Railway Boom Rulebook

Table of Contents

Gameplay Overview
Components
Game Setup
Game Board and Player Board Overview
- Game Board
- Player Board
Game Flow
I. Train Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
II. Expansion Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
III. Development Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
IV. Income Phase
V. Operation Phase
VI. Objective Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
Final Scoring
Credits

Gameplay Overview

Railway Boom is played over the course of four rounds, and the player with the most VP (Victory Points) at the end of the game wins.

Each round consists of six phases. Four of these phases are further divided into an Auction Step and a Turn Step. In the Auction Step, players will use their resources to compete for turn order in the following Turn Step. Depending on the situation, going first may provide significant advantages. In the Turn Step, players will perform actions such as purchasing trains, expanding their railway network, developing technologies, and earning large amounts of VP.

Use these actions wisely to build the top railway company in the country!

Components

1 Game Board
4 Player Boards
2 Rulebooks (Japanese, English)
4 Starting Locomotive Cards
22 Locomotive Cards
30 Carriage Cards
36 Station Cards
18 Objective Cards
74 Development Cards
7 Route Cards
1 Adjustable Bid Priority Tile
100 Resource Tiles (5 types x 20 tiles; for 2 or 3 player games, some Location Variety Tiles are not recommended for first-time players)
120 Railway Tokens (30 per color)
36 Regular City Tiles
4 Bidding Discs (1 per color)
16 Station Tokens (4 per color)
4 VP Tracker Tokens (1 per color)
14 Tourist City Tiles
4 Indicator Tokens
92 Player Cubes (23 per color)

Game Setup

Place the Game Board in the center of the table.
Place a number of Indicator Tokens equal to the number of players near the Game Board. Return any unused Indicator Tokens to the box.
If playing a 2 or 3 player game, place the Adjustable Bid Priority Tile on the Bid Priority Space with the corresponding player count visible. If playing a 4 player game, return the Adjustable Bid Priority Tile to the box.
Shuffle the 18 Objective Cards and 7 Route Cards separately, face down. Then draw 4 Objective Cards from the deck and place them on the designated space to the right side of the Game Board. Repeat this process with the Route Cards, drawing 4 of them and placing them on the designated spaces on the left side of the Game Board. Return the remaining 14 Objective Cards and 3 Route Cards to the box.
Shuffle the 22 Locomotive Cards (making sure NOT to include the 4 Starting Locomotive Cards), 30 Carriage Cards, 36 Station Cards, and 74 Development Cards separately into face-down piles to form their respective decks. Then place them in their designated areas near the Game Board.
Separate the 100 Resource Tiles by type and place them near the Game Board.
Each player selects a player color and takes the corresponding Player Board, 23 Player Cubes, 30 Railway Tokens, 4 Station Tokens, 1 Bidding Disc, 1 VP Tracker Token, and 1 Starting Locomotive Card of the same color.

If there are 3 or fewer players, place Player Cubes from an unchosen player color(s) on the Objective Cards. In a 3-player game, place 1 Player Cube on each of the Objective Card icons (a total of 4 Cubes). In a 2-player game, place an additional Player Cube on each icon as well (a total of 8 Cubes). The same unused player color can be used for all placed Player Cubes. Return any unused player boards, tiles, cards, and tokens to the box.
Each player prepares their own Player Board by taking the following steps: a. Place a Player Cube on each Level 1 space (furthest position on the left) on all 5 Income Tracks on the left side of the Player Board. b. Place a Player Cube on each space labeled "8" on all 4 Resource Tracks on the right side of the Player Board. c. Finally, place an additional 4 Station Tokens and 4 Player Cubes in alternating order in their designated spaces at the top of the Player Board.
Initial order for the first Auction Step is determined by each player drawing 1 Station Card from the Station Card deck and revealing it. The player who revealed the Station Card with the highest number places their Bidding Disc face up on the Auction Track on the Game Board, in the right-most open white space above the Bid Priority Space. The remaining players continue to do the same, placing their own Bidding Discs in the next open white space according to descending order of the Station Card they revealed. Once all players have placed their Bidding Disc, return all revealed Station Cards to the box.
Each player places their VP Tracker Token on the space marked with a "0" on the VP Track. Players will then place one of their Cubes on the Home Platform marked with "0."
Shuffle the Regular City Tiles and Tourist City Tiles face down into 2 separate piles. Randomly place the relevant tile type face up over each Regular City or Tourist City space on the Game Board. (It is recommended to skip this step when first-time players are participating.)

Game Board and Player Board Overview

Game Board

Auction Track — This track is used during an Auction Step to manage turn order. The values range from a minimum of 0 (white space) to a maximum of 20.

Bid Priority Space — Used during an Auction Step, this chart shows the number of resources paid according to each position.

VP Track, Home Platform — Players will manage their VP using their VP Tracker Token. Whenever a player exceeds 50 VP, move their cube on the Home Platform one space to the right to indicate they have earned 50 VP. Then place their VP Tracker Token on the space that represents their total VP minus 50.

Phase Tracks — The phases for each round are displayed in order from the left side of the Game Board. The cards used in each phase are placed in stacks around the board. For phases marked with an auction symbol, an auction will take place. After the auction, actions will be performed in numerical order. Mandatory actions are those that the current player must perform. Optional actions are those that the current player can choose to perform.

