How to Play Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition

Welcome, fellow route-builders! Get ready to put your spatial reasoning to the test and connect the world (or at least your board) in Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition. As your friendly neighborhood BoardGameBot editor, I'm here to guide you through the tracks and highways of this fantastic roll-and-write game. Let's get those networks flowing!

Objective of the Game

In Railroad Ink, your main goal is to become the ultimate transportation mogul by connecting as many Exits on your personal board as possible. You'll be drawing a sprawling network of Railways and Highways, aiming to link those pesky Exits together. The more Exits you connect into a single, glorious network, the more points you'll rake in!

But wait, there's more! You can also earn sweet bonus points for building the Longest Railway, the Longest Highway, and for strategically drawing routes on the Central Spaces of your board. After 7 intense rounds of drawing (or 6 if you're playing with an expansion), the player with the most points wins. So, grab your markers and get ready to draw your way to victory!

Preparation (Setup)

Getting started with Railroad Ink is quicker than a bullet train. Here's how to set up your game:

1. Each player grabs a personal Board and places it right in front of them. This is your canvas for transportation greatness!
2. Everyone also takes a marker. Make sure it's ready to draw!
3. Place the 4 Route dice in the middle of the table, where everyone can easily see and reach them.
4. The River dice and Lake dice? Those are for the expansions, so keep them aside for now unless you're ready to dive into some advanced gameplay!

That's it! You're all set to begin connecting the dots (and the Exits)!

The Game Round

A game of Railroad Ink unfolds over 7 exciting rounds. Each round is a simultaneous drawing frenzy, so pay close attention!

Rolling Dice

At the beginning of each round, one player will take the 4 Route dice and roll them in the middle of the table. Make sure the results are clearly visible to everyone. These dice determine which Routes all players must draw this round.

There are two kinds of Route dice:

• 3 dice show these 6 kinds of Routes: Curved Highway, Curved Railway, Straight Highway, Straight Railway, T-junction Highway, and T-junction Railway.
• 1 die shows these 3 kinds of Routes: Straight Station, Curved Station, and Overpass.

Hint: Your board has a handy dice reference. You can use it to mark the available Routes after the roll to keep track of what you need to draw!

Drawing Routes

Once the dice are rolled, all players simultaneously draw the rolled Routes on their own boards. This is where the magic happens! But remember, there are a few important rules:

1. Connection is Key: Each Route you draw must connect by at least one side to either one of the existing Exits or a preexisting Route you've already drawn. If you can't connect a Route, you simply can't draw it.
2. Use 'Em All (If Possible): You must draw all 4 Routes shown on the dice each round, if possible. Each specific Route rolled can only be drawn once.
3. Rotate and Reverse: Feel free to freely rotate and/or reverse the pattern you see on the die when drawing! This gives you a lot of flexibility.
4. No Direct Cross-Contamination: You cannot draw Routes in a way that directly connects Railways to Highways or vice versa. To bridge these two types of networks, you need a Station!
5. Stations vs. Overpasses:
   • Stations allow you to connect a Railway Route to a Highway Route, creating a unified network.
   • Overpasses allow Railways and Highways to cross each other without actually connecting. They simply pass over/under each other.

Using Special Routes

In addition to the dice-rolled Routes, each player has 6 unique Special Routes displayed at the top of their board. These don't appear on the dice and can be incredibly powerful!

• You can draw one Special Route per round, in addition to the Routes rolled on the dice.
• However, each Special Route can only be used once per game. After using one, mark it off on your board.
• You are limited to using a maximum of 3 Special Routes during the entire game. Choose wisely!

End of the Round

Once all players have drawn all the available Routes (including any optional Special Route), the round ends. To mark your progress, write the number of the current round in the white boxes of each space where you drew a Route this round. Remember, you can never erase Routes from previous rounds!

After everyone has marked their boards, roll the Route Dice again to kick off the next round!

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes after the 7th round (or 6th if playing with an expansion). Now it's time for the moment of truth: counting your score!

Each player will tally points in several categories, marking them on the Scoring Table on their board:

• Connecting Exits (Networks): This is your primary source of points! At the end of the game, look at each set of Exits that are connected to each other via the same network of Routes. The more Exits connected in a single network, the more points it's worth, as shown on the Network Values table on your board.
  • Note: Stations connect Railways and Highways, making them part of the same network. Overpasses, however, do not create connections between networks.
• Longest Highway: Identify the longest unbroken streak of adjacent spaces where you drew Highway Routes that are connected to each other. Loops and branches don't count towards the length of a single "streak." You score 1 point for each space in your single longest Highway branch. Stations do not interrupt your Highway.
• Longest Railway: This is determined the same way as the Longest Highway, but only counting Railway Routes. You score 1 point for each space in your single longest Railway branch.
• Central Spaces: The 9 spaces in the middle of your board are your Central Spaces. You score 1 point for each of these spaces you drew anything on.
• Expansion Points: If you're playing with an expansion (like Rivers or Lakes), you'll score additional points based on its specific rules. Mark these in the designated space on your Scoring Table.

Errors

Before totaling your score, you must check for incomplete Routes. Each end of a Route that does not connect with any other Route or the outer edge of the board counts as an Error. Mark each Error with the designated symbol (a small 'X' or similar). You lose 1 point for each Error on your board. Mark these penalty points on your Scoring Table.

Final Score and Winner

Finally, add up all the points you earned and subtract any points from Errors to get your total score. Write this total on your Scoring Table. The player with the most points wins!

In case of a tie, the winner is the player with the fewest Error marks on their board. If there's still a tie, congratulations, you're sharing the victory!

Dicas para Vencer (Tips for Winning)

Alright, future master planners, here are a few pointers to get you started on the right track:

1. Prioritize Exit Connections: While bonus points are great, connecting Exits is the main way to score big. Always be looking for opportunities to link those Exits and expand your networks. A large network connecting many Exits can be worth a huge chunk of points!
2. Mind Your Errors, But Don't Fear Them: Every Error costs you a point, so try to minimize them. However, sometimes leaving an open end might be necessary to set up a future connection or to use a particularly awkward die roll. Don't let the fear of an Error paralyze your drawing!
3. Strategic Special Route Usage: You only get to use 3 Special Routes per game, and only one per round. Think carefully about when to deploy these powerful tools. They can be game-changers for connecting stubborn networks or extending your longest routes. Don't waste them on trivial connections!

Now you're ready to roll! Grab your markers, strategize your routes, and build the most magnificent transportation network Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition has ever seen!