Foothills
Foothills Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Use your five action cards cleverly, collect resources, remove rubble, build track and stations, then use the spaces you unlock, while collecting more victory points than your opponent. In the end, the player with the most victory points wins!
Components
60 playing cards:
- 34 station cards
- 25 action cards
- 1 pub card
100+ wooden components:
- 2 surveyor tokens (blue and green)
- 4 event cubes (white)
- 16 stone cubes (grey)
- 20 iron ore cubes (orange) — iron ore and stone are collectively called resources
- 58+ rubble cubes (brown)
118 cardboard pieces:
- 1 stockyard tile
- 14 tickets (2 each of 7 types)
- 10 navvy tiles
- 16 passenger chits
- 1 starting player chit
- 1 summit chit
- 32 victory point chits (2 × ½ VP, 8 × 1 VP, 12 × 3 VP, 10 × 10 VP)
- 32 track/station tiles (16 each in blue and green)
- 2 line bonus chits
- 5 buffer stops
- 2 station counters (blue and green)
- 1 resource bag
- 2 player boards (blue and green)
Setup
- Take the station cards and select 6 lines at random. (There are 8 lines in total; each line is comprised of 2-7 station cards.) Return the unused station cards to the game box—you will not need them.
How to Select Lines
It does not matter which method you use to select lines. To help you with that, we printed the 28 possible combinations on the reverse side of 28 of the 34 station cards. Take the station cards and shuffle them. Draw a station card at random and check on its reverse side which two lines not to use. (If you happen to draw one of the six cards without this information, draw another.)
Lay out the selected lines in rows between the players, in the order defined by the Roman numerals on the station cards. The Arabic numerals define the order of cards within each line: place the cards in that order from left to right so that all cards with the same Arabic numeral are in the same column.
Note: Porthmadog (I/II-5) and Llanberis (III/IV-1) belong to two lines. If both of their lines are in play, place these cards as depicted.
Double Station cards
Seven pairs of station cards are so-called double stations, as you can tell by the illustration on the front, spanning over the two cards. Double stations are considered one station card—featuring a single track space, two or three station spaces, and a single surveyor action space or effect. (Double stations occupy two columns in the display.)
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Place the 2 tickets of the respective type on the starting station of each line (i.e., the leftmost station card in each row, indicated by a large sign with the line's name).
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Place the stockyard tile and the pub card near the station cards. Place the navvy tiles, the passenger and victory point (VP) chits, and the buffer stops nearby as a general supply.
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Put the resources—i.e., the orange iron ore and grey stone cubes—into the resource bag and shuffle them. Draw 6 resources at random from the bag and place them on the stockyard tile. Then shuffle the white event cubes into the bag and place the bag aside, in reach of both players.
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Fill the track spaces of the station cards with a number of rubble cubes, as shown on the track space. Place any spare rubble cubes in the general supply, near the stockyard tile.
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If the Ffestiniog Railway (I) and Welsh Highland Railway (II) lines are in play, place the corresponding line bonus chits on the Porthmadog (I/II-5) station card. If the Snowdon Mountain Railway (IV) line is in play, place the summit chit on the Yr Wyddfa (IV-5) station card. Return unused chits to the game box.
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Choose a colour (blue or green) and take the player board, the station counter, the surveyor token, and the 16 track/station tiles in that colour. Place the surveyor token on the designated spot on the player board and the station counter next to space 0 of the station track.
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Take the 5 action cards in your colour and place them in the indentations of your player board, with the golden side facing up.
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From the remaining action cards, randomly select 2 cards of each type, and place them in the general supply, golden side up. Spread them slightly so that the summary of the reverse is visible.
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Determine a starting player (e.g., the last person to dig soil in their garden) and give them the starting player chit: it will remain with the same player for the entirety of the game. Then, in reverse play order, each player selects 2 resources from the stockyard and places them in their supply. Do not refill the stockyard (yet).
Now you are ready to play!
Course of Play
Beginning with the starting player, you alternate turns until one of two game end conditions is met. On your turn, you must perform the following steps:
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Select one of your action cards. There are five types of actions labelled — . It is possible that you have two cards with the same type of action at the start of your turn while missing one or more other types.
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Perform the action on the card. Skip parts of the action that cannot be performed. If it is not possible to perform at least part of the action, you may not select that card as the action for your turn. In the rare event that you cannot perfom any action, you must skip your turn and instead place a navvy tile (see "Placing a Navvy Tile" on page 7).
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Flip the selected action card. After completing the action and resolving all of its effects, turn the selected action card to the opposite side, revealing a different action.