Map — The Map is made up of hexagonal terrain spaces. By placing your Station Tokens and Railway Tokens on these spaces, you will form "railways." Each terrain space can hold only one Station Token or Railway Token per player. A player may not place more than one of their own tokens on the same terrain space.

There are a total of 7 different types of terrain spaces: Plains, Forests, Mountains, Rivers, Inlets, Regular Cities, and Tourist Cities.

Regular City details:

Name of the city.
Regular City space number.
Resources gained from the space. Referenced when placing a token here.
The amount of power gained when placing a Station Token here.
The amount of power required in order to place a Railway Token here.

The dark blue area under the map represents the ocean and Railway Tokens cannot be placed there.

Player Board

Income Track — This indicates how much of each resource you earn during the Income Phase. Your current income level and amount of resources earned are indicated at the top left of each space. The icon at the bottom of the space represents the effect that is triggered when a Cube stops or passes through that space.

Resource Track — This is used to manage your stock of each resource. The space where a Cube is placed indicates the current amount of that resource. If you exceed 10, place an additional Cube on the "10" space to show that you have more than 10. If you exceed 20 as well, move the additional cube from the 10 space to the right side of the Player Board to indicate there are more than 20. Repeat the steps above if you exceed 30, 40, and so on.

Placement Area for Station Tokens and Player Cubes for Objective Cards — Place Station Tokens and Player Cubes for Objective Cards that will be used for each round. When all of these Tokens and Cubes have been used at the end of Round 4, players will proceed to Final Scoring and the game will end.

Icon Effects (triggered when a Cube stops or passes through an Income Track space):

You place a Railway Token on a space that is adjacent to a Railway you own (no Power is required).
Gain VP equal to the number shown.
Draw 2 cards from the top of the Development Card deck. You may then purchase 1 of them at a reduced cost of -1 Technology. Return any unpurchased cards to the bottom of the Development Card Deck in a random order.
Choose one resource and increase its Income Level by 1.
Gain 2 resources of your choice.

The same rules apply in the II. Expansion Phase, III. Development Phase, and VI. Objective Phase, so please refer back to this explanation as needed.

Free Actions — Free actions can be performed at any time, as many times as you like.

Resource Conversion: You may convert 2 resources (other than VP) into 1 resource of another type. Example: Convert 1 Money and 1 Materials into 1 Technology.
Using Development Cards: Activate the effects of a Development Card. To indicate it has been used, turn the activated card sideways. Sideways Development Cards are reset to the upright position at the end of the VI. Objective Phase.

Game Flow

Railway Boom is played over the course of four rounds. After that, final scoring takes place and the game ends.

Each round is divided into the following phases:

I. Train Phase
II. Expansion Phase
III. Development Phase
IV. Income Phase
V. Operation Phase
VI. Objective Phase

Phases marked with an auction symbol are divided into two parts: the Auction Step (first half) and the Turn Step (second half). The rules for the Auction Step are the same across all relevant phases. These rules are explained in full during the I. Train Phase.

I. Train Phase

In this phase, you will purchase Locomotives and Carriages that will run on your railways.

Auction Step

During the Auction Step, players bid to determine the turn order for the upcoming Turn Step. The resource used for the bidding depends on the phase:

I. Train Phase — Materials
II. Expansion Phase — Money
III. Development Phase — Technology
VI. Objective Phase — The resource depicted on the Objective Card for that round

Since this is the I. Train Phase, the resource used for bidding will be Materials.

Draw the following number of cards from the decks and place them face up in a row:

Locomotive Cards: equal to the number of players
Carriage Cards: number of players + 2

The player furthest back (left) on the Auction Track will start the bidding for the current Locomotive and Carriage Cards. When bidding, players will either:

A. Move their bidding token to an unoccupied space at a higher number than their current position on the Auction Track. Choose an uncovered space with a higher number than your current space and place your Bidding Disc there. You must also have in your possession a number of relevant resources equal to or more than the value printed on the space in order to place your Bidding Disc there — resource-conversion discounts are not taken into consideration until after all players have locked in their bid, so you are limited to placing your Bidding Disc on values you can pay the full cost for. Note: the initial white space represents a value of 0. You may use the Free Action, Resource Conversion, to place your disc on a space you can afford after the conversion.

B. Confirm their bid on the current space. Flip your Bidding Disc face down on your current space to finalize your bid. You will no longer participate in the current auction.

The Auction Step continues until all players have chosen B, at which point the Auction Step ends.

Starting with the player whose Bidding Disc ended the Auction Step on the highest value space on the Auction Track, each player pays resources according to the Bid Chart:

A full circle on the Bid Chart indicates that you will pay the exact number on the space that your Bidding Disc occupies.
A half circle indicates that you will pay half of the number shown on the space that your Bidding Disc occupies (rounded up). For example, if your token is on space 3, you pay 2 resources.
An empty circle indicates that you will not pay any resources.

Once all players have paid the necessary resources, slide the Bidding Discs back to the white spaces, making sure to retain their left-to-right orientation, and then flip them face up.

Locomotive Card details: the card type and number; the cost in Coal required to operate the card; the number of Resource Tiles that can be placed on the card.

