Skyline Express Roll & Write
Skyline Express Roll & Write Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
A players carriage consists of 6 compartments each having 2 seats by the window and 2 seats by the aisle.
The players' goal is to fill their carriage with passengers and gain the most victory points at the end of the game. Victory points are gained in 3 different ways:
- Goals
- Personas
- Services
The game ends when all players fill their carriages completely.
Setup
Give each player a player sheet. Put the 5 colored pens and 4 dice within reach.
The first player is the person who most recently rode a train.
Before starting the game players need to choose which Goals will give them points at the end of the game. In order to do that the first player must roll all 4 dice and match their colors and values with the proper spots in the Goals area.
All players circle the chosen Goals on their player sheets (all players have the same Goals).
Example: If first player rolled a value 1 blue die they mark the Goal which gives 5 points for each compartment where 2 green passengers sit across with 2 blue passengers.
Gameplay
Dice represent passengers and their values provide different bonuses.
The first player rolls all 4 dice, chooses 1 and:
- Places a passenger of the chosen color in any available seat by coloring that space with the matching color.
- Depending on the die value the player receives 1 of 3 bonuses:
- Dice value 1 - Player gains 2 Tickets. Mark the Tickets by coloring in the first empty spots on the ticket track.
- Dice value 2/3/4 - Player gains 1 Ticket and 1 Dice point. Mark the Tickets and Dice points by coloring in the first empty spots on the ticket track and dice point track respectively.
- Dice value 5/6 - This passenger is a Persona. Mark a Persona by coloring in the spot below his seat. Victory points gained by Personas are explained in the GAME END segment of this rulebook. Any number of Personas can be seated in 1 compartment.
One by one, players take turns choosing dice and placing passengers in their carriages. Once all players have taken their turns the first player marker is passed to the left and a new round begins.
Special Actions
On their turn players may perform any number of special actions.
Dice Action
- A player may spend 1 dice point in order to change the value of a chosen die by +/- 1. Changing 1 to 6 or vice versa is not allowed.
- A player may spend 3 dice points in order to place a passenger of a different color than the chosen die.
Ticket Action
A player may spend 5 tickets in order to pick 1 of the available Services. The player marks the chosen Service by coloring the spot below it. Other players must cross out that Service from their player sheets. It becomes unavailable to them for the rest of the game.
Note: The player sheet contains 2 sets of Services. In a 3-4 player game all Services are available. In a 1-2 player game only one set is available so players may cross out the 3-4 player set of Services to avoid confusion.
Note: A player cannot have 2 Services of the same type.
Spending Dice Points and Tickets
During the game players mark their dice points and tickets by coloring available spots on their player sheets. In order to mark that a player spent a certain amount of points or tickets, the corresponding number of spots needs to be crossed out. They will be unavailable to the player for the rest of the game.
Game End
The game ends when all players fill their carriages with passengers.
Final scoring takes place:
Goals
Each player checks which Goals (from the ones selected during setup) they were able to complete. Players gain victory points for each completed goal (point value is printed on the Goal). Players can gain points multiple times for the same Goal if it is completed in more than one compartment.
Personas
Each Persona is worth 1 victory point + 1 point for every passenger of the same color in the same compartment as the Persona (other Personas of the same color also count). This way each Persona can be worth a maximum of 4 victory points (1 for the Persona + 3 for passengers of the same color in the compartment).
Example: The player has 4 yellow Personas in one compartment. Each of them is worth 4 victory points (1 for the Persona + 3 for other passengers). A whole compartment filled with Personas of the same color is worth 16 victory points in total!
Services
Players gain 2 victory points for every pair of passengers in their carriage in the colors present on the Service they obtained.
Example: The player marked a service with red and green passengers. He has 4 red passengers in his carriage and 8 green passengers. Therefore he has 4 pairs of green and red giving him 8 victory points.
The player with the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player who has the most available dice points is the winner. If it's still a tie, players share the victory.
Description of Goals
| Goal | Description |
|---|---|
| Yellow [1-2] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 2 blue passengers sit across 2 red passengers |
| Yellow [3-4] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 2 yellow passengers sit across 2 blue passengers |
| Yellow [5-6] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 2 yellow passengers sit across 2 green passengers |
| Blue [1-2] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 2 green passengers sit across 2 blue passengers |
| Blue [3-4] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 2 green passengers sit across 2 red passengers |
| Blue [5-6] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 2 red passengers sit across 2 yellow passengers |
| Green [1-2] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 1 green passenger is surrounded by 3 passengers of the same color (apart from green) |
| Green [3-4] | Gain 5 victory points for each compartment where 1 yellow passenger is surrounded by 3 passengers of the same color (apart from yellow) |
| Green [5-6] |
2 Player Game
Choosing dice in a 2 player game is played out differently to a 3-4 player game.
- The 1st player takes ONE die and resolves it.
- 2nd player takes TWO dice and resolves them.
- The 1st player takes the last die and resolves it.
This way during one round each player places two passengers in their carriage.
Solo Game
A solitaire game looks similar to a multiplayer game with additional changes listed below.
Gameplay
The player is always the starting player.
Give the opponent their own player sheet which you will fill out for them.
After rolling dice the player choses 1 die for himself and 1 die for the opponent. He then rerolls the remaining two dice and again choses 1 for himself and 1 for the opponent.
Choosing Dice for the AI Opponent
When choosing a die for the AI opponent follow the below priority list. If a priority doesn't resolve the choice, move on to the next one:
- Opponent takes a die of a color it has the least of in his carriage.
- Opponent takes a die with the highest value.
- Opponent takes a die of a color that gives him the most points from obtained Services.
- Player decides.
Whenever the AI opponent has enough dice points to change the value of the chosen die to a 5 (therefore placing a Persona) he MUST do it.
Immediately upon gaining 5 tickets the AI opponent MUST pick an available Service that gives him the most points at the moment of obtaining it. If more than 1 Service provides the same amount of victory points, the AI opponent picks the leftmost and topmost one.
Passenger Placement Rules
The AI opponent always tries to place as many passengers of the same color in one compartment as possible.
When choosing a passenger of a color that isn't in the carriage yet, place it in an empty compartment.
Subsequent passengers of that color will be placed in that compartment.
When a compartment is filled up and the AI has to place a new passenger of that color, he places that passenger in the next available empty compartment.
If there are no more empty compartments available, he places the passenger in the first available space starting from the top row and going to the right.
Scoring
- Opponent DOESN'T score victory points for Goals.
- Opponent scores DOUBLE victory points for Personas.
- Opponent scores victory points for Services as in a standard multiplayer game.
In order to win the player must have more victory points than the AI opponent. In case of tie, the AI opponent wins the game.