of players. When a Graveyard box is full during Pass First Player or Calamities phase, you will close the line that shares an icon with that box. When the next character dies, you would start filling the next box.

Example: The orange dog has died and will go to the Ammo box, since it can hold three more family members.

Victory

Winning is simple. You win End of the Line if you're the only player with any living family members at the end of either the Calamities or Pass First Player phases. Even if you're the only player left, you must survive the remainder of the round until you get to the end of either of these phases.

Player Death and Elimination

When a player has lost all their family members, they are out. They put the remainder of their cards underneath their face up "Pass!" card. All their remaining resources are kept in their secret stash and are out of play for the remainder of the game.

What if all players are out? If everyone fails to survive, then everyone loses.

Variants

Unique Family Variant

During setup, pass out 2 purple Families cards to each player along with their starting hand. Before play starts, everyone looks at their starting hands and chooses which Families card to place face down in front of them and which to discard back into the game box.

The first time you want to use the ability on the Families card, reveal which family you are and perform the text on the card. The card remains face up in front of you for the remainder of the game. The ability only applies to your family and may be used as many times as the card will allow.

Optional: If you're playing a 3-player game or using the premium edition cards, you may pass out 3 Families cards to each player instead of 2.

Vengeful Dead Variant

After a player has their last family member killed, they can continue to haunt the living. During the Calamities phase, draw an additional Calamity card for each eliminated player. The eliminated players then choose which one of these cards will be the Calamity for the round and hands it to the first player to execute as normal.