Carriage Card details: the card type and number; the cost (Materials) required to purchase the card; the cost (Coal) required to operate the card; the number of VP gained when the card is operated; the effect triggered when the card is operated.

Locomotive and Carriage Effects:

Gaining Resources: For each Resource Tile placed on the card, gain one of that resource. Resource Tiles can be placed onto Locomotives (or certain Carriages) at any time during the Operation Phase. You may also choose to keep them in your supply, unused. Once a Resource Tile has been placed, it cannot be removed for the remainder of the game.
Conditional Effects: Refer to all Resource Tiles placed on the connected train in question (a single Locomotive Card and all connected Carriage Cards). Each time this condition is met, gain the corresponding resource or increase your Income Level as indicated.

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. On your turn, perform the following actions in order:

Acquire a Locomotive — Choose and acquire 1 Locomotive Card.
Purchase Carriage Cards — You may purchase up to 2 Carriage Cards. To purchase, pay the cost shown in the upper-left corner of the card. If all Carriage Cards have already been purchased, you are unable to buy any.

The Locomotive Card and Carriage Cards that you acquire are placed in front of you.

Once all players have taken their turns, any unpurchased Carriage Cards are returned to the box. After that, proceed to the II. Expansion Phase.

II. Expansion Phase

In this phase, players will decide on the cities for their stations and place Railway Tokens.

Draw a number of Station Cards from the top of the Station Card deck equal to the number of players. Then place an Indicator Token on the city indicated by each Station Card on the board map.

Auction Step

An auction is held in the same way as in the I. Train Phase, using Money as the bidding resource.

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. On your turn, perform the following 2 actions in order:

1. Station Placement — Choose one of the cities on the map with an Indicator Token that has not yet been selected by another player, and take the leftmost Station Token from your own Player Board and place it there. Increase your Income Level of the resource(s) printed on the tile where you placed your Station Token by 1. If there are 2 resources printed on the same tile, increase the Income Level of each by 1.

Additional Information:

When spending Power to place a Railway Token on a space occupied by another player's piece (either a Station Token or a Railway Token), you must pay 1 additional Power per piece on that space. Note: when placing a Station Token in step 1, no additional Power is required even if other players' pieces are present on the space.
During this step, you may not place a Railway Token on any of your existing railways that are not connected to the Station Token placed this turn. However, if you connect to one of your existing railways with a Railway Token, they are now treated as part of the same railway.

2. Route Construction — During your turn, you will gain Power (used for placing Railway Tokens) from the city where you placed your Station Token this turn. Use this Power to place Railway Tokens extending from your Station. On the bottom of each hex you will find the Power cost to place a Railway Token in that space.

If you want to place more Railway Tokens than your current Power allows, you can choose to pay any amount of Money Resources from your current stock to gain an equal amount of additional Power. Note: any unused Power will be lost at the end of your turn, so be sure to use it efficiently.

When you place a Railway Token in a city, you will gain the Resource Tiles depicted for that city. If multiple resources are shown, you will gain each of the corresponding Resource Tiles. Note: you only gain the Power of a city when you place a Station Token there.

Types of Resource Tiles: VP Tile, Money Tile, Coal Tile, Materials Tile, Technology Tile. Resource Tiles can be placed on Locomotives (and some Carriages) during the V. Operation Phase. By operating a card with a Resource Tile, you will gain the corresponding resource.

When you place a Railway Token on a Tourist City, immediately trigger the effect shown in that city (one of the Icon Effects described under Player Board above: gain VP equal to the number shown; draw 2 Development Cards and purchase 1 at a reduced cost; choose one resource and increase its Income Level by 1; or gain 2 resources of your choice).

Route Cards — Route Cards allow players to earn VP by connecting the cities listed on the card with your own Railways. Once a player connects the cities, they immediately place one of their Cubes on that Route Card. If there are no other players' Cubes on the card, the player will earn the VP on the left side of the card. If another player's Cube is already placed on the card, the player will earn the VP on the right side of the card.

Route Card details: the two cities that need to be connected; the VP awarded to the first player to complete the connection; the VP awarded to players who complete the connection after the first player.

After all players have taken their turns, return the Indicator Tokens on the Game Board to the side of the board, and return any used Station Cards back to the box. After that, proceed to the III. Development Phase.

III. Development Phase

In this phase, you will develop your railway company's technology.

Draw a number of Development Cards equal to 3 per player from the top of the Development Card deck. Reveal them and arrange them in rows, with each row containing 3 cards as a set. Arrange the Development Cards in each row so that their costs increase from left to right.

Auction Step

An auction is held in the same way as in the I. Train Phase, using Technology as the bidding resource.

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. On your turn, perform the following 3 actions in order:

Choose one available set (a row of three face-up Development Cards that has not been selected by another player).
From the chosen set, select a Development Card with the lowest cost and gain it for free (without paying its cost).
You may then purchase one or both of the remaining cards in the chosen set by paying their respective Technology costs.

Development Card details: the name of the Development Card; the card type and number; the cost (Technology) required to purchase this card; the effect of this card; the effect trigger timing.

Any cards acquired or purchased are placed in front of that player. Remember that instant effects activate the moment you obtain the card, and should then be placed facedown.

