Autobahn
Autobahn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Dashboard (tracks the three eras, showing road-building costs, Truck speeds and other information)
- 1 Administration board with Departments (Lobby, 1st Floor, 2nd Floor, 3rd Floor)
- 1 Construction Office board and 1 Game board (Main Game board)
- Development Track
- 97 tiles: 52 Road sections (double-sided: single / dual carriageway), 5 Road blocks, 6 Delivery boards, 40 Bonuses
- 41 cards: 7 Route cards, 20 Improved action cards, 14 Advanced action cards
- 152 tokens: 16 Goods tokens (4 Appliances, 4 Automotive, 4 Chemicals, 4 Pharmaceuticals), 38 Delivery tokens, 34 City tokens (double-sided: 16 × 2/4, 16 × 6/8, 2 × 10/12), 64 DM coins (in denominations 1, 3, 5, 10, 20)
- 57 player pieces in 4 colours: 1 Player board, 4 Action tiles, 25 Employees, 7 Basic action cards, 8 Service Stations, 9 Unlock tokens, 1 Development token, 2 Trucks
Included in all copies of Autobahn. For Solo rules and components see the Solo mode section; for stretch goal rules and components see Stretch Goal Content; the Wine, Traffic and Services modules are included in the Kickstarter Edition.
Setup
Boards and tokens
- Place the Main Game board in the middle of the play area, with the Administration and Construction Office boards to the side.
- Place all the Road sections, Goods tokens, Delivery tokens, City tokens and DM coins beside the game board in a common supply.
- Shuffle the Bonus tiles face down, and place them as follows:
- Always place 1 face-up token on each of the 11 Construction Bonus spaces on road sections around the periphery of the map.
- Place face-up tokens on the Delivery Bonus spaces according to the number of players:
- With 4 players, place a token on every space in all of the 8 panels.
- With 3 players, do not place tokens on the spaces marked '4'.
- With 2 players, do not place tokens on the spaces marked '3+' or '4'.
- (Put any unused Bonus tiles back in the box.)
Roads, cities and Roadblocks
- Take 6 Road sections from the supply (single-carriageway side face up) and place one on each of the 6 individual road sections along the central black road between the cities: Hamburg – Hannover – Bad Hersfeld – Würzburg – Crailsheim.
- Take 36 Road sections from the supply, and split them into groups of 10, 12 and 14 Road sections to fill the three marked spaces on the Dashboard.
- Take 5 City tokens of value 2 and place one on each of the 5 cities along the central black road: Hamburg, Hannover, Bad Hersfeld, Würzburg and Crailsheim.
- Place the 5 Roadblocks in the positions shown, over the Road sections directly to the east of Hamburg, Hannover and Bad Hersfeld, and directly to the north and east of Nürnberg.
Cards
- Shuffle the 7 Route cards and reveal a number equal to the number of players plus 1 (for example, in a 3-player game reveal 4 cards).
- Shuffle the 20 Improved cards and place the deck face down beside the game board. Then reveal 5 cards beside the deck to form a display.
- Shuffle the 14 Advanced cards and place the deck face down beside the game board. At the start of the game these cards are not in play.
Player area
Give each player a complete set of components: 1 Player board, 1 Player aid, 4 action tiles, 9 Unlock tokens, 7 Basic action cards, and all the wooden pieces in one colour (25 Employees, 8 Service Stations, 2 Trucks and 1 Development token).
- Keep your Player board and Player aid in your player area.
- Place your 4 Action tiles along the top of your Player board in the corresponding spaces, with the side with two cones face up.
- Shuffle the 6 Delivery boards and deal one to each player. Place your Delivery board adjacent to your Player board. Put the unused Delivery boards back in the box.
- Take your yellow Basic action card and set it aside. The yellow cards will be used in the third era of the game. The remaining 6 Basic action cards (black, red, cyan, purple, grey and orange) are your starting hand.
- Keep your 25 Employees in a supply beside your Player board.
- Place your 9 Unlock tokens, 8 Service Stations and 2 Trucks on the matching spaces of your Player board.
- Place your Development token on the first space of the Development Track. Make a stack of all the players' tokens. The order of the tokens in the stack doesn't matter.
- Take DM coins to the value of DM 48 and split it equally among the players:
- 4 players: Each player receives DM 12.
- 3 players: Each player receives DM 16.
- 2 players: Each player receives DM 24.
Employee and Route card
- Randomly choose a start player. The start player places 1 Employee, taken from their supply, in the first (leftmost) seat in the black Construction Office. Then, going clockwise, each other player places 1 Employee on a seat in the black Construction Office, from left to right.
- Finally, starting with the player to the right of the start player and going anticlockwise, each player chooses one of the face-up Route cards and places it next to their Player board. (After each player has chosen 1 Route card, put all unused Route cards back in the box.)
Aim of the Game
Compete and collaborate to build the autobahn network in post-war West Germany, and then make use of that network to make deliveries of West German goods to neighbouring countries. Once German reunification occurs in 1990, the road network can expand into the former East Germany, opening up new opportunities. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Game Concepts
Three eras
The game is played over three eras, each representing a few decades of development of the autobahn network. At the end of each era, players receive a construction budget based on their contributions to the developing road network. The Dashboard keeps track of the three eras, and shows road-building costs, Truck speeds and other information.
- First era (1946–65)
- Second era (1966–90): After the second era, German reunification occurs. The Roadblocks are removed, and the road network can expand to the east.
- Third era (1991–2020)
Autobahns, links and sections
Each autobahn is a road of one colour that connects a number of German cities together, and may also connect to cities in neighbouring countries. Each length of road that connects two cities is called a link, and each link is made up of 1 or 2 Road sections.
Service Stations
Each link consisting of two sections has space for one Service Station. If you build a Service Station on a link, you will earn a bonus action or DM coins each time you or another player moves a Truck along the link.
Dual carriageways
Once a link has been completed with single-carriageway Road sections, it can be upgraded into a dual carriageway. Dual carriageways increase the values of the cities they connect and may allow Trucks to move faster.
