Express 01

Express 01 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Object of the Game

In front of you lies the untouched soil of Germany. There are no tracks cutting through its plains, no train stations to foreshadow the great industrial progress that is to come. But you are about to change all that! You will invest in the construction and upgrading of railway lines and build stations for different companies.

Your main focus lies on the acquisition of shares, and as soon as shares are issued, trains can run on behalf of the companies. This way money is distributed to the shareholders and you get new capital. So keep your eyes on the other players to profit from their actions or to obstruct their plans.

The game ends after the round in which either a certain number of base cards are upgraded or a certain number of decks have been exhausted. The player who has managed to gain the most capital wins the game.

Components

4 player boards with overview and capital track
35 base cards (Germany), numbers 001 to 035
4 turn order cards
1 card "The black engine"
149 upgrade cards (in 3 color-coded stages: yellow 1st stage, red 2nd stage, blue 3rd stage):
- 85 route cards:
  - 24 of the 1st stage, numbers 101 to 108
  - 25 of the 2nd stage, numbers 121 to 145
  - 36 of the 3rd stage, numbers 201 to 236
- 18 terminal stations:
  - 10 of the 1st stage, numbers 401 to 410
  - 6 of the 2nd stage, numbers 431 to 436
  - 2 of the 3rd stage, numbers 461 to 462
- 33 through stations:
  - 12 of the 1st stage, numbers 501 to 512
  - 16 of the 2nd stage, numbers 531 to 546
  - 5 of the 3rd stage, numbers 561 to 565
- 13 central stations:
  - 6 of the 1st stage, numbers 601 to 606
  - 6 of the 2nd stage, numbers 630 to 635
  - 1 of the 3rd stage, number 665
4 wooden engines

General Notes

Express 01 is a card game. Many cards have several functions. (For an explanation of the symbols and cards see the section "Cards explanation" on page 12.)

In the beginning, the base cards make up the game board. After they have been exchanged for upgrade cards, they become part of your passive capital.

The upgrade cards are divided into route cards and station cards.

They are used to build and expand the network.
They make up your active capital in hand which you need to pay for actions and shares.
The route cards which show a colored engine in their lower left corner also serve as company shares. Once you acquire them, they belong to your passive capital. (Key on page 3: a colored engine icon is the symbol for "Share of the red company".)

Setup

Place the base cards (numbers 001 to 035) as game board on the table, so that they combine to form a map of Germany. The cards are placed in ascending order from northwest to southeast.
- First, place numbers 001 to 004 in a row from left to right.
- Start the second row with number 005, placing it underneath number 001 but shifted one space to the left. Complete the second row with the numbers 006 to 010.
- Start the third row with number 011, also shifted to the left. Continue setup in this fashion.
Give each player a player board that he places in front of him. Also give each player a wooden engine that he places onto space 0 of his capital track on his player board.
Sort the upgrade cards by type and each type according to its stage (color), forming a total of 12 decks.
- The route cards
- The terminal stations
- The through stations
- The central stations
Shuffle the individual decks. Place the decks of the same type next to each other, 3 at each corner of the game board.
Take the route cards deck of the 3rd stage (blue) and deal 6 secret cards to each player. These form the starting capital (in hand) for each player. Put the remaining route cards back into place.
To determine the player order, each player chooses one of his cards from his hand and places it face down in front of him. Then turn the cards over simultaneously. The player with the highest card number becomes the starting player and gets the turn order card labeled 1. The player with the second-highest card gets the turn order card labeled 2, and so on. Place your turn order cards in front of you, the engine facing up. Then return the route cards that you used to determine the player order to your hands.

Playing the Game

Express 01 is played over several rounds. Each round starts with the "Government aid". Then players take their turns in the order of their turn order cards. During your turn you choose one out of 3 possible action pairs. Once your turn is over, you flip your turn order card over to its back and it is the next player's turn. After each of your actions, check if at least one of the two possible end conditions has been met (see "End of the game"). A round ends when all turn order cards have been flipped over to their back. If no end condition has been met, start a new round.

Government Aid

At the beginning of each round, determine the total capital of each player (active and passive). The player with the lowest capital receives government aid.

Calculate your capital as follows:

a) Each card in hand is worth 1 point (active capital).

b) Each of your company shares gives you points equal to the number of stations within the network that belong to the respective company (passive capital).

c) Each pair of unequal base cards (consisting of 1 route card and 1 station card) that you have in front of you is worth 1 point (passive capital).

d) If a player owns the black engine, that player receives 2 additional points.

