Yucata - Rules for the game 'First Class'

First Class - General game info

2-4 players, 40-80 minutes, 10 years and older
Author	Helmut Ohley
Illustrator	Michael Menzel
Published by	Hans im Glück
Online since	2017-08-05
Developed by	(BloodyMary)
Boardgamegeek	206941
Yucata.de owns a license for the online version of this game. A big "thank you" to the copyright owners (publisher and/or author and illustrator) who make it possible to have this game for free online here!
Note: This online implementation uses slightly changed rules!

First Class - Rules

If you are reading these rules for the first time, ignore the text along the right hand side. These rules serve as a summary to help you quickly familiarize yourself with the game.

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First Class

Please refer to the original rules for a detailed description:

→ original rules (pdf)
→ Supplement Modules (pdf)
→ FAQ (german only, pdf)
→ variant Module C (german only, pdf)
→ Mini expansion Teatime (pdf)
→ Mini expansion Module F: Storage and Factory (pdf)

Georges Nagelmackers, founder of the fabled “Orient Express,” finally has some competition: YOU! Like him, you are a railroad entrepreneur, trying to attract many wealthy passengers to your line, for whom you’ll need to ensure the trip is as prestigious as possible.
Upgrade your railroad cars to be plush and luxurious, allowing you to offer the best travelling choice to the Orient, and win the game, of course! You will have many options to choose from and many paths to victory. Trying to build the best trains and route isn’t a bad starting strategy.
But not all of your passengers will be fine, upstanding citizens. Wealth is wont to attract criminals, even murderers...

Deviations to the original rules

Right now only modules A, B, C, E and F are playable.
When choosing less than 2 modules for an invitation, the missing modules will be randomly selected out of the ones currently available.
If a player is actively on turn and there is no place left for coins on the player tableau, extra coins are automatically changed to 1 victory point each.
According to the original rules, the bonus of the Start Player tile is taken at the end of the turn of the active player.
To avoid extra turns you may choose the invitation option 'Delay Start Player tile bonus'. If this option is checked, players will get their Start Player tile bonus at the beginning of their next turn.
Exception: If the round ends before the player's next turn, the round will be prolonged so all players get their bonus within the current round. In this case, extra actions are not allowed.
Module C with 2 players is played using the variant with 2 dummy players suggested by the publisher.
With 2 or 4 players the evidence tokens may not be sufficient in all cases. To avoid the rather complicated rule that has to be applied when running out of evidence tokens, the online implementation is played with 3 extra evidence tokens added (, and ) as agreed with author and publisher.
Evidence will always be spread at the end of a turn. Thus a player may still undo all of their actions.

Components

Base game components (needed for each game)

Railroad Car cards (50×0/1, 24×2/4, 20×7/12)

Mail Car cards (4 in each player color)

Base cards (24 in each pile color)

Game End cards

Conductors (3 in each player color, one of them for indicating points)

Locomotives (1 in each player color)

Coins

Locomotive tiles

Constantinople tile

Player boards

Start Player tile

Start Player figure

Module Components (2 modules needed for each game)

Module cards A, The Contracts (8 in each pile color)

Module cards B, Celebrities and Postcards (8 in each pile color)

Module cards C, FirstClass Murder (8 in each pile color)

Whodunit cards (Module C only)

Evidence tokens (Module C only)

Evidence tokens with 2 and 4 players added in this implementation (

and

)

Module cards D, Passengers and Luggage (8 in each pile color)

Module cards E, Switches and Mechanics (8 in each pile color)

Setup

Base game components

First, take all base cards (their ticket, found on both sides, shows an X). They are always included in the game, regardless of which modules you use. Add to these all cards from the 2 modules you have chosen to play with. The modules are identified by the letter on their ticket (found on both sides). Separate these cards into three piles, according to their color (number): green (1), blue (2), and red (3).
For each color, shuffle well the base and Module cards together, forming a separate face-down pile for each color. Place these piles on the table, somewhat off to the side. From now on, these cards will be referred to as Action cards.
Place the Railroad Car cards and the coins in a general supply accessible to all players.
Sort the Locomotive tiles in ascending order (5 to 15) and place them in a pile (5 on top, 15 at the bottom) accessible to all players.
Place the Constantinople tile next to it.
Choose a start player and give them the Start Player figure.
Shuffle the Game End cards face down. The player to the right of the start player draws a number of cards equal to the number of players + 1. That player chooses 1 card to keep and passes the rest to the next player in counter-clockwise direction. Continue until all players have 1 Game End card. The remaining card is shuffled back into the pile. Keep your chosen card face down in a pile in the bottom left of your player board. It will come into play only at game end.
Finally, draw 4 more Game End cards and place them face up on the table. Place the remaining Game End cards as a face-down pile.
Take the first pile (green) of Action cards and place 3 rows of 6 cards, face up, in the middle of the table. You will have a total of 18 Action cards to choose from in the first round. Place the Start player tile to the left of the first card in the first row.