City values
Each German city has a value that depends on how many of the autobahns that connect to it have at least one completed link to a neighbouring city. You will use the city value tokens to keep track of the changing values of the cities as new roads are built.
Employees, Offices & the Administration
Whenever you build a Road section you also place one of your Employees on the leftmost empty seat of the corresponding Construction Office. Employees in Offices can transfer to the Administration, and once in the Administration you will need to work to promote them within the right Departments to maximise your final score.
Delivering goods
Once the road network has been expanded to connect to neighbouring countries, you can begin to deliver goods to those countries to earn bonus actions or DM coins.
- Appliances, Chemical and Automotive goods are produced in the cities along the black A7 route, and must be transported by road to neighbouring countries. Each player has a unique Delivery board, which specifies each country's desired type of goods and the corresponding reward.
- Pharmaceuticals are only produced in Berlin and will become accessible in the third era after reunification and once Berlin is connected to the road network.
Route card
At the end of each era, you will check your Route card. If a complete road connection exists between the cities, via any route, you earn DM coins and promotions depending on the status of the connection. The status of the connection is a value defined as the number of Road sections connecting the cities (the distance of the route), minus the number of upgraded links and Service Stations along that route. The best possible status value is 0: this will earn all of the rewards on the Route card. Any positive status value means that the connection between the cities can still be improved, and will earn fewer rewards.
How to Play
The start player goes first. Play then continues clockwise. Each turn consists of 4 phases:
- Claim delivery bonus — If you have any, you may claim exactly one unclaimed delivery bonus.
- Take action — You must take one action: play a card, refresh your hand, or claim funding. If you have any, you may use exactly one bonus tile during this phase.
- Move Truck — If you played a card, you may be able to move your Truck.
- End of turn — If you have played all your cards, pick them all up.
The game is played over three eras. Play continues until a specific number of Road sections are built collectively by the players, which triggers the end of the current era:
- First era (1946–65): ends when 10 Road sections have been built. Players receive new funding based on their contribution to the network.
- Second era (1966–90): ends when a further 12 Road sections have been built. Players once again receive new funding and there is a special reunification phase, after which the road network can expand to the east.
- Third era (1991–2020): the end is triggered when a further 14 Road sections have been built. All players, including the player who triggered the end of the era, play one more turn, then the game ends. There is a final funding phase, followed by a final scoring phase.
The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Phase 1: Claim Delivery Bonus
If you have any, you may claim exactly one unclaimed delivery bonus. Choose one Delivery token on a goods icon on your Delivery board, slide it to the right so that it covers up its bonus icon, and then take the corresponding bonus action. (See 'Bonus Actions'.)
Phase 2: Take Action
You must take one action:
- A: Play a card
- B: Refresh your hand
- C: Claim funding
In addition, at any time during this phase, but at most once per turn, you may choose a bonus tile in your player area, take the corresponding bonus action and then discard the tile. You cannot use Bonus tiles during any other phase.
Action A: Play a card
Choose 1 card from your hand and play it face up above one of the 5 action spaces along the top edge of your Player board, then take the corresponding action. The colour of the card you play will determine where on the board you can take your action, and whether you will be able to move your Truck, when it has goods loaded onto it, in phase 3 of this turn.
Each action space has a limit on the number of cards you may play in the space before you refresh your hand (and pick up all your played cards). The limit is shown on the space or tile. At the start of the game, the limit in all spaces is 1 card, except for the 'Build Road section' action space, where you may play up to 3 cards over multiple turns.
If you cannot pay the full cost of the 'Build Road section' or 'Upgrade link' action, you cannot take it and must choose a different one.
Build Road section
Build 1 new Road section. Follow these 4 steps in order:
- Place Road section. Take exactly 1 road section from the supply on the Dashboard of the current era, and place it on an empty road section that is part of the autobahn that matches the colour of the card you played. Place the section with the single-carriageway side face up. The Road section must always extend the network of built roads: it must be adjacent to another Road section, or adjacent to a city that is adjacent to at least one built Road section. In the first and second eras, the Roadblocks prevent roads being directly to the east of Hamburg, Hannover and Bad Hersfeld, and directly to the north and east of Nürnberg. Before the third era begins, the Roadblocks are removed.
- Pay building costs. Pay DM coins equal to the cost of a single-carriageway Road section. The cost is shown on the Dashboard, and depends on the current era and whether the built section forms part of a link that is either 1 or 2 sections long.
- Place Employee. Place an Employee from your supply in the leftmost empty seat in the Office that matches the colour of the card you played. With 4 players, use all the seats. With 3 players, do not use seats marked '4'. With 2 players, do not use seats marked '3+' or '4'. If there are no empty seats, the Office is full: instead transfer the Employee in the leftmost seat to the Administration Lobby, slide all the other Employees in the Office one seat to the left, and then place your Employee in the newly vacated empty seat.
- Your Employee pieces are limited. If you have none in your supply after you build a Road section, instead do as follows: Return exactly 3 Employees from the Lobby to your supply; place one of these Employees on the leftmost empty seat of the Office corresponding to the autobahn you just built on; and promote 1 Employee. (See 'Bonus Actions'.)
- Update city values. If the Road section you built completed a link between two cities, check the values of the cities connected by the link, and update them if necessary. Each autobahn with at least one completed single-carriageway link to the city contributes 2 to the city's value. Only count the number of different autobahns with at least one completed link, not the total number of completed links. The values of the commercial cities in neighbouring countries (the cities at the ends of autobahns which can receive deliveries) are fixed and never change.
Upgrade link
Upgrade 1 completed single-carriageway link. Follow these 4 steps in order:
- Flip Road section tiles. Choose 1 complete link made up of 1 or 2 individual built Road sections, that is part of the autobahn that matches the colour of the card you played. Flip these road tiles over so that the double-carriageway side is face up. You can only upgrade a completed, single-carriageway link. Both sections of a link that is 2 sections long must be upgraded at once.
- Pay building costs. Pay DM coins equal to the cost of upgrading a single Road section multiplied by the number of sections in the link. The cost is shown on the Dashboard, and depends on the current era.
