The Long Road (2018)
The Long Road (2018) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 15 Destination cards
- 30 Character cards
- 4 decks of 15 Caravan cards
- 7 Boss cards
- 1 Sheriff star
- 2 End of the Game doubleface tiles
- Weapon pieces (12 knives, 5 colts, 3 rifles)
- Coins (20 x 1$, 10 x 2$, 6 x 5$, 6 x 10$, 6 x 20$, 4 x 50$)
- 20 hat pawns (5 for each color)
- 3 On the Road tiles
- 4 Reached Destination tiles
Setup
Separate the Destination cards in 3 decks, according to the symbol shown on the back (teepee, cactus, canyon). Put them at the center of the game area face down. Then flip the first card of each deck and put it next to it.
For each flipped card, put the correct amount of coins and knives on the corresponding deck, according to the quantity shown on the top of the card.
Example: In this situation you put 3 coins and 1 knife on the corresponding deck.
Randomly choose the first player and give him the Sheriff star.
Separate the Caravan cards according to the color of the back, and give a deck to each player.
From his own deck, each player should draw 3 cards that will compose the starting hand. In a game with less than 4 players, put the unused decks on the side of the game area. You won't need them now.
Give to each player: 5 hat pawns in the same color of the back of his Caravan cards, and 6 dollars.
Shuffle the 7 Boss cards keeping the side with the boss illustration face down and give one of them to each player. After taking a look at it, keep it in front of you with the Player Aid face up.
Note: Those cards will give you an extra bonus at the end of the game. In the meantime, while they are still face down, they are also a good player aid that will help you in the gameplay.
Randomly draw 1 End of the Game tile and put it with one of the faces up on the side of the game area. Put the other back into the box.
Put the 4 Reached Destination tiles and the 3 On the Road tiles on the side of the game area.
Finally, put the remaining weapons and coins on the side of the game area, as a general supply. In a game with less than 4 players, put some weapons back into the box:
- 2 players: put back into the box 2 colts and 2 rifles
- 3 players: put back into the box 1 colt and 1 rifle
Forming the team
The last thing to do before beginning the game is the creation of the starting character team. We propose two modes: one for beginners, and the other for games in which all the players already know the Character cards and their abilities.
First game players
If there is anyone who is playing The Long Road for the first time, we suggest using the pre-established decks, since he/she still does not know the abilities of the characters. Proceed as follows: separate the Character cards according to the letter (A, B, C, D, E or F) shown in the bottom left corner of each card forming 6 decks face down. Randomly give 1 deck to each player and put back the unused decks into the box.
Expert players
Shuffle the Character cards and give 6 of them to each player. Put the unused cards (if any) back into the box. Each player simultaneously chose one of the cards in his hand and puts it face down in front of him. When each player has done this, everyone passes the remaining cards face down to the player on his left. This operation has to be repeated until each player has one card in his hand. Discard this card and put it back into the box.
Pick the 5 cards you have chosen: this is your Character card team that, together with the 3 Caravan cards, forms your starting hand.
Gameplay
Players will play cards in order to lead the steers to the destinations, where they will be sold by the characters assigned to that caravan.
Starting from the first player and proceeding clockwise, players will alternately take turns until the end of the game.
As summarized by the Player Aid, during your turn you will take some actions, some of them are mandatory, others are optional, but you have to take them in the order as they are listed.
Changing your card hand
Optional action - Paying 2$, you can discard from 1 to 3 cards from the ones in your hand and draw the same number of cards from your deck. Put the discarded cards at the bottom of the deck, in the order you prefer.
Playing 1 Caravan card
Mandatory action - You must play 1 Caravan card from your hand and add it to one of the 3 caravans, in the space on the right side of the Destination cards (see the next page for more details). To be added, the Caravan card has to show (in the upper right corner) the same symbol (teepee, cactus or canyon) illustrated on the Destination card.
Note: The Caravan cards Crossroad and River don't have symbols. It means that you can play them on any destination.
If the Caravan card you play shows the sign symbol in the lower left corner, take one of the rewards of your choice (1 coin or 1 knife) that are on the corresponding Destination deck. If a reward is exhausted, you have to take the other one.
Note: The sign symbol is shown on all the Caravan cards except for Canyon and River.
