En Route Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• About the Game
• Components
  • City Card Sets
• Setup
  • General Setup
  • Players' Setup
  • Special Setup
  • Cities
• Player Board
• Goal of the Game
• Gameplay Overview
• Tourists in the City
• Tourist Cards
  • Coordinates
  • Repeat Cards
• Round Order
  • 1. Tourist Selection Phase
  • 2. Drawing Phase
  • 3. Upkeep Phase
  • Round Example
• City Landmarks
  • Special Landmarks
  • Common Landmarks
• Cafés
  • Types of Café Bonuses
  • Visit Them All
• Balance Cards
• Personal Objective Cards
• Goal Cards
• Beginning Rounds
  • 3 Players
  • 4 Players
• End of the Game
  • Prestige Point Scoring Example
• Solo Mode
  • Winning Conditions
  • Solo Game Setup
  • Gameplay
  • End of the Game
• Advanced Mode
• Team Mode
• Special Rules
  • Hand Card Renewal
  • Turn Order Issues
• Commonly Forgotten Rules

About the Game

In En Route you create a tour route to interesting Landmarks throughout one of the famous cities. By playing cards, you and your opponents choose which tourists you want to attract to your tour. Each player marks these tourists on their own city map and charts an optimal route, taking into account where your tourists want to go. Some Landmarks are interesting only to certain tourists, other places are enjoyable to all sightseers. There are also places whose attractiveness changes depending on how popular they are at the moment. Make your route the most memorable, intense and exciting for all your tourists. Whoever creates the most satisfying tour route, which is scored in Prestige Points, wins!

Components

• 4 double-sided Round boards
• 8 double-sided Player boards with city maps
• 4 folding double-sided Player boards with city maps
• 16 dry-erase markers (4 colors)
• 7 City Selection cards
• 18 Global Tourist cards
• 6 Repeat cards
• 9 Goal cards
• 4 double-sided Reference cards
• 4 Balance cards
• 8 Personal Objective cards
• 4 Challenge table cards for the Solo game (a Solo player Reference card is printed on the back of the First City Challenge table card)
• This rulebook
• The Cities of the World book

City Card Sets

• First City: 12 First City cards (12 Tourist cards)
• London: 22 London cards (12 Tourist cards, 7 Starting Underground cards, 3 Special Goal cards)
• Rio de Janeiro: 13 Rio de Janeiro cards (12 Tourist cards, 1 Special Goal card)
• Cairo: 15 Cairo cards (12 Tourist cards, 3 Special Goal cards)
• Hong Kong: 21 Hong Kong cards (12 Tourist cards, 9 Special Goal cards)
• Paris: 21 Paris cards (12 Tourist cards, 9 Thematic Tour cards)
• New York: 32 New York cards (12 Tourist cards, 11 Café cards, 9 Special Goal cards)

Setup

General Setup

1. Select a city. To choose randomly, use the City selection cards. For First City, just follow this setup. For any other city, take the Cities of the World book, find the section for the selected city and apply the setup changes, if any.
2. Find the Round board for the selected city and place it in the middle of the table. Leave some empty space near the board for playing Round cards during the game. (If you are experienced players and have chosen the Advanced mode described later, mark with a purple marker each upgrade box on the Round board that has a purple corner. For a Standard play, do not mark anything.)
3. Shuffle together the 12 Tourist cards of the selected city, the 18 Global Tourist cards and the 6 Repeat cards to compile the City deck (36 cards). Place the deck on the special holder included in the box.
4. Take the 9 Goal cards. Shuffle the 3 Goal decks (A, B, and C) separately, flip them face up and place near the Round board. The top 3 cards are the common Goals for this game. Many cities have special Goal cards that are added to or replace regular Goals. In some cities, the Goals are not used at all. (You may choose to play without Goals, but they make the game deeper and more interesting.)

