Get on Board: New York & London Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview and Goal
• Game Elements and Setup
• Gameplay Overview
  • 1. New Bus Ticket
  • 2. Plot Route
    • a. Place Route Markers
• Different Route Shapes
• Traffic Jams
  • New York — Certain Roads Are Always Jammed!
• Green Lights
• Detours Not Allowed
• Straight Lines and Turns
  • • b. Board Bus
  • Parking a Bus
  • Sightseeing Spots
  • 3. Check Common Objectives
  • 4. Change Inspector
• Credits
• End of the Game

Contents

• 1 double-sided board (1 London side, 1 New York side)
• 50 double-sided player sheets
• 160 Route markers
• 5 Departure pawns
• 12 Bus Ticket cards
• 6 Common Objective cards
• 10 Personal Objective cards (5 London cards, 5 New York cards)
• 1 Inspector pawn

Overview and Goal

You have 12 rounds to build the best bus line in town. Each round, reveal a new card that shows all players the route shape they must complete. Take the passengers where they want to go, avoid traffic, and gain as many victory points as possible!

Game Elements and Setup

1. Choose a player color and put all the corresponding pieces in front of you: 32 Route markers and 1 Departure pawn.

   Route markers are placed on the map to plot out your bus line.

2. Take a player sheet and find a writing utensil.

   Your player sheet will track who has boarded your bus along your route and which Places you stopped at, all of which give you victory points.

3. Place the board in the middle of the table. For a 2- or 3-player game, use the New York side. For a 4- or 5-player game, use the London side.

   The board shows a map of the city made up of different roads. Each intersection has one of these Passengers (tourist, professional, student, senior), one of these Places (Bank/business, Museum, Post office, House/hotel), or a Green Light. Certain Places also have a name with a colored background: these are called "Sightseeing Spots." On one side of the board, there are 2 numbered spaces for Common Objective cards to be displayed faceup. There are 2 other spaces for the Bus Ticket deck and discard. The New York map also shows some black roads that constantly have traffic jams.

4. Shuffle the 6 Common Objective cards and randomly place 1 faceup on each of the 2 spaces on the board. Put the unused cards back in the box.

   Common Objective cards show players the number of Passengers they must pick up or the Places they must stop at to gain victory points.

5. Shuffle the 5 Personal Objective cards for the side of the board you're playing with, then deal 1 to each player. Leave the remaining card(s) in the box.

   Personal Objective cards require you to connect 3 specific intersections with your bus line to gain victory points. These points are shown in the black circles. Red circles are only used to highlight landmarks on the map.

6. Shuffle all 12 Bus Ticket cards if you are playing on the London side or only cards 1 through 6 if playing on the New York side, then deal 2 to each player, facedown. Look at the 2 cards you received and place 1 facedown in front of you. Once everyone has a card in front of them, reveal them: place your Departure pawn on the Traffic Light in the intersection whose number is shown on the Bus Ticket you chose.

   This pawn shows the point of departure for your bus line.

7. Take all 12 Bus Ticket cards back and shuffle them to make a facedown deck in the dedicated space on the board.

   Bus Ticket cards have a number and a color: The number is only used during setup, to show different points of departure. The color is used during gameplay.

8. The oldest player is the first Inspector and places the Inspector pawn in front of them.

   The Inspector pawn shows the turn order. The Inspector will always go first, followed by the other players going clockwise. This pawn will pass to the next player each round.

Gameplay Overview

A game of Get on Board plays over 12 rounds. Each round has 4 phases:

1. NEW BUS TICKET
2. PLOT ROUTE
3. CHECK COMMON OBJECTIVES
4. CHANGE INSPECTOR

1. New Bus Ticket

The Inspector reveals the top card of the Bus Ticket deck and places it faceup on top of the discard space.

Each player now crosses off one of the two boxes of the matching color at the top of their player sheet. This box shows the shape of the route they will plot during 2. PLOT ROUTE, and also shows which routes are left for the remaining rounds.

Continue to 2. PLOT ROUTE.

Example: A Bus Ticket numbered 11 is revealed. Its color matches boxes on the player sheet numbered 5, 7, 6, 2, and the player crosses off one of the two matching boxes.

2. Plot Route

Starting with the Inspector and taking turns clockwise, follow these two steps:

• a. PLACE ROUTE MARKERS
• b. BOARD BUS

a. Place Route Markers

On the board, create the shape of the route required by the Bus Ticket revealed this round.