Playing 1 Character card
Optional action - If you didn't play a character in this caravan yet (i.e. on the left of the destination on which you played the last Caravan card), you can play one by placing the card face down on the left of the Destination card (see above) and placing a hat pawn on it. The placing order is important, so remember always to place the card at the very left of the last played Character card.
Note: You can take a look at the character cards you already played at any time. You can recognize them by the hat pawn in your color.
Card showing Variant
This variant was thought for players who don't like surprises. During the game, character cards are always played face up instead of face down.
During the setup, remember to leave the Preacher and the Doctor Character cards in the box. If you want to use the pre-established decks, use just the A, D, E or F deck.
Applying the effect of the Caravan card
Optional action - Each Caravan card shows a place (Store Coach, General Store, Saloon etc.) with an effect. After you play the card, you can immediately apply the effect on it.
Buying a weapon
Optional action - If you want, you can buy a weapon paying the cost shown by the chosen weapon (2$ for the knife, 4$ for the colt, 6$ for the rifle). To do this, put the coins back to the general supply.
Arming a character
Optional action - If you have weapons in your personal supply, you can decide to assign them to your already played characters. To do this, put one or more weapon pieces on the chosen Character card(s). Weapons will remain there until the destination is reached (there is no limit to the number of weapons you can assign to a character).
Restore your hand by drawing Caravan cards
Mandatory action - Before passing the turn, you have to draw Caravan cards from your deck until you have again 3 of them in your hand.
Note: In a 2 or 3 player game, in case your caravan deck is exhausted, draw from one of the unused caravan decks.
Reaching a destination
A destination is reached when all the rewards on the Destination deck are exhausted, as a result of adding a card with a sign to the caravan.
If you are the player that caused the reaching of a destination, complete your turn and then take the corresponding Reached Destination tile.
Example: The 2nd destination is reached. The player who closed the caravan takes the tile (on the left). At the end of the game it will be worth 2$, as shown on the back of the tile (on the right).
Then the steer sale takes place: flip the face down characters on the left of the reached destination, paying attention not to change the order and leaving on them the weapons and the hats they have on. One by one, activate the characters according to their Activation Value (AV): this is the sum of their number (shown on the upper left corner) plus the number shown on the weapons placed on it (+2 for a knife, +5 for a colt and +8 for a rifle).
Characters are activated in descending value order. If there is a tie, the first is the one which was played first (the one that is closer to the Destination card).
Note: Some Character cards (Baron, Scout, Saloon Girl) show the + sign close to their number. It means that their AV can increase depending on the Caravan cards that are on the destination.
Example: in this situation the activation order is: Gambler (2+8=10), Gunman (6), Officer (3+2=5), Mountain Man (2), Mayor (2).
Once activated, the character uses his ability. Usually characters abilities let you take a Caravan card from the caravan and take the proceeds from the steer sale according to the price shown on the Destination card (in the example on top: 4$ for white steers and 2$ for black steers). Moreover, almost all the characters have another effect written on the card. In most cases, this effect concerns Caravan cards or characters still in the caravan when activated.
Example: The Gunman gains 2$ because of the armed Officer (the Gambler was already resolved). Then he takes a Caravan card (Ranch), sells 1 white steer and 2 black steers, that are worth 8$ (4$ + 2$ x 2).
Keep the Caravan cards you took this way under the Boss card, until the end of the game.
Note: It is possible that a character leaves empty handed (all the cards are already taken by characters that were activated before it).
Anytime a character is activated, discard the weapons on it (if any) putting them back to the general supply, and place the hat pawn on the side of the Destination card forming a pile, from the hat of the character first activated at the bottom, to the hat of the character last activated on top.
When all the characters have been activated, starting from the player with the hat on top of the pile and proceeding to the bottom, players take back their hats (putting them back in their supply), and choose a Character card between the ones on the left of the just reached destination. This happens no matter who played the character.
Example: By reference to the last example, the pile would be the one on the left. The first player who chose the Character card is the red player, then the green player, then again red, then yellow and finally again green.
¡Compañeros! Variant
We here propose a variant to let you play games in which the starting character team is never changed.
If you decide to play this variant, the moment a destination is reached, when one of the character you played is activated apply the effect and take it back to your hand. Take back the hat of your color in your supply.