Players' Setup

1. Find the 4 Player boards with the map of the selected city and distribute 1 board randomly to each player. All Player boards are double-sided: the two sides show maps of different cities. The 4 Player boards for each city have the same layout, but the alignment of the coordinates is different.
2. Each player draws 3 cards from the City deck to their hand.
3. Shuffle the 8 Personal Objective cards. Each player draws two Personal Objective cards, keeps one of them face down and discards the other one. Return all unselected Personal Objective cards to the box. (You may choose to play without Personal Objectives, but they make the game more exciting and help to decide on a strategy for the game.)
4. If any players feel that they are less experienced at En Route than the others, each of these players may take a Balance card any side up (see Balance Cards).
5. Each player takes 4 markers of different colors (red, green, blue, purple).
6. Each player takes a Reference card. The player who last traveled or went on a tour places their Reference card with the green (Active Player) side up — they will be the first active player. The other players place their Reference cards with the purple side up.

Special Setup

If your selected city has other special components, set them up as specified in that city's rules.

Cities

First City is a fictional city, ideal for your first games. Its rules are completely described in this rulebook. Some special remarks on the First City are highlighted in purple.

For a simplified game, play First City without Goal cards, Personal Objective cards (simply skip the respective setup steps) and without Cafés (ignore Café symbols and their bonuses).

For an intermediate game, play First City without Goal cards but include Personal Objective cards and Cafés.

For a full game with First City, play it with all rules including the Goal cards.

Other cities. When you feel you have become an experienced tour guide, you can move onto famous tourist cities. Find them in the Cities of the World book. Each of these cities has unique Landmarks and special challenging rules — do not forget to read them before playing!

Player Board

The central part of each Player board is the city map, where you will chart routes and mark tourists with markers. Spaces for scoring the Prestige Points (PP) at the end of the game are on the edges of the board. The board shows coordinates around the map, Landmarks, locations, and Prestige Point scoring spaces.

The city map consists of 36 locations, which form a 6×6 square. Roads run between the locations and around them. Each location matches a pair of coordinates, indicated around the city map. Horizontal and vertical coordinates are both written as numbers from 1 to 6.

Colored places (red, green, blue, yellow, gray) are Landmarks. In most cities, each Landmark occupies exactly one location. Landmarks can score PP if they are on your final route.

During the game, you will mark tourists (usually circle, square, and/or triangle shapes) in the locations, and chart route sections along the roads.

Goal of the Game

Each player draws a city tour route on their board, trying to collect both tourists who appear throughout the city and the Landmarks that pique their interest. During the game, different route segments can be drawn, but at the end of the game, before scoring, each player must combine them in a single continuous final route. At this moment, some of the drawn route sections and some tourists may end up outside the final route; they will need to be erased. Each Landmark on the final route will earn the player Prestige Points (PP) according to its rules. The player with the most PP becomes the best tour guide and wins.

Gameplay Overview

A game of En Route lasts exactly 10 rounds.

Every regular round consists of 3 phases:

1. Tourist selection phase. The active player places 1 card from their hand in the middle of the table, face up. Then the players to the left and right place 1 card from their hand to the left and right of the first card, face down. The active player reveals both cards and discards one of them to the bottom of the City deck. The remaining 2 cards are the Round cards, and they determine the drawing rules for this round for all players.
2. Drawing phase. Each player takes their turn based on the Round cards: they choose an unoccupied location on their board, mark tourists in this location and draw a route segment.
3. Upkeep phase. The Round cards are moved to the discard pile, and each player fills their hand back up to 3 cards. Then the next player clockwise becomes the active player.

At the end of the Tourist selection phase, mark a check in the next space of the Round track on the Round board to keep track of the number of rounds that have been played. You can write down the first letter of the active player's name or the coordinates from the Round cards in this space instead.

In a three- or four-player game, the first 1 or 2 rounds are special beginning rounds (see Beginning Rounds).

Markers. For your convenience, various colored markers are included in the box so you can mark tourists in different colors and chart the route in purple. You may, however, use one color if you prefer.

Tourists in the City

Each round you mark new tourists in the city locations who can be attracted to your route.

There are three or four types of tourists in each city. They differ in their personal preferences and are represented by various colors and shapes:

• Red circles are tourists who like noisy entertainment and crowded places: shopping districts, fairs, attractions, stadiums, beaches.
• Green squares are tourists who enjoy urban nature and beautiful outdoor areas: parks, public gardens, arboretums and green spaces.
• Blue triangles are tourists who like to get to know the city through cultural centers: museums, art galleries, theaters.