Flipping an Additional Action Card — Some actions allow you to flip an additional action card. This means, in step 3 of your turn, you can turn an action card other than the currently selected one to the opposite side: if the golden side is up, turn it to the grey side, and vice versa. Do not perform the action of that other card! Flipping an additional action card does not replace step 3 of your turn—you must still flip the current action card. (Flipping an additional action card is optional; flipping the current one is not.)
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Check for the end of the game. At the end of your turn, check whether a game end condition is met.
The Action Cards
Action cards are two-sided with one side showing the primary version of an action (indicated by a golden colour scheme) and the other side showing the secondary version of a different action (indicated by a grey colour scheme).
Note: All primary actions of each type are identical, whereas the corresponding secondary actions are all different.
All actions are explained on the cards with icons and text. The rules below describe the primary actions, but also apply to secondary and surveyor actions of the same type.
Each action card shows: the player colour (blue, green, or neutral), the colour scheme (golden or grey), the action illustration, the action name, the action description, the scoring option (see "The Pub" on page 11), and the action on the reverse.
Action Types
- Collecting Resources
- Removing Rubble
- Laying Track and/or Making Stone
- Building a Station
- Moving the Surveyor
Collecting Resources
Primary action: Take up to 3 resources of your choice from the stockyard and put them in your supply. You may take any combination of iron ore (orange) and stone (grey), if available. You may take fewer than 3 resources but you must take at least one. If there are less than 3 resources in the stockyard, take what is there, refill the stockyard (see below), then take any additional cubes you are entitled to.
Refilling the Stockyard
Whenever you take the last resource from the stockyard, immediately draw exactly 6 cubes from the bag and place them in the stockyard. If any of the drawn cubes are white, resolve each one as an event (see below) before proceeding with the causing action.
Resolving an Event
Whenever a (white) event cube is drawn from the resource bag, unless stated otherwise, place it on the stockyard tile, in one of the holes, and immediately place a navvy tile.
Placing a Navvy Tile
Scanning the station cards column by column, top to bottom, left to right, find the first (non-starting) station card without any track, station, or navvy tile. Clear that card of any rubble (placing it in the general supply), then place a navvy tile on it so that the tile covers both the track and station space(s). The track and stations have been built by a third-party navvy, unlocking the surveyor action of that card (see "Moving the Surveyor" on page 11).
Example: The navvy tile must be placed on the Two Viaducts/Hebron (IV-2/3) double station because the station cards above have a navvy tile (placed earlier) and a station built by a player. The remaining 3 rubble cubes on Two Viaducts/Hebron are placed in the general supply.
If the navvy completes a line, place a buffer stop at its end (see "Completing a Line" on page 9). At the end of a turn, if there are 3 or more event cubes on the stockyard tile, return all of them to the bag.
If you are unable to place a navvy (because they ran out or there is no appropriate station card left), the end of the game is triggered (see "Game End and Scoring" on page 12).
Clarifications on the secondary actions (the reverse of the primary actions):
- Harbour Market (green): Draw the cubes without looking into the bag. Replace any event cubes drawn without triggering an event, then return those event cubes to the bag.
- Large Boat (neutral): Do not refill the stockyard if it contains 6 or more resources already (including event cubes).
- Salvage (blue): Replace any event cubes drawn without triggering an event, then return those event cubes to the bag.
- Small Boat (neutral): You may perform this action even if there are 6 (or more) cubes in the stockyard already. You do not get any resource from this.
- Small Cart (neutral): You may not select this action if you have no tickets.
Removing Rubble
Primary action: Remove 4 rubble cubes from a single line and put them in your supply. Receive 1 VP for each newly cleared station card.
You must select a line with at least 1 rubble cube in it and remove as much rubble from its station cards as you can, up to 4 cubes, from left to right. If there are less than 4 rubble cubes in the line, take the remainder from the general supply. Once there is no rubble left on any of the station cards, simply take 4 rubble from the general supply when performing this action.
Clearing a Station Card
Whenever you remove the last rubble cube from a station card, you immediately receive 1 VP from the general supply, as printed at the bottom right of each track space. If you clear more than one station card in a line, you receive multiple VP accordingly. (Clearing a double station provides only 1 VP because it is considered a single card.)
Example: You decide to remove rubble from the Bala Lake Railway line. First remove the 3 rubble from Llangower, then remove 1 rubble from Llanuwchllyn. You receive 1 VP for clearing Llangower of rubble.
Porthmadog
Porthmadog (I/II-5) is a terminal station card for two lines featuring two track spaces. Only the left space has rubble on it. You can remove the rubble cubes as soon as all of the other station cards in one of the two lines have been cleared. Clearing Porthmadog provides only 1 VP as normal, even though two track spaces are unlocked.