After all players have taken their turns, collect and return any unpurchased Development Cards to the bottom of the Development Card deck in random order. Then proceed to the IV. Income Phase.

Timing of Development Card Effects:

Instant — Effect that activates immediately after being obtained. After activation, place the Development Card in a facedown pile in front of you.
Automatic — Effect that activates anytime, and everytime, the specified condition is met.
Round — Effect that can be activated once per round at a timing of your choice. After activating the effect, turn the Development Card sideways, and keep it that way until you turn it back at the end of the round.

Development Card Effects:

Subsidy — Gain the resources shown.
Tactical Expansion — Pay the listed resource to place a Railway Token on a space adjacent to your existing railways (no Power is required).
Tourist Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Tourist City space, gain 2 VP.
Skilled Labor — Active during the II. Expansion Phase to gain additional Power.
Industrial Growth — Raise your Income Level by the amount shown.
Forest Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Forest space, gain VP.
Specialty Product — Gain the Resource Tiles shown.
Coastal Line — Each time you place a Railway Token in a space adjacent to the ocean, gain 1 VP.
River Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a River space, gain VP.
Locomotive Lease — Return one Locomotive Card from your play area to the box and gain VP. Any Resource Tiles on that Locomotive Card are placed beside the Game Board.
Inlet Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on an Inlet space, you gain 2 VP.
Plains Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Plains space, gain 1 VP.
Investment — Pay 1 VP to increase the listed Income Level.
Crossing Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a space that is occupied by another player's Railway, you gain 1 VP.
Mountain Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Mountain space, gain VP.
Investment Strategy — Pay the listed resource to increase the indicated resource's Income Level by 1.
Aggressive Spending — Each time you pay 5 or more resources during an Auction Step, you gain 2 VP.
Major Investment — Pay any resource other than VP to gain the indicated amount VP.
Economical Spending — Each time you do not pay any resources during an Auction Step, you gain 1 VP.
Planned Expansion — Place the indicated number of Railway Tokens, one at a time, on spaces adjacent to your existing railways (no Power is required).
Efficiency — By activating this card during the V. Operation Phase, the operating cost of one Carriage becomes 0 Coal.

IV. Income Phase

In this phase, each player will gain income from their railway company's industry. All players carry out this phase simultaneously.

Referencing your own Player Board, first check how much you gain of each resource according to the number preceded by a "+" symbol to the right of your current level on each Income Track. Note: the number of resources gained is not the same as the number of your Income Level (grey).

Once all players have received their resources, proceed to the V. Operation Phase.

V. Operation Phase

In this phase, you will use Coal to operate your trains and gain benefits through transportation. All players carry out this phase simultaneously.

Perform the following steps in order:

Choose a Locomotive you have not already chosen to operate this phase. You may attach any number of Carriages to the back of the Locomotive in any arrangement you like, as long as you will be able to pay the operation cost in Coal for the Locomotive and all Carriages, either with the amount of Coal you currently have, or by making up the difference by gaining Coal via the effects of the cards you plan to activate. Next, pay the Locomotive's Operation Cost in Coal to activate its effect.
Resolve the Carriages attached to that Locomotive one by one, in order from front to back. Carriages function the same way as Locomotives: pay the Operation Cost (Coal), gain VP, and activate the effects.

Once step 2 is complete, you may operate another Locomotive by returning to step 1 and repeating this process as many times as you have the necessary resources to do so.

Note: each Locomotive and Carriage card can only be operated once per round.

Note: Locomotives cannot be attached to other Locomotives. Complete the operation of one Locomotive and all of its attached Carriages before beginning to operate another Locomotive.

Note: if you come to realize while paying operation costs for a train that you don't actually have enough Coal to pay for each connected card, return your VP and resources to what they were before starting step 1 and start over again, making sure to adjust your carriages as needed to be able to pay the full cost.

Once all players have operated all of the trains they intended to run, proceed to the VI. Objective Phase.

Locomotive and Carriage Effects:

Gaining Resources: For each Resource Tile placed on the card, gain one of that resource. Resource Tiles can be placed onto Locomotives (or certain Carriages) at any time during the Operation Phase. You may also choose to keep them in your supply, unused. Once a Resource Tile has been placed, it cannot be removed for the remainder of the game.
Conditional Effects: Refer to all Resource Tiles placed on the connected train in question (a single Locomotive Card and all connected Carriage Cards). Each time this condition is met, gain the corresponding resource or increase your Income Level as indicated.

VI. Objective Phase

In this phase, players bid for opportunities to earn large amounts of VP at the end of the game.

Auction Step

An auction is held in the same way as in the I. Train Phase. The resources used in the auction are listed on the current round's Objective Card. A "wild" symbol means that players can use any resources in any combination in order to pay their bid (other than VP).

Objective Card details: the name of the Objective Card; the card type and number; the resource used for bidding in this round; the relevant condition being referenced to earn VP; the VP multiplier gained from this card, represented with a Cube (a symbol showing a player count means it is used only in a game of that many players or more).

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. During their turn, each player places the leftmost available Player Cube above their Player Board on the space with the highest VP multiplier among the spaces where other Cubes for this Objective Card have not yet been placed. At the end of the game, you will earn VP by multiplying the number of times you met that objective's condition by the chosen multiplier.