In some cities of the world, purple pentagons also may appear as tourists of another type, unique for certain cities (see the Cities of the World book).

Tourist Cards

There are 2 types of Tourist cards: the Global Tourist cards, which are the same in every game, and the Tourist cards of the selected city, which contain Iconic Landmark symbols.

Each regular round, two Round cards are chosen from the City deck by players together. The Round cards determine for all players:

1. the number and type(s) of tourists to be marked,
2. the coordinates of where they will be placed.

During the beginning rounds in 3-player and 4-player games, each player chooses their own Round cards from the available placed cards (see Beginning Rounds).

Coordinates

Each location matches a pair of coordinates: horizontal and vertical. They are both written as numbers, from 1 to 6.

The Round cards specify both coordinates, but each player decides for themself which coordinate is horizontal and which is vertical. If the Round cards have different numbers, then there are two matching locations on the city map. Each player chooses in which one of them they will draw tourists this round.

Repeat Cards

Repeat cards are similar to Tourist cards but instead of tourists these cards have a special effect:

• If one of the Round cards is a Repeat card, treat it as if it has 2 tourists of the same type as the second card.
• If both Round cards are Repeat cards (meaning neither shows any tourists), in this round each player gains 2 tourists of any single type of their own choice.

A Repeat card repeats only the tourists from the second card. No other elements (such as an upgrade of an Iconic Landmark's rating) are repeated.

Round Order

1. Tourist Selection Phase

This phase consists of the following steps:

1. First card. The active player chooses a card from their hand and places it in the middle of the table, face up. Standard game: after the Round cards have been chosen, for each symbol of an Iconic Landmark on them, mark the next upgrade box of that Landmark on the Round board. This means that the rating of that Landmark is upgraded.
2. Second card. Players to the left and right of the active player each place one card from their hands (in a 2-player game, the opponent places two cards), face down. Then the active player reveals both cards placed by their neighbors, chooses one of these cards and removes the other one face down to the bottom of the City deck (not to the discard pile), leaving two cards which are now the Round cards. The active player must not remove their own card but exactly one of the cards placed by their neighbors.
3. Round condition announcement. Based on the Round cards, the active player announces:
   • Iconic Landmark rating upgrades, if any (mark this on the Round board),
   • the coordinates (you can write them in the matching space on the Round track),
   • the number and type(s) of tourists shown on the Round cards.

Advanced mode (for experienced players). After the Round cards have been chosen, for each symbol of an Iconic Landmark on them, the active player must choose one of the following options:

• upgrade the Landmark's rating (mark its next upgrade box on the Round board);
• downgrade the Landmark's rating (erase its rightmost upgrade mark on the Round board).

The Advanced mode can be chosen only before the game starts (see Advanced Mode).

2. Drawing Phase

In this phase, each player independently takes a turn by performing 3 steps in the following order:

1. Selecting a location. Select 1 location on your city map. This is where you are going to place all the tourists for this round. Its coordinates are determined by the Round cards, so you usually can choose between two locations. The selected location must be unoccupied at the start of the turn. You may not select a location where you have previously marked tourists. However, route sections near a location do not make it occupied. If you have previously gained a Coordinate change Café bonus, you can use it at this step.
2. Marking tourists. Draw tourist shapes in your selected location according to the Round cards.
3. Charting the route. Chart a route segment by drawing a line along the roads. Choose one of two options:
   • a) a route segment of 2 sections (straight or L-shaped) next to the selected location (at least one section must run along its edge);
   • b) 1 route section anywhere on your city map.

Note: It is possible that all locations that match the Round cards on your city map are already occupied. In this case, you cannot draw tourists from the Round cards. Instead, mark 1 tourist of any type on any unoccupied location, then draw 1 route section anywhere on your city map.

Route. The following game terms are used to describe the route:

• Route section. A line drawn between two adjacent crossroads (usually along one of the 4 edges of a location). A route section can be drawn only along a road.
• Route segment. A continuous sequence of route sections.
• The final route. A continuous sequence of route sections chosen by the player at the end of the game.

