On the Underground: Paris / New York
On the Underground: Paris / New York Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 54 New York Destination cards
- 37 Paris Destination cards
- 1 Passenger token
- Start Player tile
- 4 Destination tokens
- 190 Track tokens (20 each of red, black, yellow, blue, and purple, and 15 each of pink, orange, green, brown, white, and gray)
- 11 Paris Secret Objective cards
- 2 Reference tiles
- 40 Paris Landmark tiles
- 20 Branch tiles
- 10 Score tiles
- Double-sided board (Paris/New York)
Setup
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Choose whether to play New York or Paris and then place the board in the middle of the table with the appropriate side up.
NOTE: The New York side is recommended for your first game.
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Place the Passenger token on the Passenger start station: Grand Central (New York) or République (Paris).
Paris — Shuffle all Landmark tiles and randomly place one tile facing up on each station marked with the Landmark icon.
Shuffle the Secret Objective cards and deal two to each player. Return the remaining Secret Objective cards to the box without looking at them as they will not be used in this game.
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Take the Destination cards for the chosen city, shuffle them, and place them face down as a deck next to the board, leaving space next to it for a discard pile.
There is 1 Destination card for each station.
New York — There are 2 Destination cards for each station.
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Reveal the top 4 cards of the deck and place them face up next to the board.
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Place the Destination tokens on the stations on the board that match the 4 revealed Destination cards. These are the initial Destination stations.
New York — Note: If two identical Destination cards are revealed, simply place 2 Destination tokens on the corresponding station.
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Place the Branch tiles in a pile next to the board.
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Each player takes a score tile according to the number of players and places it on the "0" position of the score track:
- In a game with 2 players, each score tile should have four line colors.
- In a game with 3 players, each score tile should have three line colors.
- In a game with 4 or 5 players, each score tile should have two line colors.
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Each player then takes the Track tokens of the colors depicted on their score tile.
Each player will thus control multiple lines, each one comprised either of 20 or 15 Track tokens.
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The player who last made use of an underground transportation system is the start player.
Alternatively, the players may choose a start player using any method they prefer.
Give that player the Start Player tile.
You are now ready to begin!
Gameplay overview
In On the Underground, players compete to build the most valuable and convenient transportation network in Paris or New York. Each player controls 2-4 different lines, depending on the number of players.
At the beginning of each turn, 4 Destination cards are facing up, corresponding to stations on the map.
A player's turn consists of taking 4 actions, followed by the Passenger's movement.
Each action is either placing a Track token or taking a Branch tile.
After the player's turn, the Passenger token is moved along built lines, avoiding empty track spaces as much as possible, in order to reach 1 (Paris) or 2 (New York) of the 4 available Destination stations.
The Destination cards corresponding to the visited stations are then replaced by new ones. Then play passes to the next player in clockwise order.
Players score points in two ways:
- By building track and connecting their lines to various types of stations, by collecting sets of Landmark tiles, and by achieving Secret Objectives in Paris.
- By having the Passenger use their lines when moving.
The game is over after all Destination cards have been drawn and all players have taken the same number of turns.
Taking a turn
On their turn, a player takes four actions*.
For each of those actions, they may choose one of two options: take a Branch tile or place a Track token.
The first turn
For their first turn only, the player first in turn order may only take 3 actions. The player last in turn order may take 5 actions.
| # of players in the game | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Action: Take a Branch tile
For each action spent in this way, a player may take 1 Branch tile from the supply.
The supply of Branch tiles is unlimited; if Branch tiles run out, anything else may be chosen to represent them.
Using Branch tiles
When placing a Track token, 2 Branch tiles may be returned to the supply to allow extending a line from somewhere other than one of its ends. The Track token placed must still connect to the line.
Paris
Alternatively, when placing a Track token, 2 Branch tiles may be returned to the supply to allow placing the Track token in a connection where all track spaces are already full.
Alternatively, when scoring a set of Landmark tiles, a player may substitute any number of missing types by returning 2 Branch tiles to the supply for each missing Landmark tile.
Action: Place a Track token
When placing a Track token, a player may use a token of any of their line colors.
Note that Track tokens are limited in number. Players should carefully consider where to place them.
Track tokens are placed on the track spaces between stations according to these rules:
- The first Track token of each color may be placed on any empty track space on the board.
- All further Track tokens of the same line (i.e. of the same color) must be used to extend the line at either of its ends. The end of a line is defined as a station with only one Track token of that line currently connecting to it. Exception: See Using Branch tiles.