Note: In this case, remember during the Setup to discard the End of the Game tile that refers to the characters AV, and play with the other one (randomly choosing a side).
When all the characters have been taken back by the players, discard in a common pile the Caravan cards (if any) left on the game area. Finally, the Destination card is discarded too.
If the reached destination is not the 4th, flip a new card from the Destination deck of the reached destination and place the corresponding rewards on it. Then the game goes on from where it was interrupted, that is from the turn of the player that follows the player who has the last Reached Destination tile.
If the reached destination is the 4th, flip a new card from the Destination deck anyway, and place the corresponding rewards on it. Place an On the Road tile on each face up Destination card.
The game continues until the player at the right of the one with the Sheriff star has played his turn, so that all the players have played the same number of turns.
Note: Obviously, if the player on the right of the one who has the Sheriff star reaches the 4th destination, the game immediately ends.
It could happen that other destinations are reached before the end of the game. In this case, proceed with the steers division as already described, but referring to the prices shown by the On the Road tiles (1$ per steer).
End of the Game
At the end of the game, resolve all the incomplete caravans on the game area as if they were reached destinations. Each player takes back the characters as described.
Boss card: Show your Boss card: add the amount of money gained with this card to your coins, counting the Caravan cards that you took during the game. The Boss lets you gain 6$ for each Caravan card of a specific kind (in the example, the Crossroad).
The player who realized the condition on the End of the Game tile gains 8$ extra (in the example on the right, the player with the highest number of Caravan cards). In case of a tie between two or more players, all the involved players get the bonus.
Finally, add to your money the amount shown on the Reached Destination tiles you have.
If you still have colts or rifles in your supply, you can sell them respectively at 1$ and 3$.
The player with the largest amount of money wins the game. In case of a tie, the victory is shared (or you can fight a duel in front of a saloon at midday, if you prefer!).
Clarifications on the cards
You can find the following symbols on the cards:
- 1 CARAVAN CARD (Ex. Ranch): a Caravan card, shown in the rulebook as an example card (Ranch) and its back.
- STEER: with this symbol we refer to all the steers on the upper left of the Caravan cards. We use the following symbols to indicate steers of a specific color: BLACK STEER or WHITE STEER.
- 1 CHARACTER: sometimes Character cards exhibit the following wording:
- "ally": there is a hat of your color on it.
- "enemy": there is a hat of a color different than yours on it.
Cards are self-explanatory, however some of them may need a clarification:
Baron, Saloon Girl, Scout. They increase their AV for each Caravan card of a specific kind that is on the destination. If a Caravan card of that kind is taken by other players before they are activated, their AV decreases.
Drunker. The drunker takes cards up to a maximum of 4 steers. It means that he can take up to 4 cards with 1 steer each. The sum of the steers shown on the cards can never be more than 4.
Adventurer. The character added by the Adventurer has to be placed, together with its weapons (if any), to the left of the other characters on the destination, as it was the last character.
Trading Post. The character moved by the Trading Post must be placed to the left of the other characters on the destination. If it goes next to the Preacher, it must be flipped face up. If the Preacher is moved, the character he moves next to has to be flipped face up.
Gunsmith and Undersheriff. Place the weapons taken by the Gunsmith and the Undersheriff in your supply. They won't take any weapons if the general supply is exhausted.
Ranch. The card that you play with the Ranch bonus lets you take the reward (if due) and use its bonus. You may not play another character, except for the bonus of the Saloon. You can play 2 Ranch consecutively. Using the Ranch, you could reach more than one destination in the same turn. They must be resolved at the end of the turn, in the same order they were reached.
Preacher. Flip the character on the left of the Preacher. If you move the Preacher because of the Trading Post effect, the face up characters still remain face up, and also the character next to him in the new destination has to be flipped face up.
Prospector. If there are less than 3 Caravan cards when the Prospector is activated, he takes the ones available. After the steer sale he keeps one of them, no matter how many cards were available.
Doctor. You can always play the Doctor on a destination, even if there is an ally character. In this case the Doctor has to be played face up, otherwise play it face down as usual. The Doctor is played face down even if it's added with the Saloon effect.
Sheriff. When the Sheriff is activated, he takes a weapon from an enemy character, modifying his AV.