A route cannot repeat itself. You cannot draw another route section along a section that has already been drawn.

During the game, you can draw as many isolated route segments as you like. You can even temporarily branch and weave your route.

At the end of the game, you will have to choose exactly 1 continuous route segment going from one point to another, and erase the rest of the segments. In the final route, each section can be used only once.

3. Upkeep Phase

At the end of the round, do the following:

1. Discard. Move both Round cards face up to the discard pile (not to the bottom of the City deck).
2. Refill. Each player draws cards from the City deck (if necessary) until they have 3.
3. Active player change. The player who was active for that round turns their Reference card purple side up. The next player clockwise becomes the active player and turns their Reference card green (Active Player) side up.

Discarding the cards. Note that cards in En Route are discarded in different ways:

• During the Tourist selection phase, discard the unselected face-down card to the bottom of the City deck. In some cases, this card can return to a player's hand later.
• During the Upkeep phase (at the end of the round) discard the Round cards face up to the discard pile near the City deck. These cards have already been played in the current game. You can always look through this pile — for example, to check the Landmark ratings.

Round Example

The active player places the central card, their neighbors place two other cards. The active player reveals them and decides to keep their left neighbor's card, removing the card placed by the right neighbor. The players mark the next upgrade box of the Landmark on the Round board.

The active player announces the coordinates (2 and 1) as well as the total number and types of tourists on the cards. In this example it's 2 blue and 1 red tourists.

Each player takes their turn by choosing one of two locations that match the announced coordinates and marking 2 blue and 1 red tourist in it. Then, each player draws a route segment of their choice (either 2 continuous route sections next to the selected location, or 1 section anywhere).

After they are finished, players discard the Round cards and fill their hands back up to 3 cards. The next player clockwise becomes active and begins a new round.

City Landmarks

To get more Prestige Points (PP) at the end of the game, chart your route along the borders of Landmarks. Landmarks are colored places with a special symbol in their corner. In most cities, each Landmark occupies exactly one location. Landmarks can be special, which are important only for certain types of tourists, or common, which are interesting for all of them.

Special Landmarks

Special Landmarks are red, green and blue. Each Special Landmark on the final route will earn you 1 PP for each tourist of its color.

• Red Landmarks (with a circle) are famous shopping districts, attractions, stadiums and other crowded places.
• Green Landmarks (with a square) are famous parks, public gardens and other open urban spaces.
• Blue Landmarks (with a triangle) are famous museums, art galleries, theaters and other cultural places.

At the end of the game, multiply the number of tourists of each type by the number of Special Landmarks of the same color on your final route to calculate the PP. Special scoring spaces on your Player board will help you to do this.

Common Landmarks

Common Landmarks are yellow and gray. They bring PP regardless of which tourists are on the route.

• Popular (yellow) Landmarks constantly attract the interest of tourists. Each yellow Landmark on the final route will earn you the PP indicated on the Landmark itself.
• Iconic (gray) Landmarks are the most famous places in the city. They are listed on the Round board, and the interest of visiting them may vary from game to game. During the game, players can upgrade ratings of these Landmarks using the Round cards. For each Round card with an Iconic Landmark symbol, players mark the next upgrade box of the matching rating track on the Round board. At the end of the game, each gray Landmark on the final route will earn as many PP as indicated above its rightmost checked upgrade box on the Round board.

In First City, there are 3 gray Landmarks: School of Illusion and Pottery, Skywatcher Observatory and Tele-Vision Tower. Each of them is worth between 4 PP (lowest rating, no upgrades) to 12 PP (highest rating, all 4 upgrades).

When you are experienced with the game, it is recommended to use another way of rating adjustment for Iconic Landmarks — see Advanced Mode.

Cafés

Every experienced tour guide should know the city like the back of their hand. When devising routes, guides themselves walk the streets, study the sights and often visit cafés. A cup of strong coffee can not only invigorate and inspire, but also help to make new acquaintances.

Cafés can be found at some crossroads, often at the edge of the city map. They are marked with a coffee cup symbol. Visiting them can get you various bonuses during the game.