Once all players have placed their Player Cubes on this round's Objective Card, the round ends. Each player will return any sideways Development Cards back upright, then proceed to start the next round from another I. Train Phase.

If this is the 4th round (all Objective Cards have Cubes placed on them from each player), then proceed instead to Final Scoring.

Objective Card Effects:

Residential Tycoon — The number of different types of spaces you have your Railway Tokens on x Indicated VP. Note: a maximum of 7 Material types: Plains, Forest, Mountain, River, Inlet, Normal City, Tourist City.
Terrain Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens placed in a straight line x Indicated VP. Note: "Straight Line" refers to Railway Tokens arranged in a continuous straight line horizontally, diagonally to the right, or diagonally to the left.
Humble Investor — The lowest Income Level you obtained on your Player Board x Indicated VP.
Express Tycoon — The number of spaces with your Railway Tokens on Plain Spaces x Indicated VP.
Forest Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Forest Spaces x Indicated VP.
Material Investor — Your Player Board's Material Income Level x Indicated VP.
Cargo Mogul — The number of Locomotive Cards you own that can hold 4 or more Resource Tiles x Indicated VP.
City Tycoon — Choose a Normal City that has one of your tokens on it. Count the total number of tokens on all the spaces surrounding that city x Indicated VP. Note: Tokens include both Railway Tokens and Station Tokens.
Mountain Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Mountain Spaces x Indicated VP.
Money Investor — Your Player Board's Money Income Level x Indicated VP.
Development Mogul — Your Player Board's Development Cards you own x Indicated VP. Note: this includes your Development Card Discard pile as well.
Tech Investor — Your Player Board's Technology Income Level x Indicated VP.
Water Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Rivers and Inlet Spaces x Indicated VP.
Partnership Tycoon — The number of spaces where both your Tokens and the Token of at least one other player are present x Indicated VP. Note: Tokens include both Railway Tokens and Station Tokens.
Coal Investor — Your Player Board's Coal Income Level x Indicated VP.
Tourism Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Tourist City Spaces x Indicated VP.
Fleet Mogul — The total number of Locomotive and Carriage Cards you own x Indicated VP.
Stock Investor — Your Player Board's VP Income Level x Indicated VP.

Final Scoring

First, resolve each round's Objective Card one by one. Multiply the number of conditions achieved for each Objective Card by its multiplier to gain VP.

Next, gain 1 VP for every 2 resources you possess.

Finally, choose one of your own Railways, and gain 2 VP for each Railway Token on that Railway.

After that, compare the total VP of all players. The player with the most VP wins.

If there is a tie, the tied player with the most Railway Tokens on the Game Board wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the highest total Resource Tiles (including those placed on Locomotives and Carriages) wins. If there is still a tie, the player who is furthest ahead (to the right) on the Auction Track wins.

Credits

Game Design: Hisashi Hayashi
Game Development: Simone Luciani
Illustration: Ian O'Toole
Rulebook Graphics: Tsutomu Dejima
Editor: Atsushi Hashimoto, Marcello Bertocchi
Project Manager: Kensuke Suzuki
Global Expansion Lead: Patrick Flanagan
English Rulebook Translation: Evan Kelley
Publisher: Arclight Games Co., Ltd.

This game is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, organizations, events, or anything else is purely coincidental.

Railway Boom Rulebook

Table of Contents

Gameplay Overview
Components
Game Setup
Game Board and Player Board Overview
- Game Board
- Player Board
Game Flow
I. Train Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
II. Expansion Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
III. Development Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
IV. Income Phase
V. Operation Phase
VI. Objective Phase
- Auction Step
- Turn Step
Final Scoring
Credits

Gameplay Overview

Railway Boom is played over the course of four rounds, and the player with the most VP (Victory Points) at the end of the game wins.

Use these actions wisely to build the top railway company in the country!

Components

1 Game Board
4 Player Boards
2 Rulebooks (Japanese, English)
4 Starting Locomotive Cards
22 Locomotive Cards
30 Carriage Cards
36 Station Cards
18 Objective Cards
74 Development Cards
7 Route Cards
1 Adjustable Bid Priority Tile
100 Resource Tiles (5 types x 20 tiles; for 2 or 3 player games, some Location Variety Tiles are not recommended for first-time players)
120 Railway Tokens (30 per color)
36 Regular City Tiles
4 Bidding Discs (1 per color)
16 Station Tokens (4 per color)
4 VP Tracker Tokens (1 per color)
14 Tourist City Tiles
4 Indicator Tokens
92 Player Cubes (23 per color)

Game Setup

Place the Game Board in the center of the table.
Place a number of Indicator Tokens equal to the number of players near the Game Board. Return any unused Indicator Tokens to the box.
If playing a 2 or 3 player game, place the Adjustable Bid Priority Tile on the Bid Priority Space with the corresponding player count visible. If playing a 4 player game, return the Adjustable Bid Priority Tile to the box.
Shuffle the 18 Objective Cards and 7 Route Cards separately, face down. Then draw 4 Objective Cards from the deck and place them on the designated space to the right side of the Game Board. Repeat this process with the Route Cards, drawing 4 of them and placing them on the designated spaces on the left side of the Game Board. Return the remaining 14 Objective Cards and 3 Route Cards to the box.
Shuffle the 22 Locomotive Cards (making sure NOT to include the 4 Starting Locomotive Cards), 30 Carriage Cards, 36 Station Cards, and 74 Development Cards separately into face-down piles to form their respective decks. Then place them in their designated areas near the Game Board.
Separate the 100 Resource Tiles by type and place them near the Game Board.
Each player selects a player color and takes the corresponding Player Board, 23 Player Cubes, 30 Railway Tokens, 4 Station Tokens, 1 Bidding Disc, 1 VP Tracker Token, and 1 Starting Locomotive Card of the same color.

