Next Station: London
Next Station: London Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
GAME CONTENTS
- 1 pad with maps of London
- 4 different colored pencils : purple, blue, pink and green.
- 11 Station cards: 6 Street cards (blue background) and 5 Underground cards (pink and yellow background)
- 5 Shared Objective cards
- 4 Pencil Power cards
OBJECT OF THE GAME
Score as many points as you can by optimizing the routes of the 4 Underground lines on your map of London.
SETUP
Each player takes one Map of London sheet and one colored pencil and places this in front of them.
- In a 3 player game, place the remaining pencil on the table between two of the players. This pencil will be used later in the game.
- In a 2 player game, place one each of the 2 remaining pencils to the left of both players. These pencils will be used later in the game.
- For the solo game, follow the instructions found at the end of these rules in the section titled Solo Mode.
When playing your first game, it is recommended to leave the 5 Shared Objective cards and the 4 Pencil Power cards in the box. They can be added in the future for a more advanced game after playing several rounds without them.
See Advanced Modules.
The last player to have taken the Underground is the controller for the first round.
GAME OVERVIEW
The game is played over 4 rounds. In each round, all the players draw the specific Underground line that matches their pencil color on their Map sheet. At the end of the game, everyone will have drawn their own network of 4 Underground lines in the city of London, one line of each color.
MAP OF LONDON
Each sheet shows the city of London where you will draw your Underground lines and a scoring zone where you will note your points.
DISTRICTS
The city of London is split into 13 districts:
- 9 “Main” districts, each containing several Underground stations,
- 4 “Secondary” districts, found on the four corners of the city and each containing a single Underground station.
STATIONS
There are 4 kinds of station, each represented by a symbol:
- Square
- Triangle
- Pentagon
- Circle
HOW TO PLAY
In each of the 4 rounds of the game carry out the 4 following phases in order:
1. Identify your departure station
Look at your map of London and find where your departure station (where your line will begin) is marked. This station is the same color as the pencil you are using in this round. Each player has one departure station that is theirs for the round.
2. Build your Underground line
This construction phase comprises of several turns (between 5 and 10) according to the Station cards that are flipped over. On each turn, players can draw a line to complete a section of their Underground line with their colored pencil to gradually build their Underground line.
SECTIONS OF THE UNDERGROUND
An Underground line is made up of several sections joined together. A section is a line directly joining two stations together.
The controller for the round shuffles the 11 Station cards together and places these face down in a pile in the center of the table.
Each turn, the controller flips over the Station card at the top of the pile so it is face up. They place it in the middle of the playing area so that it and all previously drawn cards are visible. All the players then draw a section at the same time, respecting the Construction rules.
When the controller flips over the 5th Underground card (pink and yellow background) it signals the end of this round. Players can draw one last section on their Underground line to link their line to a station with the symbol shown on this final card.
3. Score points for your line
Each Underground line scores points based on the 3 following features: the route it takes, how many times it crosses under the Thames and the tourist sites it stops at.
Write the number of points you score for each feature in your Underground line in your score zone.
4. Get ready to build the next Underground line
(Skip this phase at the end of the 4th round!)
After you have added up all your points for your line, you will change pencils.
Pass your pencil to the player on your left, and the player on your right will give you their pencil.
In a 2 or 3 player game, if there is unused pencil to your right, take it instead. The player to your right places the pencil they just used on the table between the two of you.
In a solo game, simply take the next pencil in order (see Solo Mode).
Play the new round with the pencil you have just taken to draw a new Underground line in this color. The person sitting to the left of the controller for the previous round becomes the controller for this round.
END OF THE GAME
The game ends at the end of the fourth round when all players have drawn their network of 4 Underground lines in different colors.
Count up the points scored by your Underground network as follows:
-
Points for the 4 lines: add all the points scored from your 4 Underground lines and write this total in the last pink square found on the far right of your score line.
-
Tourist site points: on your tourist site score track, find the leftmost uncrossed circle and write this number in the corresponding symbol on your score line.
-
Interchange station points: count the points scored for all of your interchange stations. There are 3 types of Interchange stations: those connecting 2, 3 or 4 Underground lines.
- Count the number of interchange stations of each type you have across your whole network and write these numbers in their corresponding squares.
