Mini Rails Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Round Overview
  • Draw Phase
  • Action Phase
    • Buy shares from the company
    • Build tracks for the company
  • Taxation Phase
• Game End
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Quick Reference
  • Round Overview
  • Game End & Scoring
  • Setup
  • Hex Types
• Credits

Components

• 7 x Map Tiles
• 6 x Frame Tiles
• 1 x Central Market Board
• 5 x Player Profit Boards
• 10 x Player Action Tiles
• 10 x Player Order Markers (2 each of 5 colors)
• 72 x Train Company Discs (12 each of 6 colors)
• 1 x Cloth Bag
• 1 x English Rulebook

Game Setup

1. Build the 6 map frames together as shown. The order of the colors does not matter, but map frames must be flipped to the same side to be connected (Side A / Side B).
2. Put the tile with "The Big City" (+5 hex) in the center, and the remaining 6 map tiles randomly around it. All tiles are double sided, and the facing & orientation is also random.
3. Put the Market board near the map, and make sure all players can easily reach them.
4. According to the number of players, put the correct number of Company Discs in the draw bag and 1 or 3 Company Discs of each color on the starting hexes of the map, next to their respective frame colors.

Players	Starting Hexes per company	Number of discs per company in bag	Total discs used in game per company
3	3	7	10
4	1	9	10
5	1	11	12

5. All players take a set of 2 order markers, 1 Profit Board, 2 action tiles of the same color.
6. The player who most recently bought a train ticket will be the starting player. Clockwise from the starting player, each player places 1 of their markers on the leftmost space of the order track. Then counterclockwise from the last player, each player places their remaining marker on the leftmost space of the top order track. (Thus player order for the first round will be A, B, C, D, E, E, D, C, B, A)
7. You are now ready to start the game!

The Market Board has an Order Track, a Market Track, and a Taxed Area.

Round Overview

The game will last for 6 rounds. Each round consists of 3 phases: "Draw Phase", "Action Phase" and "Taxation Phase". Players will draw tokens to refill the market board during the draw phase, and each player will perform 2 different actions in the Action phase. Once all players have completed their actions, one company will be taxed, and then players start the next round.

Each player will have two turns during a round, but the turn order can change every round.

Players take turns in the order of their player markers on the turn order track. It's possible a player will take two actions in a row.

Draw Phase

1. Randomly draw the specified amount of Company Discs from the bag according to the amount of players (twice the number of players, plus one), and place them from left to right on the (empty) market track of the market board.

Players	Number of discs drawn per round
3	7
4	9
5	11

2. All players place their 2 action tiles face-up on their Profit Board.

In the action phase of each round, players will be moving their markers from the order track to the market track. This market track will then become the order track of the next round, and the empty order track will become the market track to be filled on the next draw phase.

Action Phase

Starting from the owner of the leftmost marker on the order track, players will take turns performing 1 action of their choice. There are 2 different actions, "Buy shares" and "Build tracks", in this game, and every player must do each action once per round.

Whenever you take an action, you have to remove the corresponding action tile from your Profit Board to show it is used, and cannot be chosen again.

On your turn, first take your marker and use it to replace a disc of your choice on the market track. Then you use the disc to do one of the following actions, Invest or Build, and then the next player on the order track takes a turn.

Buy shares from the company

1. Remove your "Buy Tile" from your Profit Board.
2. Chose any disc on the market track, and replace it with your order marker.
3. Place the chosen disc on the "0" space of your Profit Board. This represents that you have bought stock from the chosen company, and will track the relative earnings of each separate stock when it is moved.

Example: The leftmost marker on the order track is orange, so now it is the Orange player's turn. Both of his action tiles are still on his Profit Board. (1) He decides to invest in the Red company, so first he removes the invest tile from the board. (2) Then he takes his order marker on the left and uses it to replace a red rail disc on the market track, and puts it on the "0" space of his Profit Board. His turn ends, and now it is the Purple player's turn.

Build tracks for the company

1. Remove your "Build Tile" from your Profit Board.
2. Choose any disc on the market track, and replace it with your order marker.
3. Place the chosen disc on a hex that is adjacent to a disc of the same color, and does not have any other disc on it.
4. Adjust the positions of all stocks in this color on all players' Profit Boards according to the type of the hex you build in.

White spots represent a profit and will increase the relative value of all stocks of this company by 1 for each white spot in the hex.

Red spots represent a deficit and stocks will decrease by 1 for each red spot in the hex.

If the chosen disc has no legal hex to be placed on the map (the company is completely blocked off), then you must place the disc on its frame, and count it as a loss for this company. Decrease the relative value of all stocks of this color by 1. You cannot place the disc on the frame when there is a legal hex on the map.

Example: (1) It is the Purple player's turn, and she chooses to build tracks for the blue company. (2) She takes her marker and uses it to replace a blue disc on the market track. (3) Then she takes the blue disc and places it on an empty hex adjacent to another blue track on the map. Since she placed it on a "Farmland" hex, all blue stocks will increase in relative value by 2. The Orange player has 1 blue stock, and the Purple player has 2 blue stocks. (4) Move all 3 blue stocks 2 spaces in the positive direction.

Example: It is the Green player's turn, and he chooses to build for the yellow company. (1) However, the yellow company has nowhere to build on the map, so the disc must be placed on the frame. The Green player has 1 yellow stock, and the Black player has 2 yellow stocks. (2) Move all 3 yellow stocks 1 space in the negative direction.