If there are 3 or fewer players, place Player Cubes from an unchosen player color(s) on the Objective Cards. In a 3-player game, place 1 Player Cube on each of the Objective Card icons (a total of 4 Cubes). In a 2-player game, place an additional Player Cube on each icon as well (a total of 8 Cubes). The same unused player color can be used for all placed Player Cubes. Return any unused player boards, tiles, cards, and tokens to the box.
Each player prepares their own Player Board by taking the following steps: a. Place a Player Cube on each Level 1 space (furthest position on the left) on all 5 Income Tracks on the left side of the Player Board. b. Place a Player Cube on each space labeled "8" on all 4 Resource Tracks on the right side of the Player Board. c. Finally, place an additional 4 Station Tokens and 4 Player Cubes in alternating order in their designated spaces at the top of the Player Board.
Initial order for the first Auction Step is determined by each player drawing 1 Station Card from the Station Card deck and revealing it. The player who revealed the Station Card with the highest number places their Bidding Disc face up on the Auction Track on the Game Board, in the right-most open white space above the Bid Priority Space. The remaining players continue to do the same, placing their own Bidding Discs in the next open white space according to descending order of the Station Card they revealed. Once all players have placed their Bidding Disc, return all revealed Station Cards to the box.
Each player places their VP Tracker Token on the space marked with a "0" on the VP Track. Players will then place one of their Cubes on the Home Platform marked with "0."
Shuffle the Regular City Tiles and Tourist City Tiles face down into 2 separate piles. Randomly place the relevant tile type face up over each Regular City or Tourist City space on the Game Board. (It is recommended to skip this step when first-time players are participating.)

Game Board and Player Board Overview

Game Board

Auction Track — This track is used during an Auction Step to manage turn order. The values range from a minimum of 0 (white space) to a maximum of 20.

Bid Priority Space — Used during an Auction Step, this chart shows the number of resources paid according to each position.

There are a total of 7 different types of terrain spaces: Plains, Forests, Mountains, Rivers, Inlets, Regular Cities, and Tourist Cities.

Regular City details:

Name of the city.
Regular City space number.
Resources gained from the space. Referenced when placing a token here.
The amount of power gained when placing a Station Token here.
The amount of power required in order to place a Railway Token here.

The dark blue area under the map represents the ocean and Railway Tokens cannot be placed there.

Player Board

Icon Effects (triggered when a Cube stops or passes through an Income Track space):

You place a Railway Token on a space that is adjacent to a Railway you own (no Power is required).
Gain VP equal to the number shown.
Draw 2 cards from the top of the Development Card deck. You may then purchase 1 of them at a reduced cost of -1 Technology. Return any unpurchased cards to the bottom of the Development Card Deck in a random order.
Choose one resource and increase its Income Level by 1.
Gain 2 resources of your choice.

The same rules apply in the II. Expansion Phase, III. Development Phase, and VI. Objective Phase, so please refer back to this explanation as needed.

Free Actions — Free actions can be performed at any time, as many times as you like.

Resource Conversion: You may convert 2 resources (other than VP) into 1 resource of another type. Example: Convert 1 Money and 1 Materials into 1 Technology.
Using Development Cards: Activate the effects of a Development Card. To indicate it has been used, turn the activated card sideways. Sideways Development Cards are reset to the upright position at the end of the VI. Objective Phase.

Game Flow

Railway Boom is played over the course of four rounds. After that, final scoring takes place and the game ends.

Each round is divided into the following phases:

I. Train Phase
II. Expansion Phase
III. Development Phase
IV. Income Phase
V. Operation Phase
VI. Objective Phase

I. Train Phase

In this phase, you will purchase Locomotives and Carriages that will run on your railways.

Auction Step

During the Auction Step, players bid to determine the turn order for the upcoming Turn Step. The resource used for the bidding depends on the phase:

I. Train Phase — Materials
II. Expansion Phase — Money
III. Development Phase — Technology
VI. Objective Phase — The resource depicted on the Objective Card for that round

Since this is the I. Train Phase, the resource used for bidding will be Materials.

Draw the following number of cards from the decks and place them face up in a row:

Locomotive Cards: equal to the number of players
Carriage Cards: number of players + 2

The player furthest back (left) on the Auction Track will start the bidding for the current Locomotive and Carriage Cards. When bidding, players will either:

B. Confirm their bid on the current space. Flip your Bidding Disc face down on your current space to finalize your bid. You will no longer participate in the current auction.

The Auction Step continues until all players have chosen B, at which point the Auction Step ends.