- For each type, multiply the corresponding number by the number of points scored for each type:
- each Interchange station connecting 2 lines scores 2 points,
- each Interchange station connecting 3 lines scores 5 points,
- each Interchange station connecting 4 lines scores 9 points.
- Add together the points scored by each type of Interchange station and write this total in the corresponding green square on your score line.
Work out your final score by adding together the points for your 4 Underground lines, the points for your tourist sites and the points for your Interchange stations. Write this total in the space found on the bottom right of your scoring zone.
The player with the highest score wins the game and is named the best metro planner in London.
In the event of a tie, the player with the highest score for a single Underground line is declared the winner. If a tie persists, the players involved share the victory for their brilliant planning!
CONSTRUCTION RULES
Drawing a section is always optional. If you cannot or do not want to draw a section during a turn, ignore the Station card that has just been flipped over and wait for the next card.
z Each section that you draw must be a single straight line going horizontally, vertically or diagonally following the grey potential lines laid out on the map.
The first section of an Underground line must always be drawn starting from the departure station and must be connected to a station with the same symbol as shown on the card flipped over by the controller.
Each section after this must be drawn from one end of your Underground line and must connect to a station with the same symbol as shown on the card flipped over by the controller.
Exception: see Special station cards - Railroad Switch.
Each of your sections must always link two stations together without crossing through another station or crossing over a section that has already been drawn, whether for this Underground line or any other lines.
Departure stations: as well as being the starting points for the different Underground lines at the beginning of each round, the 4 stations below are also used like normal stations. This means that it is possible to connect other Underground lines to these stations if a card with the corresponding symbol is flipped over.
You cannot go back through a station that is already part of the same Underground line.
You cannot draw more than one section going between the same two stations.
SPECIAL STATIONS
Central Station: this station, found in the center of London, is represented by the question mark symbol. This means that each player can draw a section of their Underground line that links to this station regardless of the symbol shown on the card flipped over by the controller.
Tourist sites: five stations in the city are located at tourist sites. Each site can be distinguished by the compass points surrounding their Underground station symbol.
Connecting one or more Underground lines to tourist sites will score you extra points at the end of the game. See Tourist Site Points.
Take note: the Central Station symbol is surrounded by compass points and is one of the 5 tourist sites in the city.
Joker card: if this symbol appears on the card flipped over during a turn then each player can pick any station symbol they like for the new section of their Underground.
Railroad Switch symbol: during a turn where the Railroad Switch card is flipped over, the controller immediately flips over the next Station card in the pile. The Railroad Switch card allows all the players to draw their new section starting from any of the stations already on their line.
This card allows players to create an additional branch of their Underground line onto which players can add future sections until the end of the round.
Special circumstance: if the Railroad Switch card is flipped over by the controller on the first or second turn of the round then it is ignored.
Interchange stations: from the second round to the end of the game, it is possible to link several Underground lines to the same station. This is called an Interchange station.
Each Interchange station in your rail network will score you extra points at the end of the game depending on the number of Underground lines connected to it.
See Interchange station Points.
POINTS FOR YOUR LINE
ROUTE TAKEN BY LINE
First, count how many different districts your Underground line passes through. Write this number in the corresponding box.
Reminder: the city of London is split into 13 districts: 9 main districts and 4 secondary districts.
Find the district in which your Underground line passes through the most stations. Write the number of stations it passes through in that district in the corresponding box.
CROSSINGS UNDER THE THAMES
Each section of your Underground line that passes under the Thames scores you 2 points.
Count how many sections of your Underground line pass under the Thames, multiply this number by 2, and write this total in the corresponding box.
TOURIST SITE STOPS
At the end of each round, count the number of tourist sites found on your Underground line.
For each tourist site on your line, cross off one circle on your tourist site score track. You will score additional points for tourist sites at the end of the game: see END OF THE GAME.
Take note: you can only cross out a maximum of 10 circles on your tourist site score track for a maximum of 25 points. If you would cross off more circles, you skip this action.
TOTAL POINTS SCORED BY YOUR UNDERGROUND LINE
To work out the total number of points scored by your line, multiply the number of different districts crossed by this line by the largest number of stations linked together in one district, and then add the points scored for crossing the Thames to this number.
