Pocket Rails
Pocket Rails Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Shuffle the deck. Randomly determine the Priority Dealer and give that player the Priority Marker Boxcar (the top lid of the box). Deal each player 1 face down card.
A Players Face Down Card is their "Insider Information" and shows the Company (color) that is bad for them in the Final Scoring round. It also determines their favorite Good, which will count double for them in the Final Scoring Round. You may peek at the card at any time.
Play
The game is played in three Rounds. Each Round has 3 Steps. Round 1 cards are passed clockwise. Round 2 counterclockwise, and Round 3 clockwise.
Cards have 3 traits. A Company (5 different company logos in 5 colors). A type of Good (represented on all 4 corners) and a City Name (Denver, Chicago and New York).
Round 1
Deal each player a hand of 8 cards (in a 4 player game a hand is 6 cards).
Step 1: Select. Each player will select one card to place in their Portfolio (directly in front of them) and one card to discard to the Rail Yard (center of the table). These cards are put face down on the table in their respective areas. The remaining cards are passed to the player on your left (or Right if it is Round 2).
Step 2: Reveal. All players simultaneously reveal their cards. Sort the revealed cards into Companies (colors) for ease of viewing.
Step 3: Resolve. Each player looks at their Portfolio. If a player ever has 3 cards of the SAME City (name) AND Company (color) in their Portfolio, those three cards are considered "Over Invested" and delivered (placed in the discard pile). This is bad! Invest in your Portfolio wisely and diversely! The Priority Dealer (and all players can assist) then checks the Rail Yard for deliveries. If any Company (color) has 1 of EACH City (name), those three cities are considered "Over Produced" and delivered (placed in the discard pile).
Repeat Steps 1, 2 and 3 until all cards this round are played.
If there is a decision to be made on which cards to remove from the Rail Yard, (such as two or more of the same City in the same Company), the Player with the most shares of that Company in their Portfolio decides. If there is a tie, the closest player to the Priority Dealer decides. Whenever there is a Rail Yard decision, the Priority Dealer marker passes clockwise to the next player. If there is no decision, the marker remains where it is.
Round 2
Deal each player a hand of 8 cards (6 in a 4 player game).
Repeat Steps 1, 2 and 3 as described in Round 1 THEN do Round 2 Scoring.
Round 2 Scoring
Reminder: there is no scoring after Round 1.
After Round 2, score as follows.
For each Company (color), your score is equal to the number of cards you have in your Portfolio of that Company (color) times the number of cards in the Rail Yard of that Company. For example, if you have 2 B&O (blue) cards in your Portfolio and there are 4 B&O cards in the Rail Yard, you score 8 points for B&O. Score for each of the five Companies. Your Insider Information card does not matter for scoring in Round 2 – Only in Round 3!
Goods score the same way that Companies (colors) score, with the exception that the most represented Good in the Rail Yard, and any Goods tied with the most represented, are "too plentiful" and are not available for scoring.
For example, if there are 5 Coal, 4 Wood, and 2 each of the other Goods in the Rail Yard, Coal would not score and all other Goods would. If there are 4 Wood and 4 Coal and 2 each of the other Goods in the Rail Yard, then Wood and Coal would not score and the other three goods will score.
Score the Good that you have the most of in your Portfolio, and any Good(s) that are tied with the Good(s) you have the most of. For example, if you have 3 Wood, 2 Coal, and 1 Cloth in your Portfolio, you would score only the 3 Wood. If you had 2 Wood and 2 Coal though, you would score both Wood AND Coal.
Round 3
Shuffle the discard pile into the deck and Deal each player a hand of 8 cards (6 in a 4 player game).
Repeat Steps 1, 2 and 3 as described in Round 1 THEN do Round 3 Scoring.
Round 3 Scoring
Reveal your Insider Information Card.
For each Company (color) EXCEPT your Insider Information Company (color), score as above.
For your Insider Information color, total the score and SUBTRACT that from your score instead of adding it.
Score Goods as above with the exception that for your Good on your Insider Information Card. It scores DOUBLE the normal points.
Winning the Game
The player with the highest point total after 3 Rounds wins. In case of a tie the Priority Dealer, or closest clockwise to them wins.
Advanced Rules
Experienced players may elect to deal 1 extra card to their hand on Round 1, and select their own Insider Information from their hand to place face down, vs a randomly drawn one.
Experienced players may wish to place their Portfolio cards face up, discard to the Rail Yard face down and pass their hand when ready, to speed up the hands vs waiting for everyone to decide and reveal.
Experienced players may choose to play to X number of points and play continues after 3 rounds with the cards reshuffled and dealt out again (including a new Insider Information Card) for 3 more rounds or until one or more players pass the required point total, at which point the player with the highest score wins.
Experienced players may choose during Step 2 to use the following "more strategic" rule. All players simultaneously reveal their cards. If any player revealed two cards of the same Company (color), that player receives a -1 penalty.
Experienced players may choose to have Railyard ties for most goods resolved by the Priority Dealer (this would move the Priority Deal Marker) vs both not scoring.
Components
Score sheet: a printed scoring sheet (page 6 of the rulebook) with five columns headed B&O, GM&O, IC, PRR and C&O, and blank rows for tallying cards in each Company.