Worldbeater
Worldbeater Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective of the game
To race around the world from Fort Dunlop in the United Kingdom to New York and back again, skilfully navigating the fastest and highest point-scoring route.
How you win
You win the game by amassing the most number of points on the route there and back, not necessarily by being first into New York, or first back to Fort Dunlop.
Points are indeed scored according to your position arriving both in New York and back at Fort Dunlop, but are also picked up at towns and cities along the route.
How you score
The board, a slightly stylised map of the world, is divided into eleven areas, including the United Kingdom. Each area, excluding the United Kingdom, contains seven towns or cities, each one represented by a token with a value between one and six.
On your route out to New York you must collect at least one and not more than two towns from each of the ten areas. (Hence you should arrive in New York with a minimum of ten tokens and a maximum of twenty). Upon arrival in New York the values of the tokens are then added up and credited to your score. (In some instances all the towns or cities in an area may have been taken before you arrive there, and in this case you are penalised by three points for every area where you have been unable to collect a token. But, if there is still a token available, you must retrace your steps and collect it.) When you arrive in New York you achieve a score according to the scoring chart on the board (first achieves 20 points, second 15 points and so on). You must wait for one round in New York and then set off back for Fort Dunlop.
On the return journey you must endeavour to arrive back at Fort Dunlop as quickly as possible.
But you may not re-enter the United Kingdom with more than three town tokens in your possession. Those you choose to replace (up to two in any one go) must be put back in the same position from which you originally obtained them. Figure 3 tokens may be replaced on either of the two figure 3 hexagons in an area. (So somebody who registered a high town token score on the way out to New York by amassing a lot of tokens may well find themselves penalised for speed when returning to the United Kingdom).
Should you choose to arrive back at Fort Dunlop with up to three tokens in your possession you are penalised according to the value of the tokens. This amount is then deducted from your score.
(In order to avoid any confusion about which towns have not been picked up on the way out to New York, and are therefore eligible to be collected by the slower players, and those which have been replaced by players on the way back, and are therefore not eligible to be collected, we suggest that replaced tokens are put face down on the board until the last player has reached New York.)
The points awarded for the return to Fort Dunlop are contained in the scoring chart on the board (first 25 points, second 19 points, and so on).
The player with the highest total of points wins the game. (This may very well not be the first player home, but will be the player who has planned the most skilful route combining speed with point scoring along the way).
How you move
The eleven areas contained on the board are all divided into six-sided spaces (hexagons). When it is your turn you may move along a straight line from any of the sides of the hexagon you are occupying, as shown.
You may move for as far as you wish in a straight line within the area in which you find yourself. But you may not:
- pass another car;
- pass over a town with a town token on it (although you may pass over a "token-less" town or city);
- land on an airport, frontier or seaport unless you intend leaving the area immediately;
- land on a hexagon with another car on it;
- land on a hexagon with a town token on it unless you intend to claim that token during your move.
To move from one area to another you must reach either a frontier, a seaport or an airport.
When you reach either a seaport or a frontier, you must immediately cross over to the next area, and then you may take a further move if you wish. There is no restriction on the number of areas you may pass through by skilful navigation.
When you reach an airport you must immediately fly to the area of your choice but you must then wait until the next round before moving. You may pass over an unoccupied airport.
When you wish to collect a town token you must land on that town or city, claim the token, and then make a further move. You may take up to a maximum of two towns during your turn, either both from the same area, or one each from two separate areas.
(It is worth remembering that by skilful navigation, and using the fact that both claiming town tokens and landing on a frontier or a seaport afford you an extra move, you can often cover a vast distance during your turn).
The cards in the game
Each player is issued with six cards, which are either of direct advantage to yourself, or damaging to one of the other players when you use the card.
You may play only one of these cards at any time, either before or after you have moved your car. Once a card has been played it is returned to the pack.
However, upon arriving in New York each player is dealt a further two cards from the pack, which comprises those cards which have already been played and discarded, and then shuffled.
Players in the game
Worldbeater is designed for three to six players. No matter the number of players, each person is dealt six cards. However, the number of town tokens available does change according to the number of players in the game, as follows:
- six players: all seven towns in each area
- five players: six towns in each area (remove token no. 6)
- four players: five towns in each area (remove tokens 2 & 5)
- three players: four towns in each area (remove tokens 2, 4 & 6)
Starting the game
Deal out the six cards per person, place down on the board the correct number of town tokens as indicated above, and allocate to each person one of six different coloured cars.
(It is also useful to have a pencil and paper handy for adding up the scores).
There is no advantage in starting first, but we suggest that, to avoid any arguments, all the cars are put into a hat and the person drawing the black car starts first, play then proceeding in a clockwise direction.
A brief note on the idea for the game
In the Autumn of 1975 Dunlop Ltd launched a new tyre, called Worldbeater. In order to prove the endurance capabilities of the tyre the Company arranged prior to the launch for a car equipped with Worldbeater tyres to travel from Fort Dunlop across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America to New York, and then back again.
To help commemorate this feat Intellect Games have produced this game, re-enacting the fun, excitement and skill which went into that long and taxing journey.