- In some parts of the board there are two or more parallel track spaces. Each Track token placed there must be of a different color.
- New York — When placing Track tokens across water, all Track tokens must be placed in the same turn, i.e. a player cannot end their turn while one of their lines ends at a water crossing icon.
After placing each Track token, points and Branch tiles may be earned:
New York
National Rail. 1 point when a line is first connected to a National Rail station.
Terminus stations. 2 points and a Branch tile when a line is connected to a Terminus station.
Clusters. When a line is connected to a Cluster (a high-traffic area noted by pink color around the stations it contains), its owner scores 1 point for each Cluster that line has already reached. This means that when a line is connected to a Cluster for the first time, no points are scored. When it is connected to a second (different) Cluster, 1 point is scored, and so on. Multiple lines can score for the same Cluster, but lines do not score points for connecting to a Cluster more than once.
Water Crossing. 3 points when a third water crossing icon is connected to a line. Note that the connection between Whitehall St and Borough Hall has two water crossing icons.
Paris
RER stations. 0 points if this is the first line that connects to this RER station, 1 point otherwise.
Terminus stations. 2 points, or 1 point and a Branch tile, or 2 Branch tiles, when a line is connected to a Terminus station.
Landmarks. When a line is connected to a station with a Landmark tile, the current player takes the tile and keeps it face up in front of them.
If taking a tile results in a player having a set of 5 different types of Landmark tiles, those 5 tiles are immediately removed from the game and the player scores 7 points.
Note: When scoring a set of Landmark tiles, a player may substitute any number of missing types by returning 2 Branch tiles to the supply for each missing Landmark tile.
EXAMPLE: Extending a line
Without using Branch tiles, the yellow line can only be extended on the spaces marked by a checkmark.
The spaces marked with an X are all extending from a station that already has more than 1 yellow track connected to it. Placing a track here requires spending 2 Branch tiles.
EXAMPLE: Cluster scoring
The blue line starts between Chambers St - World Trade Center and Canal St, scoring 0 points as this is the first Cluster it reaches.
Then it extends northwards to:
- Wash Sq (scoring 1 point since this is the second reached Cluster)
- 14 St - 6 Av (scoring 1 point since it is a National Rail station)
- Bryant Park (scoring 2 points since this is the third reached Cluster)
WARNING! It is possible to be blocked from placing track, even when using Branch tiles. Starting lines in the periphery of the map may be risky!
Turn examples
New York — EXAMPLE: Branch tiles and water crossing scoring
Action 1: A red Track token is placed between Botanic Garden and Flatbush Av, a Terminus station, which generates 2 points and 1 Branch tile.
Action 2: The player takes 1 Branch tile.
Action 3: The 2 Branch tiles are returned to the supply so that the red line can extend westward from York St to a water crossing icon. Since this is the third water crossing icon connected to the red line, 3 points are scored.
Action 4: Since the red line cannot stop at a water crossing icon, a red Track token is placed connecting to Marcy Av.
Paris — EXAMPLE: Branch tiles, RER stations, and Landmark tiles scoring
The player has 1 Branch tile and the following Landmark tiles: a Retail tile, a Sports tile, an Education tile, and a Culture tile.
Action 1: A green Track token is placed between Montparnasse Bienvenüe and Denfert Rochereau, a RER station already reached by the blue line, which therefore generates 1 point.
Action 2: Another green Track token is placed between Denfert Rochereau and Mairie de Montrouge, a Terminus station. The player decides to take a Branch tile and score 1 point.
Action 3: The 2 Branch tiles are returned to the supply so that the blue line can extend southward from Montparnasse Bienvenüe to Plaisance and the Landmark tile there is claimed. The player now has a set of 5 different Landmark tiles and scores 7 points by discarding them.
Action 4: A blue Track token is placed between Plaisance and Chatillon-Montrouge, a Terminus station. The player does not need any more Branch tiles and decides to score 2 points instead.
Moving the Passenger
Once a player has taken all of the actions of their turn, the Passenger must be moved.
There are 4 potential destinations marked by the Destination tokens on the board, each of which corresponds to a face-up Destination card. The Passenger will visit 1 (Paris) or 2 (New York) of those stations, one after the other.
The Passenger's Route
When travelling, the Passenger likes to avoid unnecessary hassle. They prefer to take the Underground, and they do not like to switch lines if they do not have to.
Therefore, the Passenger will choose how to move according to the following rules:
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The Passenger will choose the route that involves the least amount of empty track spaces.