Clarifications on the secondary actions (the reverse of the primary actions):
- Heavy Work Gang (neutral): You may not select this action if you have no tickets. If none of the lines for which you have a ticket have rubble left, simply take the rubble from the general supply.
- Itinerant Workers (neutral): No clarifications required.
- Light Work Gang (blue): No clarifications required.
- Local Help (green): You can remove rubble from two different lines or from a single line.
- Shared Workers (neutral): If you clear a station card, you receive the VP, not the opponent.
Laying Track and/or Making Stone
Primary action: Up to three times, pay 2 iron ore to lay 1 track or pay 2 rubble to take 1 stone. Receive 1 VP for each newly laid track.
This action provides two options—laying track and making stone—which you can perform three times per action in any combination. (For example, in a single action, you can lay track up to three times, or lay one track and make stone twice, etc.)
Laying Track
Return 2 iron ore from your supply to the resource bag and place a track tile on the leftmost available track space in a line of your choice. A track space is available if it has neither rubble, a navvy, nor a track tile on it. You cannot lay track if there are no available track spaces.
For each newly laid track, immediately receive 1 VP from the general supply, as printed at the bottom right of the track space.
Note: The icon at the bottom right of a track space reminds you of two things: you receive VP when clearing the space from rubble and when laying track on it.
Completing a Line
As soon as all track spaces in a line have a track or navvy tile on them, place a buffer stop from the general supply at the end of that line to show that no more track can be laid in this line. Placing the last buffer stop will trigger the end of the game (see "Game End and Scoring" on page 12).
Porthmadog
Porthmadog (I/II-5) is a terminal station card for two lines featuring two track spaces. You can lay track on both of these spaces (from left to right) as soon as the card is clear of rubble.
If both lines are in play, completing Porthmadog does not necessarily complete both lines. Place a buffer stop only for the completed line. When the second line is also complete, place a second buffer stop. (If only one line is in play, only one buffer stop is placed.)
Making Stone
Return 2 rubble cubes from your supply to the general supply. Then take 1 stone from either the stockyard or the resource bag (looking for it). If you empty the stockyard with this, remember to refill it (see "Refilling the Stockyard" on page 7).
Clarifications on the secondary actions (the reverse of the primary actions):
- Breakers Yard (blue): You can pay 2 iron ore, 2 stone, or 1 iron ore and 1 stone. You cannot make stone with this action.
- Brickmaker (neutral): You cannot lay track with this action.
- Local Blacksmith (neutral): You may not select this action if you have no tickets. You cannot make stone with this action.
- Strongarm (green): No clarifications required.
- Tea Break (neutral): No clarifications required.
Building a Station
Primary action: Build an available station by paying its cost and receive the bonus, if any. You may then perform the surveyor action, if it is available.
All stations that have not yet been built on cards with no rubble (by a player or the navvy) are available to you. (You do not have to build them from left to right.) The track on a station card need not be laid in order to build a station.
Note: Double stations provide two stations to build. Only one station can be built per action.
Pay the indicated cost (comprising iron ore, stone, rubble, and/or passengers) from your supply, returning iron ore and stone to the resource bag and placing rubble and passengers in the general supply.
Then place a station tile on the station space and advance the station counter on your player board one space to the right (thus, tracking how many stations you have built so far). This is important for the pub action (see "The Pub" on page 11).
You may receive a bonus (VP or passengers) if one is printed at the bottom right of the space. Take the bonus from the general supply and place it in your supply.
If there is an unoccupied surveyor action space below the station you just built, you may move your surveyor token to that space immediately. (See "Moving the Surveyor" on page 11 for details.)
Barmouth Ferry
Building the Barmouth Ferry (VII-2) station triggers a one-time effect that allows you to flip any number of action cards, including the currently selected one. This is not a surveyor action and can only be triggered once, right after building the station.
Devil's Bridge
The Devil's Bridge (VIII-4) station card features three station spaces that must be built in order, as indicated by the arrows between the stations. After you build each station, you may score an action card as you would at the pub (see "The Pub" on page 11 for details). This is not a surveyor action and can only be triggered once per station.
Line Bonuses
During scoring, the Ffestiniog Railway (I) and Welsh Highland Railway (II) lines provide a line bonus to the player with the most stations built in the respective line, worth 3 VP each. The Porthmadog (I/II-5) station counts towards both lines. (See "Game End and Scoring" on page 12 for details.)
Clarifications on the secondary actions (the reverse of the primary actions):
- Architect (neutral): You may not select this action if you have no tickets. You must pay the additional resource in addition to the cost of the selected station.