To create the shape, you must obey these restrictions:

• Each player can only place one marker per road, but multiple players can place their markers on the same road.
• Your route must begin where your route ended the previous round. For the first round, begin plotting your route starting from your Departure pawn.
• You can only place the number of markers shown on your player sheet.
• Markers placed this round can only have as many turns as are shown on your player sheet. Only the number of turns matters, not their direction. You can always choose which way each turn goes (left or right). The beginning of the current round's route may form a turn when connected to the end of the previous round's route. Regardless, this turn does not count as one of the turns required for the current round's route.
• You can never double back on the same road.

Different Route Shapes

• Straight Line — You must place exactly 1, 2, or 3 markers as shown. If you place 2 or 3, they must be placed in a straight line.
• 1 Turn — You must place exactly 2 markers that make a 90° turn.
• 2 Turns — You must place exactly 3 markers that make two 90° turns. These turns can be in the same direction (to make a U) or in opposite directions (to make an S).

If your player sheet shows two different shapes separated by a slash, choose one of them to plot this round.

Example: You must place 3 markers with 2 turns this round. You decide to plot them as shown below. The turn made next to the final marker from the previous round and the first marker of the current round does not count as either of your 2 turns.

Traffic Jams

Avoid traffic jams as much as possible!

Every time your route goes through a road with one or more other markers, you must cross off as many Buses in your Traffic Jam section (bottom-left of your player sheet) as the number of markers already placed on that road. Cross them off in order, starting from the top-left.

These represent traffic jams along your route and will negatively affect your final victory points.

Example: You place 1 marker on a traffic zone that already has markers from 2 other players. Therefore you cross off 3 Buses on your player sheet (1 for the traffic zone and 2 for the other markers).

New York — Certain Roads Are Always Jammed!

Every time your route goes through a traffic zone, meaning a black road, cross off 1 extra Bus in the Traffic Jam section of your player sheet.

Green Lights

Speed up your ETA with Green Lights!

If your route for the current round ends at an intersection with a Green Light, place an additional marker to extend your route following the normal rules (in any direction). If the new marker causes you to end at another Green Light, place another marker. Green Lights under Departure pawns are treated as normal Green Lights.

If you run out of markers, use a suitable substitute and continue playing.

Example: You finish your turn at a Green Light, so you get to place 1 extra marker!

Detours Not Allowed

A bus line that doubles back on itself is not efficient!

If your route reaches the same intersection for the second time, immediately end your turn. You are eliminated from the game and do not score any victory points at the end of the game. Leave your markers on the board.

Example: Your route reaches an intersection you already passed through. You are eliminated.

Straight Lines and Turns

If the current round's shape isn't optimal for your strategy, you may increase or decrease the number of required turns.

To do this, you must cross off the left-most space in your Turn Zone (red background, upper-right on your player sheet). For each space that you cross off, you can change a turn into a straight line or a straight line into a turn. This does not change the total number of markers you must place. This number cannot be adjusted.

You can cross off a maximum of 5 spaces in this Zone. If you have crossed off all the spaces and the required shape is impossible for you to complete because your route would go off the map (but not because you would reach the same intersection for the 2nd time), treat the shape as if it were a straight line using a single marker.

Example: Your route would take you to an intersection you have already passed through. You decide to add a turn to your route by crossing off a space in the Turn Zone of your player sheet. You successfully avoid this intersection and therefore elimination.

Once you have placed all your markers, continue to the b. BOARD BUS step.

b. Board Bus

For each Passenger or Place you reach with your markers during the 2. PLOT ROUTE step this round, apply the following effects:

1. Immediately cross off the top available Passenger space (matching the Passenger type reached, e.g. senior) on your player sheet. If all the corresponding spaces are already crossed off, nothing happens.

2. Immediately cross off one of the corresponding spaces on your player sheet (for a Student passenger, or for a Place). If all these spaces are already crossed off, nothing happens. Careful! The 3 Student spaces in the bottom row can only be crossed off with the professional bonus, which offers internships to certain Students. Example: You reach a Place, so you cross off 1 matching Place space.

Parking a Bus

Immediately cross off the professional or tourist space that is furthest left in the top row without a Parked Bus (with no number in the rightmost space). If all the spaces of that row are already crossed off or if all rows have Parked Buses, nothing happens.

Example:

1. You reach a purple Sightseeing Spot with 2 professionals crossed off in your current row.
2. Write a 4 in the rightmost space of this row, then cross off the next available professional.
3. Then scribble out the last professional in the row to show the Bus parked.

You then reach a dark Sightseeing Spot with 3 tourists crossed off in your current row.

1. Cross off one of the 3 spaces that match that building type.
2. Write a 9 in the rightmost space of this row.
3. Then scribble out the last tourist to show that the Bus parked.

There are 3 kinds of Sightseeing Spots relevant to Professionals and Tourists: purple, light-blue, and dark.