Starting with the player whose Bidding Disc ended the Auction Step on the highest value space on the Auction Track, each player pays resources according to the Bid Chart:

A full circle on the Bid Chart indicates that you will pay the exact number on the space that your Bidding Disc occupies.
A half circle indicates that you will pay half of the number shown on the space that your Bidding Disc occupies (rounded up). For example, if your token is on space 3, you pay 2 resources.
An empty circle indicates that you will not pay any resources.

Once all players have paid the necessary resources, slide the Bidding Discs back to the white spaces, making sure to retain their left-to-right orientation, and then flip them face up.

Locomotive Card details: the card type and number; the cost in Coal required to operate the card; the number of Resource Tiles that can be placed on the card.

Locomotive and Carriage Effects:

Gaining Resources: For each Resource Tile placed on the card, gain one of that resource. Resource Tiles can be placed onto Locomotives (or certain Carriages) at any time during the Operation Phase. You may also choose to keep them in your supply, unused. Once a Resource Tile has been placed, it cannot be removed for the remainder of the game.
Conditional Effects: Refer to all Resource Tiles placed on the connected train in question (a single Locomotive Card and all connected Carriage Cards). Each time this condition is met, gain the corresponding resource or increase your Income Level as indicated.

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. On your turn, perform the following actions in order:

Acquire a Locomotive — Choose and acquire 1 Locomotive Card.
Purchase Carriage Cards — You may purchase up to 2 Carriage Cards. To purchase, pay the cost shown in the upper-left corner of the card. If all Carriage Cards have already been purchased, you are unable to buy any.

The Locomotive Card and Carriage Cards that you acquire are placed in front of you.

Once all players have taken their turns, any unpurchased Carriage Cards are returned to the box. After that, proceed to the II. Expansion Phase.

II. Expansion Phase

In this phase, players will decide on the cities for their stations and place Railway Tokens.

Draw a number of Station Cards from the top of the Station Card deck equal to the number of players. Then place an Indicator Token on the city indicated by each Station Card on the board map.

Auction Step

An auction is held in the same way as in the I. Train Phase, using Money as the bidding resource.

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. On your turn, perform the following 2 actions in order:

Additional Information:

When spending Power to place a Railway Token on a space occupied by another player's piece (either a Station Token or a Railway Token), you must pay 1 additional Power per piece on that space. Note: when placing a Station Token in step 1, no additional Power is required even if other players' pieces are present on the space.
During this step, you may not place a Railway Token on any of your existing railways that are not connected to the Station Token placed this turn. However, if you connect to one of your existing railways with a Railway Token, they are now treated as part of the same railway.

III. Development Phase

In this phase, you will develop your railway company's technology.

Auction Step

An auction is held in the same way as in the I. Train Phase, using Technology as the bidding resource.

Turn Step

In the Turn Step, each player takes their turn one at a time, starting with the player furthest to the right on the Auction Track. On your turn, perform the following 3 actions in order:

Choose one available set (a row of three face-up Development Cards that has not been selected by another player).
From the chosen set, select a Development Card with the lowest cost and gain it for free (without paying its cost).
You may then purchase one or both of the remaining cards in the chosen set by paying their respective Technology costs.

Development Card details: the name of the Development Card; the card type and number; the cost (Technology) required to purchase this card; the effect of this card; the effect trigger timing.

Any cards acquired or purchased are placed in front of that player. Remember that instant effects activate the moment you obtain the card, and should then be placed facedown.

After all players have taken their turns, collect and return any unpurchased Development Cards to the bottom of the Development Card deck in random order. Then proceed to the IV. Income Phase.

Timing of Development Card Effects:

Instant — Effect that activates immediately after being obtained. After activation, place the Development Card in a facedown pile in front of you.
Automatic — Effect that activates anytime, and everytime, the specified condition is met.
Round — Effect that can be activated once per round at a timing of your choice. After activating the effect, turn the Development Card sideways, and keep it that way until you turn it back at the end of the round.

Development Card Effects:

Subsidy — Gain the resources shown.
Tactical Expansion — Pay the listed resource to place a Railway Token on a space adjacent to your existing railways (no Power is required).
Tourist Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Tourist City space, gain 2 VP.
Skilled Labor — Active during the II. Expansion Phase to gain additional Power.
Industrial Growth — Raise your Income Level by the amount shown.
Forest Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Forest space, gain VP.
Specialty Product — Gain the Resource Tiles shown.
Coastal Line — Each time you place a Railway Token in a space adjacent to the ocean, gain 1 VP.
River Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a River space, gain VP.
Locomotive Lease — Return one Locomotive Card from your play area to the box and gain VP. Any Resource Tiles on that Locomotive Card are placed beside the Game Board.
Inlet Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on an Inlet space, you gain 2 VP.
Plains Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Plains space, gain 1 VP.
Investment — Pay 1 VP to increase the listed Income Level.
Crossing Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a space that is occupied by another player's Railway, you gain 1 VP.
Mountain Line — Each time you place a Railway Token on a Mountain space, gain VP.
Investment Strategy — Pay the listed resource to increase the indicated resource's Income Level by 1.
Aggressive Spending — Each time you pay 5 or more resources during an Auction Step, you gain 2 VP.
Major Investment — Pay any resource other than VP to gain the indicated amount VP.
Economical Spending — Each time you do not pay any resources during an Auction Step, you gain 1 VP.
Planned Expansion — Place the indicated number of Railway Tokens, one at a time, on spaces adjacent to your existing railways (no Power is required).
Efficiency — By activating this card during the V. Operation Phase, the operating cost of one Carriage becomes 0 Coal.