- Place Employee. Place an Employee from your supply in the leftmost empty seat in the Office that matches the colour of the card you played, following the same rules as for the 'Build Road section' action. Only ever place a single Employee, even if you upgrade a link that is 2 sections long.
- Update city values. Check the values of the cities connected by the link, and update them if necessary. Remember that the values of cities at the ends of autobahns in neighbouring countries never change. Each autobahn with at least one upgraded dual-carriageway link to the city contributes a further 2 to the city's value, in addition to the contribution of 2 made when a link on that autobahn was first completed. Again, only count the number of different autobahns with at least one upgraded link, not the total number of upgraded links.
City value example
- Frankfurt city value = 2: Purple single-carriageway +2. The orange link to the east is incomplete so adds no value.
- Würzburg city value = 4: Black single-carriageway +2, Orange single-carriageway +2.
- Saarbrücken city value = 6: White dual-carriageway +4, Red single-carriageway +2.
- Mannheim city value = 8: White dual-carriageway +4, Purple dual-carriageway +4.
- Nürnberg city value = 6: Orange single-carriageway +2, Yellow single-carriageway +2, White single-carriageway +2.
Load Truck
Place your Truck in any depot on the autobahn that matches the colour of the card you played. Then take a Goods token from the supply that matches the depot (Appliances, Chemical, Automotive or Pharmaceuticals) and load it on the back of your Truck. You will be able to move the Truck in phase 3.
Each Truck can carry only one Goods token. The Goods tokens are not intended to be limited; if you run out, use a suitable alternative. If you don't have an available Truck, you may instead reassign one of your existing Trucks without completing its delivery; if you do, return its Goods token to the supply. You start the game with 1 Truck, but may unlock a second. If you do, you can have up to two Trucks on the road at the same time.
Build Service Station
Take the leftmost Service Station from your Player board and place it on an empty Service Station space on the autobahn matching the colour of the card you played. The link with the Service Station space does not need to be complete, but at least one of the two Road sections of the link must have already been built. Building a Service Station does not cost any DM coins.
Unlock technology
Take the Unlock token from the space on your Player board that matches the colour of the card you played, and place it on the lowest empty lock space in any one of the three technology columns on your Player board. Unlocking a technology has two effects: you gain the permanent ability or one-off bonus action shown above the lock, and you also gain access to the corresponding floor of the corresponding Department in the Administration and be able to promote your Employees into it. The top two bonuses in each column can be unlocked in either order, but both must be unlocked to access the 3rd floor of the corresponding Department.
Technology effects (per column):
- Gain an action card. (See 'Bonus Actions'.)
- Perform an 'Upgrade link' action anywhere. (You must pay the usual cost.)
- Every time you take the 'Upgrade link' action, pay DM 2 less to upgrade each section.
- Every time you take the 'Upgrade link' action, also move your Development token 1 step forward on the Development Track, and gain any bonus you land on.
- Gain an action card.
- Perform a 'Load Truck' action anywhere and move the Truck 2 steps on any autobahn. (The Truck can move again as usual in phase 3.)
- You may now use your second Truck. Each time you load a Truck, you load either of your Trucks.
- Every time you take the 'Load Truck' action, also move your Development token 1 step forward on the Development Track, and gain any bonus you land on.
- Gain an action card.
- Perform a 'Build Service Station' action anywhere on the game board.
- Every time you take the 'Build Service Station' action, immediately claim the bonus on your Player board directly beneath the station you built. If the bonus is DM coins, earn the higher amount.
- Every time you take the 'Build Service Station' action, also move your Development token 1 step forward on the Development Track, and gain any bonus you land on.
- If you unlock the second technologies in all three columns, promote an Employee.
- If you unlock the first technologies in all three columns, replace an action card.
Action B: Refresh hand
Instead of playing a card, you can pick up all the face-up cards you have already played above your Player board and return them to your hand. If you do this, also earn DM 1 for each card you picked up.
Action C: Gain funding
Instead of playing a card, and if you have not already done so during this era, you may place an Employee on the Dashboard in the funding space of the current era. If you do, take DM coins equal to the amount shown (DM 12, 16 or 24 in the first, second or third era respectively). Each player may only take this action once during each era.
Phase 3: Move Truck
If you played a card this turn and your Truck is on a depot or road section that matches the colour of that card, you can move your Truck. If you have unlocked your second Truck, you may move both Trucks. You can move each of your Trucks up to 2 steps in the first era, and up to 3 steps in the second and third eras, as shown on the Dashboard.
Although your Trucks must start on a depot or road section that matches the colour of the card you played, you may then use the steps to move along any connected sequence of built road sections, on any combination of autobahns. A Truck cannot end its movement on a Road section that contains another Truck. Each step refers to 1 road section.
Dual carriageways: If your Truck starts its movement on a dual carriageway you can move it 1 extra step this turn. You do not continue to gain any additional extra steps just by moving along further dual-carriageway Road sections.
Your Service Stations
If your Trucks move past one of your own Service Stations, choose a bonus from amongst those below the spaces of the Service Stations you have already built. If your Trucks move past more than one of your own Service Stations in the same turn, each bonus you choose must be different.
Your opponents' Service Stations
If your Truck moves past one of your opponent's Service Stations, find the most valuable DM coins bonus from amongst those below the spaces of the Service Stations your opponent has already built. Your opponent earns DM coins equal to the smaller amount shown as part of this bonus. (For example: if they have built only 1 or 2 Service Stations they earn DM 1, and if they have built 7 or 8 Service Stations they earn DM 4.)
Making a delivery
When you move your Truck 1 step beyond a commercial city in a neighbouring country (at the end of an autobahn), you have successfully delivered your goods to that country. For all goods types:
- Take 1 bonus tile from that country's delivery bonuses, if any remain, and place the tile face up in your player area. You will be able to use this bonus tile in phase 2 of a later turn. You cannot use a bonus tile during phase 3 or 4 of your turn.
- Return the Goods token to the supply, take a Delivery token, and return your Truck to your Player board. Then follow the instructions below. The Delivery tokens are not intended to be limited; if you run out, use any suitable replacement.
Appliances, Automotive and Chemicals: Each country has a preferred goods type shown on your Delivery board.
