Expect Delays Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Components
• Object of the Game
• Turn Structure
• A. Action Phase
  • Board
  • Disembark
  • Out of Service
  • Repair
  • Run the Line
  • Use Service Advisory
  • Action Phase Example
• B. Upkeep Phase
• End of the Game

Setup

1. Place the open game box between the players with the Subway Board (a) oriented so that the Uptown and Downtown point trackers each face a player.
2. Shuffle the Train Deck (b) and deal each player 3 Train cards. Set the rest of the deck to the side of the Subway Board face down.
3. Shuffle the Service Advisory deck (c) and place it face up in the game tray so that both players can read the next card that will be drawn. There are no Service Advisory cards in effect at the start of the game.
4. Give each player the 3 Commuter meeples and Scoring token of their colors (d).
5. Give the Downtown player 2 Fare Swipe Tokens (e). The Uptown player starts with none.
6. Put all remaining Fare Swipes and Tourist meeples on the Subway Platform (f) where both players can reach them.

Components

• 16 Train Deck cards
• 18 Service Advisory cards
• 8 Fare Swipes
• 2 Score Tokens
• 6 Tourist Meeples
• 3 Pink & Cyan Commuter Meeples
• 3 Blue & Orange Commuter Meeples

Object of the Game

As a Transit Operator your goal is to earn as many Destination Points as possible by keeping your Trains in service and moving as many Commuters through the perpetually delayed Subway Lines as you can.

The game ends when either a player earns 10 Destination Points OR when there are not enough Train cards left in the Train deck to draw a full hand of cards during the Upkeep Phase.

When either of these happen, the game ends immediately and the player with the most Destination Points wins.

Turn Structure

The Uptown player goes first.

The game is played over multiple turns, each of which is broken into 2 Phases:

A. Action Phase - During the Action Phase you may take up to 2 of any of the following actions:

• Board Line
• Disembark
• Repair
• Run the Line
• Take Out of Service
• Use Service Advisory

B. Upkeep Phase - Discard all cards remaining in your hand and draw 3 Train cards from the Train deck.

A. Action Phase

On your Turn, you may take any combination of up to 2 of the following Actions during the Action Phase. You may take the same action twice. You do not need to use both of your Actions.

Board

Pay 2 Fare Swipes to the Subway Platform and place one of your Commuter meeples onto the 0 point Stop of either of your 2 Subway Lines.

• Your Commuter meeples may never Board the other players Lines.
• Only 1 Rider can be on any Stop at a time.
• You cannot take the Board Action if all 3 of your commuters are already on the Subway Board.

Disembark

Remove 1 of your Commuter meeples from your Subway Line and return it to your pool of Commuters. You score Destination Points equal to the number shown on the Disembarked Commuters Stop.

When you Disembark a Commuter you may also Board 1 Tourist onto an open 0 point Stop on your opponent's Lines. Tourists block valuable spots and need to be moved before Commuters can Board.

• Tourists cannot be Disembarked. They want to see all the sites. They ride until the end of their Line before returning to the Platform when moved off the last Stop.
• Commuters know where they are going and will wait at the last Stop on your Line until you Disembark them.
• You cannot Board a Tourist if there are none left on the Subway Platform.

Out of Service

Take 1 Train card from your hand and place it into the Out of Service pile. Gain Fare Swipes equal to those shown on the card from the Subway Platform.

• An Out of Service Train card does NOT stop the entire Line. It just means the card will no longer be shuffled back into the Train deck.
• If there are no Fare Swipes left on the Subway Platform you cannot gain more. You can still take the Train card Out of Service.

Repair

Take any Out of Service Train card and put it back into the Discard Pile face up.

• Cards in the Discard pile will be shuffled back into the Train deck and drawn again. Out of Service cards will remain out of the Train deck until you Repair them.

Run the Line

Choose 1 of your Subway Lines. Discard any number of Train cards with the chosen Line's Symbol from your hand. Move all Rider meeples on that Line forward 1 Stop for each Symbol you discarded.

• Some Train cards have 2 Line Symbols on them. When you Run the Line with these cards you move the Riders on both Lines for each Symbol discarded.

Example: The uptown player chooses to Run the Line and discards the 2 cards shown (in the manual's illustration). All Riders on the first Line move forward 2 Stops; one for each symbol. All Riders on the second Line also move forward 1 Stop as one of the chosen cards also has a symbol for that Line.

Use Service Advisory

Service Advisory cards introduce New Actions you can use during the Action Phase while they are in effect.

New Service Advisories are drawn when you refill the Train deck. When a new Service Advisory comes into play, it replaces the previous one.

• T Service Advisory cards are activated when you Disembark a Commuter from a T Stop. When this happens you get to perform the cards effect in addition to scoring Destination Points and Boarding a Tourist.
• S Service Advisory cards are always in effect while they are active.

Action Phase Example

The Uptown player first takes the Run the Line action and chooses to run the (first) Line. They discard 3 cards and move all Riders on that Line forward 3 stops.

They then choose to take the Disembark action and return the Commuter on their (other) Line from the 0 Stop. They gain 0 Destination Points and Board a Tourist onto the (opponent's) Line.

Because there is a T Service Advisory active they also perform that cards action and force their opponent to return half their Fare Swipes. Having completed 2 actions, their Action Phase ends.

B. Upkeep Phase

Discard all remaining Train cards from your hand. Then, draw a new hand of 3 Train cards from the Train deck.

When you go to draw, if there aren't enough cards in the Train deck to draw 3 cards, shuffle all cards from the Discard pile into the Train deck.

Whenever you need to shuffle the Train deck you also draw a new Service Advisory. Place the active Service Advisory standing up in the tray so both players can read it. The previous Service Advisory is discarded.

Cards in the Out of Service pile are not shuffled back into the Train deck. They remain Out of Service until Repaired.

If there still aren't enough cards to draw a full hand of 3 cards after you shuffled the Discard pile back into the Train deck the subway system is broken and the game immediately ends.

End of the Game

The Game immediately ends when one player scores their 10th Destination Point.

If, during the Upkeep Phase, a player cannot draw a full hand of 3 cards because all of the Train cards are Out of Service, then the subway system has completely broken down, and the game immediately ends.

When this happens, the player with the most Destination Points wins.

If both players have the same number of Destination Points the player with the most Riders on their Lines wins. If the game is still a tie, the player with the most Fare Swipes wins.