Indicate your total capital by placing your wooden engine onto the appropriate number on your capital track. Note: The capital track simply provides an overview. It is only adjusted at the beginning of each round and at the end of the game. (For indicating scores above 30 points you may, for example, put the engine on its side.)

Example: a) 5 cards in hand = 5 points; b) 2 red shares (while there are 2 red stations in the network) = 4 points; c) 1 pair of unequal base cards (1 route card + 1 station card) = 1 point (the 2 single route cards give no points); d) The black engine = 2 points. In total = 12 points.

The player with the lowest capital receives the black engine as government aid (see "Cards explanation: The black engine"). In case two or more players are equally low on capital, the tie is won by the tied player with the lowest turn order number. In the first round, the black engine automatically goes to the player with the turn order card labeled 1 since all players have the same capital.

Taking Your Turn

When it is your turn, you choose one out of 3 possible action pairs:

1st Action pair: A) Expand the network, and then B) Acquire shares.
2nd Action pair: B) Acquire shares, and then A) Expand the network.
3rd Action pair: C) Initiate one bonus payment, and then D) Change the turn order.

General Rules

If an action has a cost, you must pay for it with your active capital (your cards in hand). Each card spent this way is put face up on top of the deck it belongs to. Then you perform the chosen action. (You can indeed build tracks with cards that have just been discarded this way and also purchase them as shares.)
On turn number one, the first player (who owns the turn order card labeled 1) must choose the 1st action pair and build a station from which the further expansion of the network can take place. In your first game, we recommend to expand either Berlin (number 009) or Hannover (number 013).
Each time you expand the network, an existing card from the game board is exchanged for another. Thus, the game board is always made up of exactly 35 cards.
Some actions allow you to search the decks for a card of your choice. You may not change the order of the rest of the cards in these decks.
You may choose to perform only one action in an action pair, or you may take no action at all.

A) Expand the Network

This action has a cost. For each card that you return from your hand to the top of its deck you may either:

upgrade up to 2 route cards, or
upgrade 1 station card.

To do this, pick out the upgrade card of your choice from any of the decks. Then you exchange it for one of the game board's cards. If you replace a base card, place it face down in front of you. If you replace a colored upgrade card, return it face up to the top of its deck.

You may perform this action several times in a row, as long as you pay for it.

The following rules must be followed

You may not skip a stage. Base cards can only be upgraded with upgrade cards of stage 1 (yellow), cards of stage 1 only with those of stage 2 (red), and these only with cards of the 3rd stage (blue).
Upgrading a certain card can only be done with a valid card; i.e. the new card's number must be listed in the lower right corner of the card that you want to replace.
With this action, you actually expand the existing network.
- If you upgrade a base card, the new (yellow) card must continue at least one track of an adjacent card (exception: first station in the very first turn).
- If you upgrade an upgrade card of a lower stage, the new card must maintain all existing tracks of the upgraded card. A built track can never disappear. You may only expand it with additional tracks.
You may rotate the new card (placing it upside down), as long as all other requirements are met. Note: Some cards show a water tower. If you upgrade one of these cards, the water tower on the new card must adhere to the same alignment as the upgraded card.
In general, it is allowed to have open tracks between any 2 cards of the game board (as long as the previous requirements are met). At the borders of the game board, however, open tracks are forbidden. You may never place a card in such a way that an open track heads for the edge of the game board (leading into the sea or a neighboring country).

B) Acquire Shares

This action has a cost. For each company share that you want to purchase, you must pay the cost of the share by returning the required number of cards from your hand to the top of their respective decks. The cost of one share always equals the number of stations in the network that belong to the company.

Example: If there are 3 stations of the red company within the network, one share of the red company costs 3 cards from your hand.

After paying the cost, you search the route card decks for a share of that company. Any route card that shows an engine of a company's color in the lower left corner can serve as a share of that company. Place your chosen share face up in front of you.

Note: Any card showing an engine is always considered a single share. The number next to the engine only indicates the total number of shares of this color in the respective deck.

You may acquire several shares (even from different companies) in this fashion, as long as you pay for them.

The following rules must be followed

You may only purchase shares of those companies that have at least one station in the network.
If there is no share of the desired company left in the decks (and only then), you may take a share of that company from another player (the share must lie in front of this player). In this case, the paid cards are not returned to their decks but are handed to this player. If the share of the desired company can neither be acquired from the decks nor from another player, you cannot acquire a share of that company.
Note: You may never take away shares from the owner of the black engine (see "Cards explanation: The black engine").