In First City, when playing a simplified game, do not use Cafés and ignore their symbols on the city map.

Gaining Café bonuses. Whenever you chart a route section that reaches a crossroads with a Café, immediately circle the coffee cup: you visit this Café and gain its bonus. For this, it does not matter whether this section will be included in the final route. Each Café bonus is single-use. When you use a bonus, cross it out, but do not erase it — you will not be able to visit this Café again.

Unused Café bonuses. At the end of the game, each Café bonus you gain but don't use (i.e. a Café symbol that is circled but not crossed out) will earn you 2 PP, even those not on the final route.

Types of Café Bonuses

• New tourists. Use this bonus immediately to add the shown tourists to the same location where you have marked tourists this turn. A lightning-like straw atop the coffee cup symbol reminds you that this bonus is instant. You cannot postpone it to use in any later rounds. However, you may leave this Café bonus unused to score 2 PP at the end of the game.
• Route section. Use this bonus to draw 1 additional route section anywhere on your city map. You can use it either immediately after having gained it or during later rounds at any time of your turn.
• Coordinate change. Use this bonus before selecting a location to change the coordinate value from one of the Round cards by 1 in either direction (6 can be turned into 1 and vice versa). This change applies to you only. If you have collected more than one of these bonuses, you may combine them and apply them to one or different Round cards. Since selecting a location is always done before charting a route, you cannot use this bonus in the same round you gained it.

Visit Them All

In some cities of the world, several crossroads are marked with the Visit-Them-All symbol (a yellow circle). The more of these places you visit by taking the final route through them, the more Prestige Points they are worth.

In First City, there are 3 points along the Hand Craft Festival. They are worth 12 or 24 PP if the final route passes through 2 or 3 such points respectively.

Balance Cards

The Balance cards are designed to help younger or less experienced players feel comfortable with the game.

Each Balance card is a single-use card which provides one of 2 bonuses: Route section or Coordinate change. These bonuses work exactly like the Café bonuses with the same names.

During the game setup (step 4 of the Players' Setup), any player may choose to gain a Balance card (or even several cards). They must immediately choose a side for this card as their bonus for the current game. If you find it difficult to choose, place your Balance card with the Route section side up.

The player may use their Balance card during their turn in the Drawing phase. After using the card, remove it from the game.

Personal Objective Cards

In First City, when playing a simplified game, do not use Personal Objective cards.

During the game setup, each player gets two Personal Objective cards, chooses one of them for this game and immediately discards the other one. Place your chosen card near your Player board face down till the end of the game (you can look at it any time).

There are crossroads indicated on your Personal Objective card. These are special points of interest for your tourists. Try to include at least 2 of these crossroads in your final route. The longer the route segment is between them, the more PP you will earn.

Note: If you find it difficult to remember the position of the crossroads, you can immediately mark them on your city map.

Goal Cards

Tourists grow ever more demanding! Each game will offer three Goal conditions. Fulfill them to make your route more prestigious. The player who fulfills the Goal to the highest degree will be the winner of this mini-competition for the most fastidious tourists.

In First City, when playing a simplified or intermediate game, do not use Goal cards.

In the full game with First City, as well as in the games with most other cities of the world, the Goal cards are added. In each game, 3 Goal cards are used (A, B, and C), shared by all players.

Each Goal card has a requirement with a plus sign (+). At the end of the game, each player who meets this requirement with the indicated result or more, receives the Goal Achiever PP amount (shown in the star without a ribbon).

Any player who meets a Goal's requirement with the highest result receives instead the Goal Winner PP amount (shown in the star with a ribbon). If multiple players have the same highest result, they each receive the Goal Winner PP amount.

Note: In some cities, there are Goal cards that have a requirement with a minus sign (−). For the Goal Achiever PP, a player needs to get the indicated result or less. For the Goal Winner PP, a player needs to meet the requirement with the lowest result among all players.

A Goal card shows: the Goal card type, the requirement, the Goal Winner PP, the Goal Achiever PP, and an explanatory illustration.