- Preferred goods: If you delivered the preferred goods, place the Delivery token over the country's goods icon. You will be able to take the corresponding bonus action in phase 1 of a future turn.
- Other goods: If you delivered any other type of goods, place the Delivery token over the country's DM coins icon and immediately earn the amount of DM coins shown.
Each country on your Delivery board has two possible rewards. You can only claim each bonus once per game.
Pharmaceuticals: If you are the first player to deliver Pharmaceuticals to a country, place the Delivery token over the country's Pharmaceuticals bonus icon on the game board, and immediately earn the corresponding bonus action. If another player has already delivered Pharmaceuticals to this country, you can still place the Delivery token over the country's DM coins icon on your Delivery board and earn that bonus, if the space is still free. If not, return the Delivery token to the supply. You earn nothing for the delivery!
Phase 4: End of Turn
If at the end of your turn your hand is empty and you have played all your cards above your Player board, pick them all up and return them to your hand. If you do this, you do not gain DM coins for each card picked up. Play continues clockwise, unless you triggered the end of the current era by building the last Road section.
End of the Era
Play continues until a specific number of Road sections are built collectively by the players, which triggers the end of the current era.
- First era: When 10 sections have been built, the current player completes their turn, then pause the game for an administration phase.
- Second era: When a further 12 sections have been built, the current player completes their turn, then pause the game for an administration phase.
- Third era: When a further 14 sections have been built, the current player completes their turn, then all players, including the player who triggered the end of the game, have one more turn. Complete a final administration phase, and then end the game and calculate everyone's final scores.
It is possible to build extra Road sections after the end of an era is triggered. Take any sections needed from the supply for the next era, or, if this is the third era, from the supply beside the game board. The building costs of the current era continue to apply.
Administration phase
At the end of each era, complete an administration phase as follows: Construction budget, Promotion, Route card.
Construction budget
For each Construction Office that has at least one occupied seat, add up the city values of all the cities along the corresponding autobahn that are connected to the network of built Road sections, including the city values of connected cities in neighbouring countries if these have been connected. Divide the total of the city values by the number of Employees in that Office, rounded down. Each player gains this amount in DM, taken from the supply, for each Employee they have in the Office.
Promotion
The player who built the Road section that triggered the end of the era performs 1 promotion. (See 'Bonus Actions'.)
Route card
In clockwise order, starting from the player that triggered the end of the era, all players check their Route card. If a complete road connection exists between the cities, via any path of built road sections, you earn DM coins and promotions based on the status of the connection.
The status of the connection is defined as the number of Road sections connecting the cities (the length of the route), minus the number of upgraded links and Service Stations along the route. The best possible value is always 0, if all links in the route have been upgraded and all its Service Stations have been built.
Gain the bonuses shown alongside the status value of the route, as well as all other bonuses for the values above it. If two or more alternate road connections exist, choose the one which earns the most bonuses.
Reunification
At the end of the second era, perform these additional steps:
- Remove the 5 Roadblock tokens.
- Each player takes their yellow Basic action card (which was set aside during setup) and adds it to their hand.
- Collect the Improved action cards in the display and the Improved action card deck, and place these aside. Shuffle the Advanced action card deck and make a new display of 5 face-up cards. During the third era, each time a player replaces or gains an action card, they now choose from the display of Advanced cards.
Continue the game
Now begin the next era, with play continuing clockwise from the player who triggered the end of the previous era. At the end of the third era, the game ends.
End of the Game
After the administration phase of the third era, all players calculate their scores as follows. You earn points solely for the position of your Employees in the Administration.
The player with the most points is the winner. If two or more players are tied, the tied player with the most Employees in the Administration wins. If still tied, the tied player with more Employees on higher floors wins. If still tied, all tied players share the victory.
Bonus Actions
- Develop: Move your Development token 1 or 2 steps forward on the Development Track, and earn any bonus that you land on or pass over.
- Gain DM coins: Gain the amount of DM coins shown. Take it from the supply and add it to your own supply beside your Player board.
- Promote Employee: Perform 1 or 2 promotions. For each promotion, move 1 of your Employees either from the Lobby to the 1st floor of one of the Departments, or from a floor in a Department to the floor above. To move an Employee to the floor above, there must be an available empty seat into which to move your Employee. Each player can have a maximum of 1 Employee in each floor of a Department. Each floor of a Department can contain a maximum of 3 Employees.
- You must unlock the 1st, 2nd and 3rd levels of the technology columns on your Player board to be able to access the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of the first three Departments. You do not need to unlock any technology to access the fourth department. You must unlock both of the top two bonuses in a column to access the 3rd floor of the corresponding Department.
- If you earned a bonus giving you 2 promotions, make each promotion separately. You can promote two different Employees once each, or a single Employee twice. If you promote a single Employee twice, there must be an available empty seat in both of the floors that the Employee moves through or reaches.
- If you cannot promote an Employee, instead place an Employee taken from your supply in the Lobby.
- Gain action card: Choose 1 of the 5 action cards in the display and add it to your hand. Afterwards, reveal the top card from the current action card deck and add it to the display. During the first and second eras, the display will contain Improved action cards; during the third era the display will contain Advanced action cards.
- Replace action card: Choose 1 of your Basic action cards, either from your hand or from the played cards above your Player board, and discard it (remove it from the game). Then replace it by taking one of the 5 action cards in the display. If you replace a card in your hand, add the new card to your hand. If you replace a card above your Player board, place the new card above your Player board in the same position as the discarded card. This does not count as playing the card and does not allow you to take any additional immediate action. When replacing a card, the colour of the card you discard and the colour of the new card do not need to match. Afterwards, reveal the top card from the current action card deck and add it to the display.
- Build Road section: Perform a 'Build Road section' action on any colour autobahn, respecting the usual building restrictions. You must still pay the building costs.
- Upgrade link: Perform an 'Upgrade link' action on any colour autobahn, respecting the usual building restrictions. You must still pay the building costs.
- Build Service Station: Perform a 'Build Service Station' action on any colour autobahn, respecting the usual building restrictions.