C) Initiate One Bonus Payment

This action is free of charge. You may only perform it once during your turn. You choose one company that sends off a train and then determine the train's route. Thus, the company pays a bonus to its shareholders.

Select a Company

You may only select a company:

of which you own at least one share, and
of which there is at least one station in the network.

Determine the Route

Then you determine the train's route. The distance that a train can travel is based on the total number of company shares in front of all players. For each issued share of the selected company the train can travel exactly one card of the game board.

The route must start at a station and end at a different station. (The number of stations in between is not limited.)
At least one station on the route must be a station of the selected company. It does not matter if this is the start or end station or any of the stations in between.

The following rules must be followed

You have to choose the route that grants the highest possible bonus payment (see "Payment of the bonus"). The other shareholders may help you to determine this ideal route.
No station may be approached more than once on the route.
Tracks without stations, however, may be used multiple times.

Payment of the Bonus

The bonus is paid to the company's shareholders in the form of cards. Calculate the total bonus as follows:

Each station on the route is worth 1.
In addition, some stations grant an additional bonus, indicated by the top right corner icon on the card (a "+1" icon).
While players who do not own a share of the chosen company usually do not receive any payment, the black engine may be used as a share (see "Cards explanation: The black engine").

First, determine the order in which the players receive their portions of the bonus payment. In the determined order, the shareholders take one card each from the top of any deck and add them to their hands. This continues until the bonus payment has been distributed in its entirety.

The following rules must be followed

No shareholder can receive more cards from the bonus payment than he holds shares in the company. If - due to this - a part of the payment is left over, it falls to the player who initiated the action.
If the number of cards paid out as bonus payment falls short of the number of shareholders, some of the shareholders may receive no payment at all.

Order of Payment

The payment that the shareholders receive is always carried out in the order of the turn order cards, though not necessarily from 1 to 4. The first player to receive a card is always the player who initiated the payment. After that, the shareholder with the next higher turn order number follows, and so on. Shareholders that have a lower turn order number than the initiating player follow at the end.

Example: In a 4-player game, the player with the turn order number 3 initiates the action while all players have a stake in the chosen company. Then the order of the payment is as follows: 1) turn order 3, 2) turn order 4, 3) turn order 1, 4) turn order 2, 5) turn order 3, etc. (see the diagram on page 7).

Example (page 8): Peter, Martina and Philipp play. It is Peter's turn. He chooses to send off a train of the red company. There is a total of 5 red shares issued. Therefore, the train may take a route of no more than 5 cards. Also, the route must include at least one red station. The ideal route (a maximum of 5 cards) includes 3 stations and an additional bonus of +1. Thus, the entire payment consists of 4 cards. Peter starts out by adding the top card from any deck to his hand. Then Martina adds one card to her hand. After that Philipp adds one to his. Even though it is Peter's turn again, he may not take another card since he only owns a single red share. Therefore, the last card falls to Martina who owns 2 red shares and who precedes Philipp.

D) Change the Turn Order

This action is free of charge. To change the turn order, you simply exchange your turn order card for the turn order card of any other player.

The following rules must be followed

If you exchange your turn order card for another player's turn order card that shows its back ("The train has left"), the new turn order card of that other player must also show its back (since he already has had his turn during this round).
If you exchange your turn order card for another player's turn order card that shows the front side (the engine), the new turn order card of that other player must also show the front side (since he has not yet taken his turn during this round).
Note: If you exchange your turn order card for any turn order card with a higher number, you may not take another turn the very same round! After your turn, only those players still follow you whose turn order cards have not been flipped over to their backs yet.

End of Your Turn

Once you have completed your turn, you flip your turn order card over to its back ("The train has left"). Then it is the player's turn whose turn order card shows the lowest number and who has not taken his turn yet.

End of a Round

After the last turn order card has been flipped over to its back ("The train has left"), the round ends. If, during this round, one of the two end conditions has been met (see below), the game ends and you determine the winner. Otherwise, all turn order cards are flipped over to the front side again and a new round begins with the "Government aid".

End of the Game

Express 01 can be played either as a short game or a long game. Be sure to agree on a version before you start to play.