Beginning Rounds

A three- or four-player game always starts with 1 or 2 special beginning rounds. They have two main differences from regular rounds:

• In the beginning rounds there is no active player who chooses the Round cards. Each player makes this choice for themself among the cards placed by the players together.
• Turns are done in secret from other players. Players are not allowed to look at other players' boards until the end of all the beginning rounds.

3 Players

In a 3-player game, play the first round as follows:

1. Special Tourist selection phase. Each player chooses 1 card from their hand and places it face down on the table. Then all players reveal their cards simultaneously. Unlike in regular rounds, no card is discarded. If any of the placed cards contain Iconic Landmarks, upgrade their rating on the Round board (for each card, as described in Round Order). Each player independently chooses any 2 of the 3 placed cards to be their Round cards for this turn.
2. Drawing phase. Each player takes their turn according to the Round cards they have chosen for themself.
3. Upkeep phase. Move the 3 placed cards to the discard pile, then each player fills their hand back up to 3 cards.

After that, the first active player starts a regular round. In the remaining 9 rounds, each person will be the active player 3 times.

4 Players

In a 4-player game, play the first two rounds as follows:

I. Round one.

1. Special Tourist selection phase. Each player chooses 1 card from their hand and places it face down on the table. Then all players reveal their cards simultaneously. Unlike in regular rounds, no card is discarded. If any of the placed cards contain Iconic Landmarks, upgrade their rating on the Round board (for each card, as described in Round Order). Each player independently chooses any 2 of the 4 placed cards to be their Round cards for the first turn (the remaining 2 cards will be their Round cards in the next round).
2. Drawing phase. Each player takes their first turn according to the Round cards they have chosen for themself.
3. Upkeep phase. Nothing happens. Round cards are not discarded.

II. Round two.

1. Special Tourist selection phase. In this round, each player uses the other 2 Round cards that they did not use in the first round.
2. Drawing phase. Each player takes their second turn according to the Round cards they have for this turn.
3. Upkeep phase. Move the 4 placed cards to the discard pile, then each player fills their hand back up to 3 cards.

After that, the first active player starts a regular round. In the remaining 8 rounds, each person will be the active player 2 times.

End of the Game

After 10 rounds have been played, the game ends. Each player performs the following on their board:

I. Personal Objective crossroads. Flip your Personal Objective card face up (place it vertically and do not rotate it), then circle on your city map each of the 3 crossroads from the card. (Skip this step if you are playing without Personal Objectives.)

II. Determining the final route. Select 2 endpoints and 1 continuous route segment between them. This is your final route. Erase any route sections not included in the final route (but do not erase circled Cafés on them).

• The final route should be continuous. If your route has multiple branches, you have to choose which one to keep and which ones to erase.
• Each section can only be used once in the final route.
• You cannot draw any additional route sections.
• There are no other restrictions for the final route. It can even cross itself or be looping.

III. Checking tourists. Check all locations with tourists if they are still on your final route. The tourists whose locations are no more on the final route leave you — erase their symbols. If your route touches only a corner of the location with a turn at a crossroads without running along its edge, this location is not on the route.

IV. Prestige Point scoring. Calculate the subtotals in the appropriate spaces on your board. This will make counting PP easier. The scoring list here is for First City. If you play with another city, you may have slightly different scoring steps. If you did not use Personal Objectives or Goals, skip the respective steps.

1. Red Landmarks. Count all red tourists and multiply by the number of the red Landmarks on the route.
2. Green Landmarks. Count all green tourists and multiply by the number of the green Landmarks on the route.
3. Blue Landmarks. Count all blue tourists and multiply by the number of the blue Landmarks on the route.
4. Yellow Landmarks. Add up the PP for all Popular Landmarks on the route.
5. Gray Landmarks. Add up the PP for all Iconic Landmarks on your route. Each Iconic Landmark is worth PP indicated above its highest marked upgrade box on the Round board. In First City, each Iconic Landmark can be worth between 4 and 12 PP.
6. Unused Café bonuses. Add up any unused Café bonuses for 2 PP each (even those not on the route).
7. Visit-Them-All. Add up the PPs of Visit-Them-All points on the route. In First City, score 0 PP for one Hand Craft Festival point on the route, 12 PP total for two, and 24 PP total for three.
8. Personal Objectives. If at least 2 marked crossroads from your Personal Objective card are on the route, count the number of sections in the route segment between any two of these crossroads — this is your PP for your Personal Objective. If there are several such route segments, choose the longest.
9. Goals. For each of the three Goals (A, B, and C) check to see if you have fulfilled its requirement and compare your result to the results of the other players. If you meet a Goal card's requirement, receive the Goal Achiever PP amount (shown in the star without a ribbon). If you meet a Goal card's requirement and have the highest value of the requirement, receive instead the Goal Winner PP amount (shown in the star with a ribbon). If multiple players have the same highest value, they each receive the Goal Winner PP amount.

