Roller Coaster Rush
Roller Coaster Rush Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 marbles
- 19 track pieces
- 4 launch pieces
- 19 blueprint cards
- 4 investor cards
- 9 showstopper cards
- 1 active player marker
- Coin tokens ($1 and $5)
First Time Setup
Before playing the game for the first time, lay out the blueprint cards on the table and place each of the plastic track pieces on the matching cards. Apply 2 letter stickers to each track piece (one on each side) matching the letter on its blueprint card. This will help to match track pieces to cards during the game.
Note: Showstopper cards are only used in Showstopper Mode (see pg. 8).
Setup
- Bank: Place all coins in a pile where everyone can reach. This is the bank.
- Player Setup: Each player takes $20 in coins, a marble, and an investor card. Each player places their investor card in front of themselves with the "Uninterested" side faceup.
- Deal Blueprints: Shuffle the blueprint cards and deal each player the number of cards on the table below. Each player places their cards on the table in front of themselves, with the blueprint side faceup. Return the cards that weren't dealt to the game box.
| Players | Blueprint Cards |
|---|---|
| 2 players | 6 cards |
| 3 players | 5 cards |
| 4 players | 4 cards |
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Take Track: Each player takes all of the track pieces matching their blueprints, as well as a launch piece. Return any track pieces that aren't taken by players to the game box.
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Design Coaster: Each player designs a model coaster by connecting their track pieces together in any order and placing their launch piece at the front. You must use all tracks you were dealt, even if you don't think your marble will reach the end of your coaster (don't worry – you can fix that later).
Important! If any player cannot possibly construct a coaster that uses all track pieces they were dealt, shuffle all players' blueprint cards back into the deck and re-deal.
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Choose a first player at random and give them the active player marker.
Player Turns
Players take turns in clockwise order, starting with the first player.
On your turn, you choose one action from these two options:
- Call Auction
- Demo for Investors
After you take an action, pass the active player marker to the next player.
The Active Player Marker: Since auctions involve all players at the table, the active player marker helps keep track of whose turn it is.
Overview
Your goal is to design and construct the best roller coaster for your investors' theme park! At the start of each game, you design a model coaster using the blueprints you have available. During the game, you'll attempt to actually construct your model by winning auctions for the track pieces you used in your design.
If you lose an auction on one of your own blueprints, you'll have to take that track out of your coaster – but if you win one of someone else's blueprints, you'll get to add a new track to make your coaster bigger and better. Along the way, you can demo your model coaster for investors, to see how well it works and earn some extra money for auctions.
At the end of the game, you get to unveil your fully constructed roller coaster and run it for the public. You earn victory points based on how far your marble makes it down the track. The player with the most points wins!
Action: Call Auction
Follow these steps to call an auction:
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Choose Blueprint: Choose a blueprint card in front of yourself or another player. The blueprint's owner slides it forward to show that players are now bidding on it (but keeps it close enough that you know it's theirs).
Important! Only blueprints on the blueprint side can be chosen for auction. Once a card is flipped to its constructed side (see step 4), it can't be auctioned again.
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Secret Bid: All players secretly decide how much of their money they want to bid to construct the blueprint that is up for auction. Players may hide their bids in a closed hand, or behind their coaster. Once everyone has decided, all players simultaneously reveal how much they bid.
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Determine Winner: Whoever bid the most wins the auction and gives the money they bid to the bank. All other players take back their bids. (If there is a tie, a side-auction is held; see pg. 6.)
Important! The auction winner always pays their bid to the bank, not to the player who they took the card from.
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Construct Track: The auction winner places the blueprint in front of themselves and flips it to the constructed side.
A. If the winner takes a card from someone else, they get to a matching track piece from that player's model coaster and it to their own coaster wherever they like. The player who lost the track then reassembles their model coaster however they like without the missing track.
Ties and Side-Auctions
If several players tie during an auction, players not involved in the tie take their money back, and the tied players hold another round of secret bidding to determine a winner.
Each tied player places the money they bid in the initial auction on the table and secretly decides how much they want to add to their bid. Once players have decided, they reveal their new bids.
The player with the highest new bid wins the auction, and returns the total money they bid (in all bidding rounds) to the bank. Everyone else takes everything back.
If there is another tie, the tied players hold another side-auction. This continues until there is a final winner.