- Load Truck: Perform a 'Load Truck' action at any depot. The Truck will move as usual in phase 3 if you played a card matching the colour of the depot.
- Unlock technology: Perform an 'Unlock technology' action. Use one of your 3 extra Unlock tokens (do not take an Unlock token from the coloured spaces on your Player board).
- Move Truck: Move one of your Trucks 2 spaces along the built road network. The Truck will move again as usual in phase 3 of the current turn if you played a card matching the colour of the road section on which the Truck ends this move.
- Swap card: Swap 1 action card in your hand with 1 action card that you have already played above your Player board.
- Change card colour: Use this bonus when you play an action card to change its colour to red, cyan, purple, orange or white (but not black or yellow) until the end of the turn.
- Flip Action tile: Flip one of your Action tiles showing 2 cones over so that the side showing 1 cone is face up. This increases the limit on the number of cards you can play in that action space. For the 'Build Road section' action, the limit will increase from 3 to 4. For the 'Upgrade link', 'Build Service Station' and 'Load Truck' actions, the limit will increase from 1 to 2.
- Remove Action tile: Remove one of your Action tiles showing only 1 cone to reveal the space underneath showing no cones. This increases the limit on the number of cards you can play in that action space. For the 'Build Road section' action, the limit will increase from 4 to 5. For the 'Upgrade link', 'Build Service Station' and 'Load Truck' actions, the limit will increase from 2 to 3.
- Recruit Employee: Place 1 employee taken from your supply directly into the lobby.
- Slide Action Card: Take 1 action card already played above your player board and move it one or more spaces to the left. This cannot be used to move an action card past the 'Unlock Technology' space on your player board.
Action Cards
Improved action cards
- If you took the 'Build Road section' action, move your Development token 1 step forward on the Development Track, and gain any bonus you land on.
- If you took the 'Upgrade link' action, move your Development token 1 step forward on the Development Track for each section of the link, and gain any bonus you land on.
- If you took the 'Load Truck' action, move the Truck you just loaded one extra step at the end of your turn.
- You may additionally perform a 'Build Service Station' action following all the usual building restrictions.
Yellow action cards
- You may additionally perform a 'Build Road section' action following all the usual building restrictions. Perform your actions in any order.
Advanced action cards
- If you took the 'Upgrade link' action, you may also perform a 'Load Truck' action, and vice versa.
- You may pay exactly DM 10 to move your Development token 2 steps forward on the Development Track, and gain any bonus you land on or pass over.
- At the end of your turn your Truck movement is increased by two.
- If you took the 'Build Road section' action, you may instead build two Road sections at once (respecting the usual building restrictions), paying DM 5 less to build each one.
- You may additionally gain DM 12.
- You may additionally move 1 step forward on the Development Track, and gain any bonus you land on.
- You may additionally perform a 'Build Road section' action following all the usual building restrictions. If you took the 'Upgrade link' action, you may also perform a 'Load Truck' action, and vice versa. You can perform your actions in any order.
- You may additionally perform a 'Build Road section' action following all the usual building restrictions. If you build at least 1 Road section this turn, also promote 1 Employee.
- This is a black Basic action card. It has no additional bonus action.
- This card can be played as a red, cyan, purple, orange or white Basic action card (but not black or yellow). This card is all five of these colours, and your Trucks may move at the end of the turn if they are on one of these five colours roads.
Solo Mode
In the solo mode you will compete against Autobot, an automated opponent. Autobot will simulate another player and has a variety of difficulty settings.
Additional components: 1 Solo board (in 2 difficulties, found on the reverse sides of the Player boards), Task deck of 8 Task cards (5× 'A', 3× 'B'), each with a Bonus Action, a Main Action, and Autobot's Value.
Setup
Set up the game for 2 players. Set up Autobot's components and play area as follows:
- Place the Solo board in Autobot's play area. Choose either an 'easy' or 'hard' Solo board.
- Split the Task cards into two decks (A and B) and shuffle each deck separately.
- a. Place the 'A' deck next to the Solo board as a face-down Task deck.
- b. Place the 3 'B' cards face down beside the Development Track in an Advanced Task deck.
Pick a player colour for Autobot. Autobot uses the 25 Employees, 8 Service Stations, 1 Development token and 7 Basic action cards (including yellow) of that player colour. Instead of taking a Truck for that colour, Autobot takes 1 Truck and 1 Development token in each of the other, unused colours.
- Randomly choose a Delivery board for Autobot and place it next to the Solo board.
- Place Autobot's 25 Employees beside the Solo board.
- Place Autobot's 8 Service Stations on the appropriate spaces of the Solo board.
- Place Autobot's Development token on the first space of the Development Track.
- Place Autobot's yellow Basic action card aside, and shuffle Autobot's 6 Basic action cards to form a face-down 'Colour' deck. (This deck is used only to determine the current colour for Autobot's turns.)
- Autobot is the start player, so place 1 of Autobot's Employees onto the first (leftmost) seat of the black Construction Office. Place one of yours on the next seat.
- Set up your play area as normal, and reveal 2 Route cards from the deck. Pick one for yourself and discard the other. Return the unused route cards back to the box.
Autobot has an unlimited budget. You do not need to track Autobot's income or expenditure. Autobot does not have a Route card.
How to play
The game proceeds as usual, with Autobot and you taking alternate turns. Autobot will determine its actions by using a combination of Colour cards and Task cards.
Autobot Phase 1 — Autobot Actions
- Step 1: On Autobot's turn, flip the top card from their Colour deck and place it face up in the first available slot. There are two rows of slots available for Colour cards, one row above the Solo board and one row below it. Autobot fills the top row from left to right, then the bottom row from left to right. This card determines the 'current colour' for Autobot's turn. Any bonuses on Colour cards are ignored by Autobot.
- Step 2: If there is a Task queue, take the card with the highest value from the queue with a viable action (see Viable actions). If there is no Task queue or none of the cards in the Task queue have a viable action, continue to step 3.