Taxation Phase

After all players have taken 2 different actions, there will be 1 unchosen company disc on the market track. This company will be taxed and their earnings will be secured.

1. Move the remaining company disc to the leftmost empty space on the Taxed Area of the Market Board.
2. Move player markers to the left as needed to fill the empty space on the market track. This will be the player order for the next round.
3. Start the next round if there are any remaining spaces on the taxed area.

Example: All players have taken 2 actions, so now the remaining company on the market track gets taxed. (1) A white disc remains, so it is moved to the taxed area. (2) All player markers to the right of the empty space are moved 1 space to the left. The player order of next round is Green, Black, Orange, Green, Purple, Purple, Black and Orange.

Game End

The game ends after 6 rounds. All spaces of the taxed area will be filled, and all discs will be drawn from the bag.

First you remove stocks due to taxation status, and then all players will add up the relative value of their remaining stocks to see who has made the most profit.

Since players will take 1 invest action and 1 build action every round, at the end of the game each player should have exactly 6 stocks on their Profit Board.

1. For all companies that have at least 1 disc in the taxed area, every player removes all stocks of those companies in the loss zone (negative value) from their Profit Board.
2. For each company that has no discs in the taxed area, every player removes all stocks of those companies in the profit zone (positive value) from their Profit Board.
3. The remaining stocks on your Profit Board will be counted towards your score. Each players add the relative value of each of their remaining stocks together.
4. The player with the highest total profit wins the game.

In case of a tie, the player with the most valuable stock (higher relative value) wins. If there is still a tie, then compare the 2nd valuable stock and so on. If all stocks have the same value, then players share a combined victory.

Scoring Example: At the end of the game, the Red, White, Tan and Blue companies have paid taxes, so all stocks in these 4 colors are removed from the negative zone. Since Yellow and Gray companies did not pay taxes, all stocks in these 2 colors are removed from the positive zone.

Finally, all players add up the relative values of their remaining stocks. Orange's total profit is +11, Purple is +7, Green is +6, Black is +10. The Orange player wins the game.

• Orange Player: +1 + 4 + 6 = +11
• Purple Player: 0 + 2 + 3 + 6 − 4 = +7
• Green Player: 0 + 4 + 5 − 3 = +6
• Black Player: 0 + 2 + 3 + 5 = +10

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Is it possible to win if all remaining stocks are in the negative zone?

Yes. Then the winner will be the player that has lost the least money, which is a smaller number after the negative sign.

Scoring Example:

• Orange Player: +1 − 3 = −2
• Purple Player: 0 + 1 + 2 − 3 − 5 = −5
• Green Player: 0 − 1 = −1
• Black Player: 0 + 3 − 3 − 7 = −7

The Orange player's total profit is -2, Purple is -5, Green is -1, Black is -7. The winner is Green.

Q2. What happens when a stock on the +10 space needs to be increased?

Stocks cannot move past +10 or -10, all other stocks of the same color will be moved normally.

Quick Reference

Round Overview

Game lasts for 6 rounds. Each round has 3 phases: Draw Phase → Action Phase → Taxation Phase

Draw Phase — Draw discs to refill the market. Players reset their action tiles.

Players	Number of Discs drawn per round
3	7
4	9
5	11

Action Phase — Turn order is from left to right on the order track.

On your turn, choose an action tile that is still on your profit board to use it. Choose any disc on the market track, and replace it with your leftmost pawn from the order track.

Buy Shares

1. Place the chosen disc on the "0" space of your profit board.

Build Tracks

1. Place the chosen disc on an empty hex that is adjacent to at least another disc of the same color.
2. Move all stocks of this color according to the type of hex.

Taxation Phase — The last remaining disc on the market track is moved to the taxed area of the market board. Game continues until all spaces of the taxed area are filled.

Game End & Scoring

Game lasts for 6 rounds. All discs will be drawn, and 6 discs will be placed in taxed area.

1. Colors that have been taxed are removed from the negative region of profit boards.
2. Colors that were not taxed are removed from the positive region of profit boards.
3. Count total value of remaining stocks for each player.
4. The player with the highest total wins the game.

In case of a tie, the player with the most valuable stock wins. If there is still a tie, then compare the 2nd most valuable stock and so on.

Setup

Build the map as shown below. The tile with "The Big City" must be at the center of the map. The order of the outer frame tiles, and location & facing of the remaining map tiles can be random.

Hex Types

• Suburbs: +3
• Farmland: +2
• Plains: +1
• Forest: −1
• Lake: −2
• Mountains: −3
• The Big City: +5

Use the setup chart from Game Setup to place discs on the map, and add the correct amount of discs to the bag.

Credits

• Publisher — Moaideas Game Design
• Game Designer — Mark Gerrits
• Game Developer — AFONG, Desnet Amane
• Cover Illustration — Steve Tse
• Art Director — keykid
• Graphics — Lio, keykid
• Layout — Lio, Desnet Amane
• Rulebook — AFONG, Desnet Amane
• Proofing — Stéphane Athimon, Vincent van Doorn, Jens Alfke
• Special Thanks — Chen Chih Fan, GxAllen, Jogkong, Smoox Chen
• Playtesters — The members of Les Mardis Ludiques, the members of Bonne Société, the members of TBD Playtest Group

Deepest gratitude to John Bohrer for years of creating great train games that helped inspire Mini Rails. – Mark Gerrits

©2017 Moaideas Game Design. Made in Taiwan.