ADVANCED MODULES
For a new challenge, you can play Next Station London with its advanced modules. Add either Shared Objective cards or Pencil Power cards into the mix, or even play with both sets of cards!
Shared Objectives (5 cards)
SETUP
- Set up the game as explained in the original rules.
- Shuffle the 5 Shared Objective cards together face down and randomly draw 2 cards from the pile. Place these 2 cards face up next to the pile of Station cards. Any unused cards are placed back in the box.
HOW TO PLAY
The 2 Shared Objective cards remain visible for the whole game. These are two independent objectives that each player can try to complete over the 4 rounds, and considers their network as a whole. Each objective that is reached by a player scores them 10 extra points at the end of the game.
Description of each Shared Objective card:
Draw your Underground network with at least 8 different Interchange stations (with at least 2 different Underground lines going through each).
Draw your Underground network such that it connects to at least one station in all 13 districts of the city.
Draw your Underground network such that it connects to all 5 tourist sites in the city.
Draw your Underground network such that it connects to all 9 stations in the central district of the city.
Draw your Underground network such that it crosses the Thames at least 6 times.
FINAL SCORING
- During the final scoring, for every Shared Objective that you have achieved with your Underground network, tick a “+10” square in the corresponding zone.
- Add 10 points per objective achieved to your total to get your final score.
Pencil Powers (4 cards)
SETUP
- Set up the game as explained in the original rules.
- Shuffle together the 4 Pencil Power cards face down and assign one random card to each pencil. Turn the cards over next to each pencil so they are face up.
In a Solo, a 2 or a 3 player game, assign one Pencil Power card to each pencil, even those not currently being used. You will use each pencil and its associated card during the different rounds of the game.
HOW TO PLAY
Each Pencil Power card is linked to one single pencil color for the entire game. Each power is helpful but can only be used once per round. Using Pencil Powers is optional and you do not have to use them in every round.
Once you have used your Pencil Power card, flip it face down in front of you until the end of the round.
Description of each Pencil Power card:
During a turn, draw a second section of your Underground line connecting to another station with the same symbol as shown on the card flipped over by the controller.
Special circumstance: if you use this power after a Joker card has been flipped over, you must draw your second section so that it connects to a station with the same symbol as your first section drawn on this turn.
Treat the Station card flipped over by the controller for this turn as if it were a Joker.
Treat the Station card flipped over by the controller for this turn as if it were accompanied by the Railroad Switch card.
At any point during this round, you can circle one of the stations of your choice on your line. This station will count for two stations instead of one when counting the points for the route taken by this line, increasing the number of stations connected to in the corresponding district.
At the end of a round, after writing down all the points scored by the line, each Pencil Power card remains with its pencil and is passed to the left during the Get ready to build the next Underground line phase.
The game is played in the same way as in the original rules until the end of the fourth round.
SOLO MODE
You can play Next Station London by yourself in the solo mode.
SETUP
- Place the 4 colored pencils on the playing area in any order in front of you.
- If you wish, you can add either Shared Objective or Pencil Power modules, or even both of them! Set up the game as explained above according to each module added.
HOW TO PLAY
All the rules are the same as for an ordinary game.
The order that you have placed the pencils is the order that you will draw your corresponding Underground lines.
Your goal is to optimize your rail network to earn as many points as possible and win the Mayor’s approval!
FINAL SCORING
When playing with either or both of the advanced modules, subtract 10 points from your score for each module used before checking the achievement table.
| < 90 | LAST STOP! Everybody off! You will need to roll up your sleeves and not sleep between stations! |
| 91 < ... < 105 | Did you take the wrong tunnel on the way? Try your luck again and use the right railroad switch this time. |
| 106 < ... < 120 | That’s it! Your project is taking off! Carry on like this and you’ll be the head of the construction team! |
| 121 < ... < 135 | Wow, you’re a real site supervisor. It’s great to see so many satisfied travellers! You’re nearly there. |
| 136 < ... < 150 | There’s no stopping you! The Mayor will definitely hire you to expand the Underground network! WELL DONE! |
| > 150 | You know the Underground like the back of your hand! You really are an underground transport expert! CONGRATULATIONS! |