The short game ends after the round during which one of the following two conditions is met: 12 or more base cards are upgraded, or 3 decks are used up.
The long game ends after the round during which one of the following two conditions is met: 24 or more base cards are upgraded, or 4 decks are used up.

Check at the end of every action if one of the two end conditions is met. If so, finish the current round in full, so that each player has had the same total number of turns. Afterward, determine the winner.

Determine the Winner

At the end of the game, determine the total capital of each player (active and passive). Calculate your capital in the same way as for the "Government aid":

a) Each card in hand is worth 1 point (active capital).

b) Each of your company shares gives you points equal to the number of stations within the network that belong to the respective company (passive capital).

c) Each pair of unequal base cards (consisting of one route card and one station card) that you have in front of you is worth 1 point (passive capital).

d) If a player owns the black engine, that player receives 2 additional points.

The player who has accumulated the most capital (the most points) wins. In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most company shares wins. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared.

Example: a) 10 cards in hand = 10 points; b) 2 red shares (x 3 red stations in network) = 6 points; 3 blue shares (x 2 blue stations in network) = 6 points; 1 yellow share (x 0 yellow stations in network) = 0 points; c) 2 pairs of unequal base cards (1 route card + 1 station card each) = 2 points; d) The black engine = 2 points. In total = 26 points.

The Game with the USA Expansion

Remove the following regular cards:

the 35 Germany base cards (numbers 001 to 035)
the 18 terminal stations (numbers 4XX)
the 13 central stations (numbers 6XX)

Instead, use the USA cards:

the 30 USA base cards (numbers 051 to 080)
the 17 double stations (numbers 301 to 303, 331 to 338, and 361 to 366)

Setup

Follow the instructions on pages 3 and 4 with the following modifications:

Place the USA base cards (numbers 051 to 080) as game board on the table, so that they combine to form a partial map of the United States. The cards are placed in ascending order from northwest to southeast.
Place the wooden blockade upright between base cards 060 and 061.
Sort the upgrade cards by type and each type according to its stage (color), forming a total of 9 decks: the route cards, the through stations and the double stations.

Playing the Game

The game play is essentially the same as in the base game. The following special rules apply though:

a) The construction of the railroads network starts at the East Coast. If you are the first player, you have to upgrade one of the following 3 base cards during your first turn: 064, 071, or 072.
b) The first player who reaches the West gets a bonus. If you are the first to upgrade either base card 051, 056, 065, or 073, you can immediately add one of the top cards from any deck to your hand.
c) Since there is neither a neighboring country nor the sea beyond the most western and southern cards of the game board, you are allowed to build open tracks that are heading for the western or southern edge of the game board.
d) Canada as well as water divide the base cards 060 and 061. You may neither build tracks that connect these two cards nor tracks that abruptly end there. In other words, you may not build tracks that either cross or directly head for the blockade.

Cards Explanation

Card number: This card may only be upgraded with (replaced by) cards with the numbers listed.
Route card (without any station).
Colored engine = company share: This route card serves as a share of the company of that color. The number next to the engine only indicates the total number of shares of that color in the respective deck.
Neutral terminal station with additional bonus +1: white stations belong to no company, they grant additional bonuses, however.
Through station of the red company.
Central station of the blue company (with additional bonus +1).
Double station (USA expansion): with one station of the green company and one neutral station (the additional bonus +1 applies to the neutral station only). This station card may only be upgraded with cards with neutral stations (white) or cards with green stations (since you only have stations of those companies among the eligible upgrade cards).

The Black Engine

The black engine may be used by its owner during his turn. If the player did not use it during his turn, it counts as additional capital during the "Government aid" and at the end of the game.

Company shares are secure: As long as you own the black engine, your shares cannot be taken away by the other players (see "Acquire shares").
Use it as active capital: You can use the black engine when you have to pay for an action. It has the exact same value as one card in hand. Additional costs have to be paid for with other cards from your hand. After you have used the black engine in this manner, you must discard it (until the next "Government aid" the black engine has no owner).
Use it as one company share: You can use the black engine as one company share during a bonus payment. This applies only to the payment itself. It may neither be used when you select a company nor when the length of the route is determined. If you want to use the black engine during a bonus payment, you simply declare this. After you have received your payment, you must discard the black engine.
Additional capital: If you have not used the black engine during the previous round, it is worth 2 additional points when calculating your capital (see "Government aid" and "Determine the winner").

Note: The page 12 "Setting up the dividers" panel is a box-assembly diagram and is not transcribed.