- Step 3: Reveal the top card of the Task deck and take the main action at the bottom of the card if it is a viable action. If you ever need to reveal a card and the Task deck is empty, gather all the used Task cards, except the highest value Task card in the Task queue, and shuffle them to form a new face-down Task deck, then draw from this new deck. If Autobot cannot take the main action, set the Task card aside in a Task queue and draw a replacement. Repeat step 3 until Autobot has a viable action.
Viable Actions: The main action is viable if it can be taken on the road of the current colour. If the card is yellow, see Yellow cards (Era 3 ONLY) for additional information. If the main action is viable, place the Task card on top of the Colour card. If the Task card also has a bonus icon, resolve the bonus action first, then take the main action using the current colour.
Bonus tokens: When Autobot gains Bonus tokens, it places them on the next available slot of the Solo board, starting with the top row from left to right, then the second row from left to right, gaining the bonus shown on the space instead of that shown on the token itself.
Service Stations: When Autobot builds a Service Station, it immediately gains the bonus shown on the Solo board below that Service Station.
Solo board bonuses
- Develop: As described in Autobot's Bonus Actions.
- Promote: Promotions gained in this way should be taken on the Department shown if possible. If a promotion in the department shown is not possible, follow the normal priority rules in 'Autobot's promotions'.
- Build a Service Station: Immediately perform the 'Build a Service Station' action as described in Autobot's Bonus Actions.
- Build a road section: Immediately perform the 'Build a road section' action as described in Autobot's Bonus Actions.
- Upgrade a link: Immediately perform the 'Upgrade a link' action as described in Autobot's Bonus Actions.
- Place an Employee: Autobot places an Employee in the Office that matches the current colour.
Autobot's bonus actions
- Discard: Autobot discards an action card from the display. Once selected, slide all remaining cards to the right and draw a new card to place in the leftmost slot. Priority: 1. The leftmost card of the current colour. 2. The rightmost card of the colour which appears most in the display.
- Develop: Move Autobot's Marker 1 or 2 steps forward on the Development Track.
- Take the top card of the Advanced Task deck and shuffle it into the face-down Task deck without looking at it.
- Promote: Promote 1 of Autobot's Employees as explained in 'Autobot's promotions'.
- Take the leftmost card from the display and shuffle it into Autobot's Colour deck. This will give Autobot an extra Colour card. (The special bonus of this card is always ignored by Autobot.)
Autobot's main actions
- Build or upgrade road section: Autobot builds the next road section of the autobahn that matches the current colour. If all available road sections have already been built, Autobot will instead upgrade a complete link.
- Build a road section: Autobot builds the next road section of the autobahn that matches the current colour.
- Build a road: Autobot's Priority — 1. The section of road that would allow one of Autobot's Trucks to deliver a Goods token to or move towards its destination country. If tied, the country that appears highest on Autobot's delivery board. 2. A section of road that contains a Bonus token. 3. The section of road nearest to the black autobahn (the fewest road sections to travel). 4. In the first and second eras, the southernmost location, then the westernmost. In the third era, the northernmost location, then the easternmost.
- Upgrade a link: If all road sections are built, Autobot will instead upgrade a complete link.
- Upgrading a link: Autobot's Priority — 1. The section of road nearest to the black autobahn. 2. The closest to Bad Hersfeld. 3. In the first and second eras, the southernmost location, then the westernmost; in the third era, the northernmost location, then the easternmost. If all roads have been built and upgraded, this action is not viable; place the action card aside in the Task queue.
- When building or upgrading a road, Autobot places an Employee in the corresponding Office as usual. Autobot never pays building costs. If Autobot builds a road section on a space with a 'Develop' icon, gain the bonus. If Autobot builds a road section on a space with a bonus tile, gain the bonus tile.
- Load Truck: When Autobot takes the 'Load Truck' action it will select a destination country to deliver to and a depot to load goods at. When selecting a country, Autobot selects a country to which it has not yet delivered and is not currently delivering. In the first and second era, Autobot ignores Poland and Czech Republic. Autobot will select a country on Autobot's delivery board that pairs with the loaded good type. If there is not an undelivered-to country that pairs with the current good type, Autobot cannot take this main action, so place the card aside in the Task queue. Autobot always has the ability to use both of its Trucks. If no Truck is available Autobot cannot take this main action, so place the card aside in the Task queue.
- Loading on the red, cyan, purple, orange or white roads: Choose the depot that matches the current colour and load that Goods token. Place the Goods token on an available Truck and place the Truck in the depot.
- Loading on the black road: If the current colour is black, Autobot selects the delivery country first, then selects the good type shown on its delivery board for that country. Once the country is selected, Autobot will choose the Goods token that matches that country on Autobot's delivery board. Place the Goods token on an available Truck and place the Truck in the depot. If Automotive goods or Chemicals are selected, choose the depot nearest the delivery location. Selecting a country: Autobot's Priority — 1. A country connected to the network. 2. A country that contains a Bonus token. 3. A country with the fewest road sections left to be built. 4. The uppermost country shown on Autobot's delivery board. Place the development token that matches the colour of the loaded Truck on the board beside the selected country. This marks the selected country for that Truck.
- Loading Pharmaceuticals: During the third era, if the current colour is cyan or yellow, Autobot selects Pharmaceuticals to load (instead of Automotive goods). Instead of the usual criteria, Autobot selects a connected country to which Pharmaceuticals have not yet been delivered, starting with Austria (Wien) and going clockwise around the map. If the player delivers pharmaceuticals to the selected country before Autobot, move the development token to the next connected country to which Pharmaceuticals have not yet been delivered, in clockwise order. When delivered, Autobot gains the Pharmaceuticals delivery bonus as normal.
- Build a Service Station: Autobot builds a Service Station on the next available Service Station space on the autobahn that matches the current colour. Priority: 1. The Service Station space nearest to the black autobahn. 2. In the first and second eras, the southernmost location, then the westernmost; in the third era, the northernmost location, then the easternmost. 3. If building on a black Service Station space, pick the closest to Bad Hersfeld, with ties broken in the first and second eras by the southernmost location, and in the third era by the northernmost location. If there are no connected Service Station spaces that match the current colour, place the action card aside in the Task queue. As usual, Service Stations cannot be built in East Germany during the first and second eras. When placing a Service Station, Autobot immediately gains the bonus depicted underneath it on the Solo board.