Add up all your Prestige Points and write the total in the Total space. If you have the most Prestige Points, you win! Your tourists thoroughly enjoyed the rich and varied route. They will most certainly recommend your tour to their friends and fellow travel enthusiasts!

In case of a tie, the player with the longest route is the winner. If still tied, the player with the most tourists wins. If still tied, the player with the most Landmarks on their final route wins. If there is still a tie, they each share the win.

Prestige Point Scoring Example

First, the player marks the Personal Objective crossroads and determines the final route. They erase excessive sections, as well as symbols of tourists who did not get on the final route.

Then the player scores Prestige Points:

1. There are 2 red Landmarks and 6 red tourists on the route. Score: 2 × 6 = 12 PP.
2. There are 2 green Landmarks and 10 green tourists on the route. Score: 2 × 10 = 20 PP.
3. There are 3 blue Landmarks and 7 blue tourists on the route. Score: 3 × 7 = 21 PP.
4. There are 3 yellow Landmarks on the route. Score: 6 + 6 + 6 = 18 PP.
5. There is 1 gray Landmark on the route: Tele-Vision Tower. Score: 10 PP.
6. The player has 1 unused Café bonus. Score: 2 PP.
7. The route connected 2 Hand Craft Festival points. Score: 12 PP.
8. The route segment between two marked crossroads is 10 sections long. Score: 10 PP.
9. Goal cards were not used in this game.

The player's final score is 105 Prestige Points.

Solo Mode

You can play En Route solo, without opponents. Try to improve your guide skills with each solo game! Mark your achievements in a special table.

Winning Conditions

In a solo game, the PP value on the Goal cards does not matter. In this game you are the only tour guide, you have no one to compete with. Instead, to win the game, you must fulfill the requirements of a certain number of Goal cards (specified in your chosen cell of the Challenge table), otherwise the tourists will be disappointed.

Solo Game Setup

1. Select a city. Take a random Player board and the Round board for that city.
2. Take the Challenge table card for the selected city and choose any cell for the game (it sets your difficulty level and your number of Goals to achieve).
3. Shuffle together the 12 Tourist cards of the selected city, the 18 Global Tourist cards and the 6 Repeat cards to create the City deck, as usual. Place the deck on the special holder next to your board.
4. Shuffle the 3 Goal decks and place them, as usual.
5. Create the Card Sequence: place 10 cards from the City deck face down in 4 rows, then reveal the 3 cards in the lower row (they are on top of other cards).
6. Draw 2 cards from the City deck to your hand (not 3).
7. Draw 2 Personal Objective cards and keep one, as usual.
8. Take 4 markers of different colors, as usual.
9. Take the Solo player Reference card (on the back of the First City Challenge table card). Prepare other special components of the city (if any).

Gameplay

The amount of cards in the Card Sequence will help you keep track of the number of rounds. The game lasts 10 rounds, as usual, and each round consists of 3 phases.

1. Tourist selection phase. First, place one Round card from your hand. Then, choose a card from the Card Sequence that is face up and place it as the other Round card.
2. Drawing phase. Take your turn as usual.
3. Upkeep phase. Move the Round cards to the discard pile, then draw a card from the City deck so that you have 2 cards in your hand. After that, if there are any face down cards in the Sequence that are not covered by any other card, flip them face up. You will be able to select them in the next round.