• Look at the last professional (if you reached a purple Sightseeing Spot) or tourist (if you reached a light-blue or dark Sightseeing Spot) you crossed off in the top row without a Parked Bus (with no number in the rightmost space). Then check the points shown at the bottom of the same column. Write that number of victory points in the rightmost space of this row to show that it has a Parked Bus.
• Professionals also provide a Bonus Passenger, in addition to points, when you park their Bus. Cross off the Passenger shown following their normal rules. If you cross off 1 Student this way, cross off one of the spaces in the 3rd row: they are interns and can only be crossed off through these bonuses.
• Then scribble out any professional or tourist spaces in that row that weren't crossed off before the Bus parked. The next time you cross off one of these types of spaces, use the next row.
• If you hadn't crossed off any professional or tourist in your top row before the Bus parked, nothing happens.

Two Common Objective cards require you to stop at 3 light-blue Sightseeing Spots or 3 dark Sightseeing Spots. If one of these Objectives is in play, track your progress by crossing off a space each time you visit the corresponding Place, regardless of whether there are Tourists on your bus. This zone has no other use than reminding you where you've been.

Sightseeing Spots

On each map, there are four Places (one of each type) that represent Sightseeing Spots, which are worth visiting. They each have a large name with stars and a colored background: Times Square and Piccadilly Circus (light blue), Guggenheim and Buckingham Palace (dark), Columbia and King's College (yellow), Wall Street and City of London (purple).

As soon as you reach one of these Places, write the number of Passengers of the matching color that you have already crossed off in the starred space.

There are two spaces for Tourists: light blue for the Times Square/Piccadilly Circus Sightseeing Spot and dark blue for the Guggenheim/Buckingham Palace Sightseeing Spot. The space with the > symbol is only used during final scoring (see page 12).

Example: You reach Columbia with 4 student spaces already crossed off, so you write 4 in the yellow starred space.

Example: You reach Times Square with 2 tourist spaces already crossed off, so you write 2 in the light blue starred space. Later on, you reach the Guggenheim with 6 tourist spaces already crossed off, so you write 6 in the dark blue starred space.

Once you have finished plotting your route for the current round and have crossed off all the corresponding spaces on your player sheet, continue to 3. Check Common Objectives.

3. Check Common Objectives

Check if you have completed any Common Objectives this round, respecting the following conditions:

Each Objective can be completed by multiple players, but only once per player:

If one or more players complete a yellow Objective in the same round, they write 10 VP in the bonus zone of their player sheet. Then flip the Objective card over to its blue side.

If one or more players complete a blue Objective, they write 6 VP in the bonus zone of their player sheet. The Objective card stays on its blue side.

Then continue to 4. Change Inspector.

Example: Your 5th tourist boarded your bus this round. The Objective was completed by another player during a previous round, so you only write 6 VP on your player sheet.

4. Change Inspector

If you just finished the 12th round (and the Bus Ticket deck is empty), continue to the End of the Game.

Otherwise, pass the Inspector pawn clockwise to the next player and begin another round.

Credits

• Designer: Saashi
• Illustrator: Monsieur Z
• Project Manager: Xavier Taverne
• Graphic Designer: Vincent Mougenot
• Rules Editor: Xavier Taverne
• Translator: Danni Loe
• Proofreader: William Niebling

Published by IELLO. www.iello.com

End of the Game

Count your final score by following these steps:

1. Add up your total negative points from crossed off spaces in your Turn Zone.
2. Add up your points from each crossed off senior space.
3. Multiply the number of crossed off student spaces by the number of crossed off yellow Place spaces. Then add these points to any victory points you gained from the yellow Sightseeing Spot.

For the professional and tourist zones, follow these steps:

4. For the tourist Sightseeing Spots, compare the values in the 2 Sightseeing Spot spaces. Gain points equal to the higher of the 2 values. Write it in the space to the right with the > symbol.

5. Parked Buses gain the points you noted during the game.

6. Buses that did not park (meaning rows without points in the rightmost space) gain half the points (rounded down) that they would have gained if you immediately reached a light-blue or dark Sightseeing Spot for tourist, or a purple Sightseeing Spot for professional.

7. Add up the points from the 4 spaces in the rightmost column.

8. Add up the points from any Common Objectives you completed during the game.

9. Check your Personal Objective: if you connected all 3 intersections shown in the black circles (in any order), gain 10 points. Otherwise, do not gain any points.

10. Add up your total negative points from Traffic Jams.

11. In the bottom-right of your player sheet, write the total victory points from all 8 subtotal sections (the spaces with a + or - in the bottom-left). That's your final score!

The player with the highest score wins the game. If players are tied for first, they share the victory!

If you run out of player sheets, you can download a pdf version from our website.