The Train Game
The Train Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Playing Pieces
Six special dice, each numbered 1 to 6 with each side showing a different train car: Engine, Coal Tender, three different cargo cars, and a Caboose.
Object
To load a train with the most valuable shipment while avoiding train wrecks and equipment shortages.
To Start Each player rolls one die. High roll goes first. Play passes to the left.
On Each Turn
Players have at least three rolls of the dice. The player rolls all six dice trying to find an Engine, then a Coal Tender in that order. If on the first roll, the player finds an Engine, it is set aside. The player now looks for a Tender. After finding a Tender, the player searches for cargo. If the first roll has no Engine, then the player must reroll all six dice. If there is an Engine but no Tender, then the player must roll all the dice except the Engine. If the player makes all three of the allowed rolls without finding an Engine, a Coal Tender, and at least one cargo car or Caboose, then there is an Equipment Shortage, and no points are scored.
After acquiring an Engine, and a Tender, the player may begin collecting cargo cars. Cargo Cars and the Caboose are the only dice that score points. Engines and Coal Tenders never score points. Each cargo car scores the points on the die, so a Tanker scores 4, an Ore car scores 3, a Boxcar scores 2, and a Caboose scores 1 (see Cabooses, below). Until all three rolls are used, a player may choose which cars to add to the train to score points, and which dice to reroll, to try to score more points. Once a car is added to the train, it can not be rerolled, except in the case of Freight Trains (see below). Additional Coal Tenders and Cabooses can not be added to a train, but an additional Engine may be added to make a twin engine Freight Train (see below).
Cabooses
Cabooses are a special type of car. Even though a Caboose is only worth 1 point by itself, it can be the most valuable car on the train. When a player adds a Caboose to the end of the train, that turn ends. This happens because the Caboose can only be the last car on the train. When a train has a Caboose, however, the values of all cargo cars on the train (including the Caboose) are doubled! Choosing whether to add a Caboose or continue rolling is perhaps the most important decision that an Engineer can make. A train can never have more than one Caboose.
Editor's note: the printed rulebook reads "worth 1point"; the space is restored here.
Bonus Trains
A bonus train has one (and only one) of every type of car: 1 Engine, 1 Coal Tender, 1 Tanker, 1 Ore Carrier, 1 Boxcar, and 1 Caboose. This special type of train is worth 25 points (20 plus a 5 point bonus).
Freight Trains
An engineer may want to build a longer (more valuable) train. After a player has rolled an Engine and a Coal Tender, a second Engine may be added to the front of the train. This will increase the power of the train and allow the player to extend its length and score more points. If a player uses all six dice, has two Engines, a Coal Tender, and three cargo cars, none of which is a Caboose (which would have ended the turn), the three cargo cars may be picked up and rerolled. The player must remember the points scored on these dice before picking them up to roll again. If any of the rerolled dice are playable, they may be added to the train, and the unused dice rolled again. If the player is again able to use all three cars, this score is added to the previous total, and all three cargo cars may be picked up and rolled again. This can continue until the player chooses to stop rolling, plays a Caboose to end the train, or fails to play any of the dice rolled. If no dice are played, it is a Train Wreck, and the player scores no points, regardless of the length of the train!
Example
A player rolls all six dice and gets: 3 Boxcars, 1 Caboose, 2 Coal Tenders. Because there is no Engine, all six dice are rerolled, getting: 2 Tankers, 2 Engines, 1 Coal Tender, 1 Caboose. The player sets the Engine aside to start the train and adds the Coal Tender. The player may now add cargo cars to the train. The two Tankers are each worth 4 points, so the player adds them both. The player could choose to build a Freight Train, by adding the second engine, and/or play the Caboose to double the score and end the turn, or reroll both. The player chooses to build a Freight Train by adding the second Engine, and reroll the Caboose, getting a Boxcar. Smiling, the player adds the Boxcar and totals up the points. Tanker(4) + Tanker(4) + Boxcar(2) = 10. Since all six dice were used, the three cargo dice may be picked up and rolled again, to try and add more cars to the twin engine Freight Train. If on any roll the player does not use any of the dice rolled, all points for that turn are lost. The player rolls: Ore Car, Boxcar, Caboose. All these dice could be played to end the turn and score 32 points, but, feeling greedy, the player rerolls the Caboose, and gets a Tanker. Because all six dice were used up again, the three cargo dice may be picked up and rolled again. Adding up the score (now 19) the player rerolls the three cargo dice, getting 1 Engine, and 2 Tenders! Tragedy! A Train Wreck! The turn is over, and no points are scored!
Winning The Game
Players score points for each successful train. The game is over when one player's total reaches 100 or more points, and every player has had an equal number of turns. Player with highest total over 100 points wins!
Alternative Game
The first player rolling a point scoring train establishes a point total to beat. Every player gets a turn to beat that total. To stay in the game, a player must roll a train worth more points than the previous high. Failing to do so, that player is out of that game! If the previous high is beaten, that total now becomes the high to beat. Each player still in the game then gets one turn to beat the new high score before being eliminated. Play continues in this way until there is only one player remaining. The player is the winner of the game!
Warning
CHOKING HAZARD - Small Parts. Not for children under 3 years.