New York — Note that stations connected through a water crossing icon have 2 track spaces between them.
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If two or more routes involve the same amount of empty spaces, the Passenger will choose the route with the fewest (or no) lines.
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The number of Track tokens making up a line does not matter, only the number of lines.
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If two or more routes involve the same amount of empty spaces and the same number of lines, the player moving the Passenger decides which route is taken.
Passenger Scoring
Once the route has been chosen, the Passenger token is moved along that route to the appropriate Destination station.
For each line that the Passenger uses to travel, the player owning that line scores 1 point.
The number of Track tokens making up a line does not matter, only the number of lines. Each line used scores 1 point, regardless of the number of Track tokens in it.
When the Passenger arrives at a station, the Destination token on that station is removed from the board and the corresponding Destination card is placed on a discard pile. The discard pile may not be inspected during the game.
EXAMPLE: Passenger movement
The Passenger is currently at Euclid Av.
The 4 destinations the Passenger can choose from are:
- Myrtle Wyckoff Avs. 2 empty spaces (to Broadway Junction, and then to Myrtle Wyckoff Avs)
- Marcy Av. 1 empty space to Broadway Junction, and then 1 line (red)
- Greenpoint Av. 1 empty space to Broadway Junction, and then 2 lines (red and orange)
- Borough Hall. 1 empty space to Broadway Junction, and then 2 lines (red and orange or red and blue)
Moving to Myrtle Wyckoff Avs is not preferred, because it involves more empty spaces to reach it.
Moving to Marcy Av is preferred to the other two, because the Passenger needs fewer lines to reach it. Consequently, the Passenger will travel there (1), earning the player owning the red line 1 point and the Marcy Av Destination card is discarded.
For the second movement, the Passenger has 3 destinations to choose from:
Moving to Myrtle Wyckoff Avs is still not preferred, because it involves moving through an empty space to reach it.
The Passenger can move to Greenpoint Av using 2 lines red and then orange (2a) or to Borough Hall using 2 lines, either red and then orange (2b), or red and then blue (2c).
The player currently moving the Passenger may choose the destination among these two and which combination of lines will be used, and therefore which players will earn points.
End of the turn
After all Passenger movements are completed, new cards are drawn to replace those discarded so that there are again 4 cards facing up and Destination tokens are placed on the corresponding stations.
End of the game
When there are no more cards left in the deck, the end of the game is triggered.
If this happens at the end of the turn of the player that is last in turn order, the game ends immediately.
Otherwise, the players continue to take turns until the player that is last in turn order has completed theirs, i.e. until all players have had the same number of turns.
NOTE: After the end of the game is triggered, there are no cards available to replace the ones removed. Therefore, it is possible that the Passenger will not be moving during the last few turns. In that case, players simply end their turns after taking 4 actions.
Paris
If playing on the Paris map, each player now reveals and scores their Secret Objective cards. For each of their lines that is connected to all three stations on one of their Secret Objective cards, the player earns 3 or 5 points, as shown on the card.
It is possible for a player to score the same Secret Objective with multiple lines and to score both Secret Objectives with the same line.
The game is then over. The player who has scored the most points is the winner.
If there is a tie, then the tied player with the most Branch tiles wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players rejoice in their shared victory.
Paris — EXAMPLE: Secret Objectives scoring
Player A has connected all 3 stations of the first card with both the red and orange lines, and scores 2 × 5 = 10 points. They failed to connect the stations of the second card with any of their lines, and therefore do not score any points for it.
Player B has connected all 3 stations of the first card with the blue line, scoring 5 points, and all 3 stations of the second card with the green line, scoring 3 points.
Acknowledgements
Game Design: Sebastian Bleasdale Development: LudiCreations Illustration and Graphic Design: Viktor Csete Rules Editing: Paul Grogan Paris Expertise: Alexander Singh New York Expertise: Luke Crane Special Thanks: The people of Paris & New York, two amazing cities full of stories & passion.
The designer would like to thank all his playtesters for their contributions, with particular thanks to Nat Amery, Shadow Amery, Jim Bleasdale, Caroline Bleasdale, Clare Boothby, David Brain, David Damerell, Ian Jackson, Paul Mansfield, Matthew Reid, Colin Towers, Sally Vernon, Ian Vincent and Matthew Woodcraft.
The publisher would like to thank Anniina, pour tout, and especially for that pocketful of dreams.
For any missing components enquiries, downloads, and more unique games, visit LudiCreations.com.