End of the Game

After playing the last round, determine the final route, as usual.

When scoring, you do not get PP for fulfilling Goal card requirements. Instead, if you have completed a Goal card, put a plus sign (+) in its scoring space on your board.

After calculating the total number of PP and the number of completed Goal cards, compare your results with the cell in the challenge table you selected before the game. If you reach the required number of PP and complete all the required Goals, you win!

Record your score in the cell and try to fill in the challenge table completely!

Advanced Mode

For experienced players, we recommend playing the Advanced mode. It allows you to adjust ratings of Iconic Landmarks more precisely and provides a more dense and aggressive interaction.

Advanced mode setup changes. After having placed the Round board, immediately mark each upgrade box on it that has a purple corner (usually 1 upgrade for each Iconic Landmark).

Gameplay. After the Round cards have been chosen, for each symbol of an Iconic Landmark on them, the active player must either upgrade the Landmark's rating or downgrade it. The player can leave the Landmark's rating unchanged only if it is already at the maximum or minimum. If you have to adjust ratings of several Landmarks, do each separately.

Beginning rounds. As for a Standard game, in the beginning rounds the rating of Landmarks can only upgrade.

Team Mode

You can team up with other guides and compete for the best routes in a two-on-two team mode.

Team mode setup. Each player has their opponents to their left and right, and the player directly across is their teammate. Perform the usual setup for a 4-player game. Make sure that one pair of teammates has the Player boards numbered 1 and 3, and the second pair has the Player boards numbered 2 and 4.

Gameplay. Team mode is played with 10 regular rounds, with no special beginning rounds. In the Tourist selection phase, the active player places the first Round card, but then their teammate places the two other cards face up. The active player chooses one of these cards and announces the round conditions, as usual.

Teammates cannot exchange information about the cards in their hands, but they can openly discuss the route planning.

End of the game. Score the Prestige Points according to the usual rules. Then, add up the Prestige Points of the teammates of each team. The team with the most total PP wins. In case of a tie, the team with the lowest PP difference between the teammates wins. If the teams are tied anyway, they share the victory.

Special Rules

Hand Card Renewal

Once per game, each player may renew the cards in their hand. To do so, put 1–3 cards from your hand at the bottom of the City deck, then draw the same number of cards from the top of the deck and shuffle it. Do not show the cards you discard!

You can renew your hand at any time, even after the active player has placed their first Round card. Once you renew your hand, mark it on your Player board — circle the city symbol at the corner of the board. You cannot renew your hand in this game again!

Turn Order Issues

Normally, in the Drawing phase, all players take a turn (draw on their boards) at the same time. However, in rare cases, you may want to specify the turn order: for example, when playing with Goal cards, you may want to know where your opponent will draw a route segment before you draw your own so you fulfill a particular Goal requirement. In this case, play the Drawing phase clockwise, starting with the active player.

The Drawing phase and the Upkeep phase are played as usual, then the next player clockwise becomes the active player. This means the two teams will take turns choosing the Round cards.

Commonly Forgotten Rules

• As the active player, when selecting a card to discard, you must choose one of your neighbors' cards. You cannot discard a card you have placed yourself.
• If you have no suitable card to play in the Tourist selection phase, you can renew your cards in hand once per game.
• You can only mark tourists in an unoccupied location, i.e. with no marks at the start of this turn.
• If a location matching the coordinates of the Round cards is occupied, check the second possible location. If they are both occupied, mark 1 tourist of any type in any unoccupied location and 1 route section anywhere you like.
• If neither of the Round cards has tourists, mark 2 tourists of any single type.
• You may either chart two continuous route sections with one next to your chosen location, or chart one route section anywhere instead.
• When charting a route, you do not have to continue an existing route segment.
• Only draw cards in the Upkeep phase, i.e. at the very end of the round, after you have completely finished the Drawing phase. You must finish marking tourists and charting a route segment as well as applying any bonuses you want to use.
• Your final route must be continuous, but it can cross itself or even loop as long as each section in it is used only once.
• Before scoring Prestige Points, you must erase all sections that are not part of the final route as well as the symbols of tourists who find themselves outside the route.