- Brickie's Mate (neutral): You do not get the bonus but you may perform the surveyor action or effect, if it is available.
- Landscaper (blue): You must pay the additional 2 rubble in addition to the cost of the selected station.
- Mason (green): You may not select this action if you have no tickets.
- Steelworker (neutral): You may not select this action if you have no tickets or tracks laid. You may build any station in the line—it does not need to be the station with your track.
Moving the Surveyor
Primary action: Move your surveyor token to an available surveyor action space or the pub and perform the indicated action. Alternatively, return your surveyor home and perform no action.
A surveyor action space is available if it is unoccupied and at least one station has been built on its station card (by a player or a navvy). At the start, this only applies to the starting stations.
If a surveyor action requires you spend resources, return them from your supply to the resource bag; passengers and rubble go into the general supply. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, if you receive resources from an action, you may choose whether to take each cube from the stockyard or look for it in the resource bag; take passengers and VP from the general supply. If you may lay track, do it according to the normal rules (see "Laying Track" on page 9).
Obtaining Tickets
The surveyor action on each starting station provides a ticket in that line's colour and an additional bonus (1 iron ore, 1 stone, 1 resource of your choice, 2 rubble, or 1 passenger). Place the ticket and the bonus in your supply. All tickets you collect must be different; you may return to a starting station later but do not receive the same ticket again (only the bonus).
Note: Tickets are required by many secondary actions. They can be worth VP (see "Game End and Scoring" on page 12).
Yr Wyddfa
The surveyor action of Yr Wyddfa (IV-5) lets you take the summit chit, which is worth 2 VP during scoring. The summit chit is always owned by the last player to perform this surveyor action.
The Pub
The pub can only be visited with a primary action! It allows you to score one of your action cards: Select an action card below your player board (regardless of which side is facing up) and set it aside in your scoring pile. Then take a replacement of the exact same pair of types (— ) from the general supply and place it in the vacant spot, golden side up. If two matching cards are available, select one of them. If no matching cards are left, you will have one fewer action card available to you for the rest of the game.
Note: If you replace the action card triggering the pub action, you need not flip it in step 3 of your turn. Do not flip the newly acquired action card!
Important! Your scoring pile is strictly limited by the number of stations you have built. In other words, you may not move to the pub unless you have more stations than cards in your scoring pile. (This is why you should track how many stations you built on your player board.)
Clarifications on the secondary actions (the reverse of the primary actions):
- Draftsman (neutral): No clarifications required.
- Field Worker (neutral): Double stations are adjacent to up to 6 cards. If your surveyor is in the pub, you can move it to any starting station. You cannot move to the pub with this action.
- Inspector (blue): You may not select this action if you have no tickets.
- Tourist (green): No clarifications required.
- Travel Agent (neutral): Your surveyor token stays where it is. (Do not take the surveyor action again!)
Component Limitations
Iron ore, stone, and track/station tiles are limited. Rubble, passengers, and VP chits are supposed to be in an unlimited supply. If you run out, replace them with something else.
Game End and Scoring
The game ends in one of two ways:
- All buffer stops have been placed (see "Completing a Line" on page 9).
- You are supposed to place a navvy tile but you are unable to do so (see page 7).
If this happens on the starting player's turn, the other player takes one last turn so that both players had an equal number of turns. Otherwise the game ends at the end of the current turn.
Scoring
For each line bonus in play, check which player has the most stations built in the corresponding line and award the line bonus to that player. In case of a tie, the line bonus is not awarded.
Note: Navvy chits are ignored. The line bonus is awarded regardless of whether or not there are unbuilt stations left in that line, even if the line is not completed. The Porthmadog (I/II-5) station counts towards both lines.
Tip: When it is no longer possible for one player to win a line bonus during the course of the game, you can award it to the other player straight away.
Then score the cards in your scoring pile and take VP chits accordingly. (Action cards below your player board do not count.) There are five types of scoring options on action cards:
- Score 1 VP for every second passenger in your supply, rounded down (in addition to its printed value).
- Score 1 VP for every second track you built, rounded down (in addition to the VP you received for it during the course of the game).
- Score 1 VP for each station you built (in addition to any bonuses received during the course of the game).
- Score 1 VP for each ticket you collected.
- Score 1 VP for each card in your scoring pile, including this one.
Finally, total your victory points from VP chits, line bonus chits (3 VP each), passengers (½ VP each), and the summit chit (2 VP if you have it). If you have more victory points than your opponent, you win. In case of a tie, swap colours and play the same set of lines again. If you are still tied after that, it is a true draw.