Bidding Nothing: Players can always decide to bid no money, either in the initial auction or any side auction. If no one bids any money during a bidding round, the player involved in the bid who has the fewest track pieces in their coaster wins (they must still pay any money they bid in previous rounds).
Tie and Side-Auction Gameplay Example
Miri, Ethan, and Wei are playing a 3 player game. On Miri's turn, she decides to call an auction. She chooses Ethan's "H" blueprint. All 3 players secretly decide how much to bid, then reveal.
Miri and Wei tie! Ethan takes back his coins, and Miri and Wei bid again. This time, Miri adds 1 to her bid, and Wei bids nothing.
Miri wins the bid! She pays 4 coins total to the bank, and Wei gets her 3 coins back. Then Miri takes the "H" blueprint and flips it.
Because she took a card from Ethan, she gets to steal his track! She takes an "H" track from his coaster and adds it to her own. Ethan must rebuild his coaster without the "H" track. Lastly, both Miri and Ethan flip their investor cards.
Action: Demo for Investors
If your investor card is on the "Interested" side on your turn, you may demo your model coaster. Follow these steps:
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Run Coaster: Drop your marble on the launch piece of your coaster and see how far it goes. If it doesn't make it all the way to the end, you may drop it a second time, and count only the run where the marble went furthest. (You may not drop more than 2 times in 1 turn.)
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Investor Payout: Take $1 from the bank for each track piece that your marble completed on its furthest run.
Important! If your marble stops in the middle of a track piece and doesn't reach the end, you don't count that track.
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Investor Disinterest: After you finish, flip your investor card back to the "Uninterested" side.
Grand Opening and Game End
Once all blueprints have been auctioned, each player's coaster will be fully constructed and ready to open to the public. It's time for the Grand Opening!
During the Grand Opening, each player gets to run their coaster for the public and scores victory points for how well they do. As with demo runs, each player may drop their marble twice and score only the run where their marble goes furthest.
This time, instead of earning money, players earn victory points for each track piece that their marble fully completes. Each track piece is worth points equal to the number of flags on its blueprint card and sticker. Once each player has scored, whoever has the most points wins!
Important! If your marble doesn't reach the end of a track piece, you score no points for that piece.
Example: A coaster with constructed pieces C, J, F and G scores 14 points in the Grand Opening.
Tiebreakers
If several players tie for victory points, the tied player with the most money left wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most track pieces in their coaster wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share victory.
Showstopper Mode
Once you're comfortable with the rules, you can add more challenges to the game with showstopper cards.
These represent unique requests from your investors and reward you with bonus points if your coaster fulfills their desires!
Gameplay
At the start of setup, shuffle the showstopper cards, then reveal 1 more than the number of players and lay them out in a faceup row. In reverse turn order, each player drafts one showstopper and places it faceup in front of themselves. Return the card that isn't selected to the box.
Showstopper cards:
- Card 1: Score +4 points if you have the most money after the Grand Opening.
- Card 2: Track sequence A → I/J → ? (the "?" piece is marked "x2"). After your marble completes an I or J track piece, score double points for each additional track piece it completes.
- Card 3: Track sequence A → D → E → F. Each time your marble completes a segment of 2 or more track pieces that are in alphabetical order, score +2 points for each piece in that segment.
- Card 4: Track sequence A → (4-point piece) → (5-point piece). Score +1 point for each 4-point or 5-point track piece your marble completes.
During the Grand Opening, each player adds the bonus points on the card they chose to their total score. In order to score a showstopper bonus for a track piece, your marble must reach the end of that piece during your longest run.
Example: A coaster with constructed pieces C, E, G and J, with the showstopper that scores +1 point for each 4-point or 5-point track piece (A → 4 → 5), scores 17 points.
This showstopper adds +1 point for each track piece that is worth 4 or 5 points. As long as your marble completes pieces E and C, you get +2 points.
Scoring Segments
Some showstoppers score for segments of 2 or more track pieces that meet the condition on the card. All track pieces in a segment must be adjacent, and your marble must complete at least 2 pieces in a segment to score any bonus points for it. If your marble stops in the middle of a segment, you only score the pieces it fully completed.
If you have multiple segments in your coaster that fulfill the condition, you may score each of them separately. For example, if you score points for segments that are in alphabetical order, you can score points for both "D > E" and "G > H" segments (as long as your marble completes both).