Yellow cards (Era 3 ONLY): If Autobot draws a yellow action card from the Colour deck, Autobot performs an additional 'Build road section' action this turn. If the main action is a 'Build road section', Autobot will build 2 road sections that allow it to connect to a new city, if possible. If the main action is any other action, Autobot performs a single 'build road action' before the main action. If the main action is not yet viable, check to see if the 'build road action' would make it viable; if it would, take the 'build road action' in such a way to make the main action viable. If the main action would still be not viable, draw a new Task card as normal and repeat this check. Autobot uses the additional build action from a yellow card but ignores any other bonus.
Autobot Phase 2 — Truck movement and Service Stations
If Autobot has Trucks on the map, move each Truck a number of spaces towards its selected country. The number of spaces moved is determined by the current era as normal. To increase the difficulty, move each Truck an additional space. Autobot does not need to match the current Colour card to move along road sections. If a Truck cannot move forwards for any reason (such as an unbuilt road) it stays still.
Each time one of Autobot's Trucks passes one of its own Service Stations, it gains the rightmost revealed bonus as shown on the Solo board. If one of Autobot's Trucks passes your Service Stations, you gain income from the supply as normal. Autobot does not gain anything when your Trucks drive past its Service Stations. To increase the difficulty, Autobot moves one step forward on the Development Track when your Trucks drive past its Service Stations.
If one of Autobot's Trucks reaches its selected country, it delivers its goods. When a good is delivered, place it onto the corresponding space of Autobot's delivery board. If the good type matches, Autobot moves 1 space up the Development Track. Autobot never receives the bonus action or money shown on the delivery board. If Autobot delivers Pharmaceuticals it gains the delivery bonus as normal. If the selected country has a delivery bonus tile, Autobot takes it and places the token face down on the next available slot of the Solo board and gains the bonus depicted on the slot. As usual, Autobot cannot deliver goods to Poland (Warszawa) and the Czech Republic (Praha) during the first and second eras.
Autobot Phase 3 — Turn end
If Autobot has Colour cards remaining in the Colour deck, Autobot's turn ends immediately. If Autobot does not have Colour cards left in the Colour deck, Autobot completely refreshes both decks: collect all the Colour cards and all the Task cards except for the Task card in the Task queue with the highest priority. Shuffle each set of cards separately to create a new Colour deck and Task deck. Place both decks beside the Solo board.
Autobot's promotions
Autobot's promotions are limited depending on which era it is. During the first era, Autobot's Employees may only be promoted as high as the 1st floor. During the second era, as high as the 2nd floor. In the third era, any floor. This limitation also applies to Autobot's Employees when promoted during the end of era steps. Unless the bonus shows a particular Department, when Autobot gains a promotion, it will promote whichever Employee can reach the highest floor in any Department. If two or more Employees can reach equally high floors, the Employee in the leftmost Department is promoted.
Solo — End of the era
- Construction budget: When calculating the Construction budget for Construction Offices, treat Autobot as a second player where it has employees. However, Autobot does not receive its share of the construction budget. Remember, Autobot has an unlimited budget.
- Promotion: If Autobot triggered the end of the era, it receives a bonus promotion as usual.
- Route card: Autobot does not have a route card; instead, Autobot always receives the following automatic promotions — First Era 0, Second Era 1, Third Era 1. To increase difficulty, Autobot instead receives: First Era 1, Second Era 1, Third Era 2; or First Era 1, Second Era 2, Third Era 2.
- Reunification: At the end of the second era, add Autobot's yellow Basic action card face down on top of the Colour deck.
Solo — End of the game
At the end of the game, Autobot scores points for its Employees in the Lobby and the first three Departments as normal. If you have scored more points than Autobot, then you have won the game!
Autobot Difficulty
The Solo board has 2 difficulty sides, 'easy' and 'hard'. Start with the 'easy' board, then consider adding some of these options before moving onto just the 'hard' side. These options can also be added when using the hard side to increase the difficulty even further:
- Autobot's Trucks move 1 additional space every turn.
- Autobot gets 1 Development Track step each time one of your Trucks drives past one of its Service Stations.
- Autobot moves on the Development Track if it skips its turn.
- Autobot gains more promotions at the end of each era (2 additional difficulty levels).
Mini-Expansions
The following mini-expansions were included for the backers of the Autobahn Kickstarter campaign. If you have purchased a retail edition of Autobahn, these expansions will not be included in your game. The Autobahn Kickstarter pack is available to purchase separately from the publisher.
Module 1: Wine
This module introduces wine, a new type of goods, which can be imported into Germany from other countries.
Components: 4 Wine cards, 4 Wine Goods tokens, 4 Wine Delivery tokens.
Setup: Follow these additional steps during setup:
- Shuffle the 4 Wine cards and deal one to each player (put any unused cards back in the box). Look at your Wine card but keep it face down in your player area.
- Place the 4 Wine Goods tokens in the supply beside the game board.
- Take the following Wine Delivery tokens, based on your player count, and place them next to the board (put any unused tokens back in the box):
- 2 players: 1 single and 1 double promotion tokens.
- 3 players: 2 single and 1 double promotion tokens.
- 4 players: 2 single and 2 double promotion tokens.
How to play: Each Wine card specifies a source country (France, Italy, Switzerland or Austria) and one destination city in the former East Germany. Once per game, on your turn, you can reveal your Wine card and load your Truck with a wine Goods token. To do this, you must take the 'Load Truck' action by playing a card that matches the colour of the road shown on your Wine card. Place your Truck on the section of road immediately adjacent to the commercial city in the country shown on your card. You can then move your Truck following all the usual rules. When you reach the road section immediately outside the city specified on your card, you have successfully imported the wine into the former East Germany and must now take the following steps:
- If there is a 'double promotion' Wine Delivery token available, take it and immediately perform 2 promotions, otherwise take a 'single promotion' token and immediately perform 1 promotion.
- Place the token you claimed beside your delivery board.
- Put the wine Goods token beside your Player board, and put your Truck back on your Player board.
