Deck EXPRESS: Tennessee Central Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
• Paying Dividends
• End of Game

Components

• 52-Playing Card Deck + 2 Jokers
• Pen and paper for keeping score (not provided)

Setup

1. Separate all 12 Share (JQK) cards. Shuffle and deal 3 shares to each player, starting their hand of cards. Any remaining shares are removed from the game unseen.
2. Separate the 4 All-Aboard (A) cards and place them face up in the center of the play area. These represent the starting value stacks for each company (suit).
3. Set aside the 2 Locomotives (jokers).
4. Shuffle the 36 Track (2-10) cards and deal 5 cards to each player. All players should now hold a hand of 8 cards (3 shares and 5 track).
5. Setup the draw deck using the locomotives and remaining track cards: a. Place the number of track cards based on the number of players in the deck setup chart face down to start the draw deck. b. Shuffle 5 track cards with 1 locomotive and place these cards face down on top of the draw deck. c. Place more track cards based on the number of players in the deck setup chart face down to start the draw deck. d. Shuffle 5 more track cards with the other locomotive and place these cards face down on top of the draw deck. e. Place all remaining track cards face down on top of the draw deck.
6. Determine a start player by any means.

Deck setup chart:

Players	Track
2	5
3	4
4	2

Setup example: the draw deck sits face down. The 4 All-Aboard cards (ace of spades, ace of hearts, ace of diamonds, ace of clubs) are laid out face up as the starting value stacks.

Gameplay

Players hands are made up of both track and share cards. Track cards are only played during player turns. Share cards are only played during paying dividends. Beginning with the start player and going clockwise, players must choose one of 2 possible actions on their turn: Build Track or Invest.

• Build Track: (Play a card) Play any track card from your hand to the top of the stack that it matches in suit. Only the top card should be visible. If you have no track cards in hand, you must take the invest action.
• Invest: (Draw a card) Draw a card from the draw deck. If you draw a track card, add it to your hand and end your turn. If you draw a locomotive or the last card of the draw deck, your turn continues with paying dividends.

Paying Dividends

Dividends pay three times during the game and money is recorded as player scores for each player.

1. When the 1st locomotive is drawn: a. Assign Locomotive: The player who drew the locomotive assigns it to the top of any company suit stack. b. Reveal Shares: All players simultaneously reveal one share card from their hand to the play area face up in front of themselves. c. Score Dividends: Record scores for all players. Each revealed share by a player is worth the value of the top card on the matching company suit stack (ignore JQK rank). However, the stack with the locomotive is worth the counted number of cards in the stack (including the locomotive). Locomotives have no value but count as another card in the stack. All-aboard (A) cards, if on top have a value of 1.

   Score Dividends example: the diamond company stack has 6 cards in it, including the assigned locomotive. Player 1 reveals the Jack of Diamonds and Player 2 reveals the Queen of Diamonds; Player 3 reveals the Jack of Clubs. Players 1 & 2 score 8. Player 3 scores 6. d. Pass Shares: All players slide a revealed share clockwise to the next player. These shares remain face up on the play area for the rest of the game. e. Continue Play: Gameplay turns continue starting with the player to the left of the player who drew the locomotive.

2. When the 2nd locomotive is drawn: Repeat the same steps (a-e) as before. However, after players reveal a share (b), they now have two shares in front of them, one played from their hand and the other that's already face up in front of them. Both shares score dividends (c). When passing shares (d), players choose one of the two revealed shares in front of them to pass. Players make this choice in secret until all players choose. Then, players simultaneously slide the share clockwise to the next player where it is revealed face up.

3. When the last card is drawn: No locomotive is assigned. All players reveal their last share and score for the three shares now in front of them (b-c). Then proceed to end of game.

End of Game

The game ends when the last card from the draw deck is drawn and the final dividend is scored. Then, all players subtract the number of cards still left in hand from their score, regardless of rank. The player with the most money, as indicated by the highest total dividend score, is the winner. In case of a tie, the player who has fewer cards in hand wins. Otherwise, players share the victory.

Score example: Player 3 wins. Player 2 is second.

Score	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3
1st Locomotive dividend	8	8	6
2nd Locomotive dividend	11	13	15
Last card dividend	25	21	25
Number of cards in hand	-7	-5	-6
Total	$37	$37	$40