IV. Income Phase

In this phase, each player will gain income from their railway company's industry. All players carry out this phase simultaneously.

Once all players have received their resources, proceed to the V. Operation Phase.

V. Operation Phase

In this phase, you will use Coal to operate your trains and gain benefits through transportation. All players carry out this phase simultaneously.

Perform the following steps in order:

Choose a Locomotive you have not already chosen to operate this phase. You may attach any number of Carriages to the back of the Locomotive in any arrangement you like, as long as you will be able to pay the operation cost in Coal for the Locomotive and all Carriages, either with the amount of Coal you currently have, or by making up the difference by gaining Coal via the effects of the cards you plan to activate. Next, pay the Locomotive's Operation Cost in Coal to activate its effect.
Resolve the Carriages attached to that Locomotive one by one, in order from front to back. Carriages function the same way as Locomotives: pay the Operation Cost (Coal), gain VP, and activate the effects.

Once step 2 is complete, you may operate another Locomotive by returning to step 1 and repeating this process as many times as you have the necessary resources to do so.

Note: each Locomotive and Carriage card can only be operated once per round.

Note: Locomotives cannot be attached to other Locomotives. Complete the operation of one Locomotive and all of its attached Carriages before beginning to operate another Locomotive.

Once all players have operated all of the trains they intended to run, proceed to the VI. Objective Phase.

Locomotive and Carriage Effects:

Gaining Resources: For each Resource Tile placed on the card, gain one of that resource. Resource Tiles can be placed onto Locomotives (or certain Carriages) at any time during the Operation Phase. You may also choose to keep them in your supply, unused. Once a Resource Tile has been placed, it cannot be removed for the remainder of the game.
Conditional Effects: Refer to all Resource Tiles placed on the connected train in question (a single Locomotive Card and all connected Carriage Cards). Each time this condition is met, gain the corresponding resource or increase your Income Level as indicated.

VI. Objective Phase

In this phase, players bid for opportunities to earn large amounts of VP at the end of the game.

Auction Step

Turn Step

If this is the 4th round (all Objective Cards have Cubes placed on them from each player), then proceed instead to Final Scoring.

Objective Card Effects:

Residential Tycoon — The number of different types of spaces you have your Railway Tokens on x Indicated VP. Note: a maximum of 7 Material types: Plains, Forest, Mountain, River, Inlet, Normal City, Tourist City.
Terrain Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens placed in a straight line x Indicated VP. Note: "Straight Line" refers to Railway Tokens arranged in a continuous straight line horizontally, diagonally to the right, or diagonally to the left.
Humble Investor — The lowest Income Level you obtained on your Player Board x Indicated VP.
Express Tycoon — The number of spaces with your Railway Tokens on Plain Spaces x Indicated VP.
Forest Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Forest Spaces x Indicated VP.
Material Investor — Your Player Board's Material Income Level x Indicated VP.
Cargo Mogul — The number of Locomotive Cards you own that can hold 4 or more Resource Tiles x Indicated VP.
City Tycoon — Choose a Normal City that has one of your tokens on it. Count the total number of tokens on all the spaces surrounding that city x Indicated VP. Note: Tokens include both Railway Tokens and Station Tokens.
Mountain Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Mountain Spaces x Indicated VP.
Money Investor — Your Player Board's Money Income Level x Indicated VP.
Development Mogul — Your Player Board's Development Cards you own x Indicated VP. Note: this includes your Development Card Discard pile as well.
Tech Investor — Your Player Board's Technology Income Level x Indicated VP.
Water Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Rivers and Inlet Spaces x Indicated VP.
Partnership Tycoon — The number of spaces where both your Tokens and the Token of at least one other player are present x Indicated VP. Note: Tokens include both Railway Tokens and Station Tokens.
Coal Investor — Your Player Board's Coal Income Level x Indicated VP.
Tourism Tycoon — The number of your Railway Tokens on Tourist City Spaces x Indicated VP.
Fleet Mogul — The total number of Locomotive and Carriage Cards you own x Indicated VP.
Stock Investor — Your Player Board's VP Income Level x Indicated VP.

Final Scoring

First, resolve each round's Objective Card one by one. Multiply the number of conditions achieved for each Objective Card by its multiplier to gain VP.

Next, gain 1 VP for every 2 resources you possess.

Finally, choose one of your own Railways, and gain 2 VP for each Railway Token on that Railway.

After that, compare the total VP of all players. The player with the most VP wins.

Credits

Game Design: Hisashi Hayashi
Game Development: Simone Luciani
Illustration: Ian O'Toole
Rulebook Graphics: Tsutomu Dejima
Editor: Atsushi Hashimoto, Marcello Bertocchi
Project Manager: Kensuke Suzuki
Global Expansion Lead: Patrick Flanagan
English Rulebook Translation: Evan Kelley
Publisher: Arclight Games Co., Ltd.

This game is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, organizations, events, or anything else is purely coincidental.