End of the game: When scoring the Trade Department, if you have a Wine Goods token beside your Player board because you completed a wine delivery, you can now count Germany as an additional country to which you have made a delivery.
Playing in solo mode: During Setup, you randomly pick one of the wine cards, and place the remaining three next to the solo board. At the start of the third period, reveal the three wine cards. The first time Autobot attempts to load a truck with a colour card that matches one of those three cards, discard the other two, load the truck next to the matching country, and place the destination token next to the card's destination. When the truck reaches its destination Autobot will gain a wine delivery token.
Module 2: Traffic
This module introduces traffic around busy cities, which will slow down Trucks and have a negative impact on the status of routes that pass through the city. Upgrading links will remove Traffic tokens and possibly gain you additional promotions.
Components: 12 Traffic tokens.
Setup: Place the 12 Traffic tokens in the supply next to the game board.
How to play: When a city reaches a value of 6 or more due to an upgrade action, add a Traffic token to each completed single-carriageway link directly connected to the city. If a link has 2 road sections, place the Traffic token on the section closest to the city. Do not add a Traffic token to a section if:
- The link already has a Traffic token on it because the other city on that link already reached a value of 6. Each link can only have a maximum of one Traffic token.
- The road section has a Truck on it.
- The Traffic token supply is empty.
If there are not enough Traffic tokens to place on all links that require one, the current player chooses which links to place tokens on.
Moving Trucks: Trucks can move through a road section with a Traffic token on it, but cannot stop on a section with traffic. If you do not have enough movement to move beyond the Traffic token, you must stop your Truck in the space behind it.
Route cards: When calculating the status of your road connection, each Traffic token on the route increases its status value by 1.
Removing Traffic tokens: If you upgrade a link that has a Traffic token in it, remove the token and keep it next to your Player board. If you collect 3 Traffic tokens, immediately return them to the supply and then promote 1 employee.
Playing in solo mode: When doing an upgrade action, Autobot will give priority to a link with a traffic token before looking at the other priorities. Whenever the bot collects three traffic tokens it gains a promotion as usual.
Module 3: Services
This expansion introduces the chance to build improvements to Service Stations on upgraded links.
Components: 8 Service Station improvements, 1 Service Station board.
Setup: Place the Service Station board next to the game board and place one Service Station improvement on each space.
How to play: Whenever you perform a 'Build Service Station' action, you may instead build a Service Station improvement alongside one of your own Service Stations on an upgraded link. The improvement must be placed on an autobahn matching the colour of the card you played, as usual.
- Take an improvement from the Service Station board, if any remain, and place it beside one of your already-built Service Stations on the autobahn that matches the colour of the card you played.
- Improvements can only be built alongside Service Stations on upgraded links.
After you build the improvement, gain the bonus shown below the Service Station you chose.
Trucks: If your Truck passes one of your own improved Service Stations, gain two different bonuses (instead of the usual one bonus) from amongst those below the spaces of the Service Stations you have already built. In any turn, all the bonuses you gain for moving your own Trucks past your own Service Stations must still all be different. If your Truck passes one of your opponent's improved Service Stations, find the most valuable money bonus from amongst those below the spaces of the Service Stations your opponent has already built. Your opponent earns money equal to the higher amount shown as part of this bonus. (For example: if they have built only 1 or 2 Service Stations they earn DM 2, and if they have built 7 or 8 Service Stations they earn DM 8.)
Service Station Board Bonuses:
- Promote 1 employee.
- Place an employee in the Construction Office that matches the colour of the autobahn on which the Service Station improvement was built (follow the same rules you would use if you had just built a road section of that autobahn).
- Flip one of your Action tiles showing 2 cones over so that the side showing 1 cone is face up.
- Perform the 'Gain funding' action. You cannot gain this bonus if you have already taken the 'Gain funding' action during the current era.
- Choose 1 of the 5 action cards in the display and add it to your hand.
- Move your Development token 3 steps forward on the Development track.
- Pick up all your played cards (you do not earn money for each card picked up).
- Move one of your Trucks up to 3 spaces along the built road network.
Playing in solo mode: When doing a service station action, Autobot will try to place an upgraded service station if possible (i.e. if there is an upgraded link in the current colour with a bot's service station). In this case it will pick the leftmost service station available from the service station board, but it will always gain a promotion instead of the depicted bonus.
Stretch Goal Content
During the Kickstarter Campaign of Autobahn, the following components were unlocked as Stretch Goals for all editions of Autobahn.
8 Double-colour Advanced Action cards
Shuffle these 8 Advanced Action Cards into the deck of 14 base game Advanced Action cards during setup. These cards can be played as either of their two colours. These cards are both of their colours, and your Trucks may move at the end of the turn if they are on either colour road. The bonus action on the card may also be taken on either colour Autobahn.
4 Bonus tokens
Shuffle these 4 Bonus Tokens with the 36 base game Bonus Tokens during setup.
- Recruit Employee: Place 1 employee taken from your supply directly into the lobby.
- Slide Action Card: Take 1 action card already played above your player board and move it one or more spaces to the left. This cannot be used to move an action card past the 'Unlock Technology' space on your player board.
Double Sided Department Board
Place this board adjacent to the administration board during setup. This board does not cover up any department. When performing a promotion, players may choose to move employees into this new department. You must unlock the 1st, 2nd and 3rd levels of any technology column on your player board to be able to access the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of this department.
- Each employee in the planning department is worth 1, 2 or 3 points for each improved or advanced action card in your hand.
- Each employee in the customs department is worth 1, 2 or 3 points for each bonus tile you have taken during the game. When using this side, played bonus tiles should be set aside face down and not discarded.
Credits
Game Designers: Fabio Lopiano and Nestore Mangone. Lead Developer: David Digby. Solo Design: Fabio Lopiano and Nestore Mangone. Solo Game Development: David Digby. Lead Editor: Liam Millard. Co-editors: Caezar Al-Jassar and Simon Milburn. Artist and Graphic Designer: Javier Inkgolem. Production Design: Florentyna Butler. Wooden Component Design: Sebastián Koziner. Rulebook Editor: Brett J. Gilbert, Simon Milburn, and David Digby.