Player board

Each player chooses a color and receives:

player board

coin

conductors

locomotive

scoring markers

mail cars

0-value railroad cars

Gameplay

First Class is played over 6 rounds. Each round, you will have 18 face-up cards to choose from in 3 rows:
Round 1+2: cards from the 1st pile (green)
Round 3+4: cards from the 2nd pile (blue)
Round 5+6: cards from the 3rd pile (red)

First Class is played over 6 rounds. Each round, you will have 18 face-up cards to choose from in 3 rows:
In rounds 1 and 2, use cards from the first pile (green).
In rounds 3 and 4, use cards from the second pile (blue).
In rounds 5 and 6, use cards from the third pile (red).

Playing a round

Players play in clockwise order, starting with the start player. On your turn, choose one of the available Action cards and carry out the corresponding action. It is then the next player’s turn. That player also chooses a card, carries out the action, etc.

The round is over once each player has had 3 turns and thus taken 3 Action cards.

A scoring phase takes place after every two rounds (after rounds 2, 4, and 6).

The game ends after six rounds, at which point the Game End cards are scored. The player with the most points wins the game.

During Your Turn

Whenever it’s your turn, you must choose 1 Action card from those available or the Start Player tile.

If you take the Start Player tile remove the leftmost card from the top row.

You will become start player at the end of the current round.

The players get compensations as illustrated on the tile.

If you choose to take the Start Player tile place it face up in front of yourself.
Remove the leftmost card from the top row from the available Action cards. This card is out of the game and cannot be chosen anymore. This can trigger the clearing of a row.
This lets you become the new start player at the end of the current round (after each player has chosen 3 Action cards). This means you will be the start player for the next Scoring phase.
When a player takes the Starting Player tile, some compensations are immediately distributed. The compensations are illustrated on the tile.

Note: The current start player can take the Start Player tile to keep the same turn order next round.

Choosing an action card there are 2 ways to use it:

carry out the action. You may also partially carry out the actions.

not carry out the Action card. You may forego all of the card’s actions and increase the value of one of your railroad cars instead.

You can choose any one of the available face-up Action cards on the table. There are two ways to use an Action card:

carry out the action indicated by the Action card. You may even choose a card whose actions you cannot carry out completely. In other words, you can partially carry out actions.

Note: You must always fully choose whether or not to carry out the actions indicated by the symbols on an Action card before obtaining any bonuses.
not carry out the Action card at all. In this case, you choose to completely forego all of the card’s actions. Instead, you may increase the value of one of your railroad cars.
Note: You cannot choose the Start Player tile and choose to forego becoming start player.

In either case, once you’re finished place the Action card face down onto the space reserved for them near the bottom left-hand corner of your player board. The basic icons and their functions are explained on the following pages, whereas the module specific icons are explained in the supplement.

Clearing a Row

As soon as a number of cards equal to the number of players has been chosen from a row, this entire row is then removed.

As soon as a number of cards equal to the number of players has been chosen (or removed) from a row, this entire row is then removed. The removed cards are out of the game and can no longer be chosen.

Remember: There are always 6 Action cards in each row at the start of a round.

Important: The Start Player tile itself is not counted as one of the remaining cards and cannot be removed along with the remaining cards of a row. It stays in play until a player chooses it.

The Basic Symbols

We will now describe the individual basic symbols. You will encounter them throughout the game across the various game components.

Take new railroad cars and increase their value

Over the course of the game, you will be adding railroad cars to the two trains next to your player board. Each train always starts with a 0-value railroad car. At various times, you will add new railroad cars to your trains, or increase the value of your existing railroad cars, so as to score more points during each scoring phase.

Take a 0-value railroad car:

Take a new 0-value railroad car from the supply and add it to to the end of one of your two trains (on the right).

This symbol lets you take a new 0-value railroad car from the supply and add it to one of your two trains. That train is now one railroad car longer.

If a card shows this symbol more than once, then you can take as many railroad cars as the number of times the symbol is printed.

New 0-value railroad cars are always added to the end of a train (on the right); that card becomes the new last card in the train. For each railroad car you gain, choose which train you wish to add it to.

Upgrade a railroad car

In order to score more points over the course of the game, you will need to upgrade your railroad cars, which means getting better and more luxurious rolling stock.

The railroad car on the left side of the symbol is the railroad car you are allowed to upgrade. The railroad car on the right side of the symbol is the railroad car you are allowed to upgrade to.

In your trains, a railroad car can never be of a higher value than the one to its left, but it can be of the same value. If you have several railroad cars of the same value in the same train, you must upgrade from left to right.

You may not skip steps while upgrading. Cars must be upgraded like this:
0-value → 1-value → 2-value → 4-value → 7-value → 12-value.

You can also upgrade the same railroad car multiple times, provided you have the right upgrade actions to do so.

This symbol lets you upgrade a railroad car. More specifically, it lets you take a single 0-value railroad car and upgrade it to a 1-value railroad car.

You choose separately for each individual upgrade whether you want to upgrade your upper or lower train. So the first thing to decide is which train you want to upgrade.

The railroad car on the left side of the symbol is always the lower-value (less luxurious) railroad car (a 0-value railroad car in this example) that you are allowed to upgrade. The card must already be present in your upper or lower train.
The railroad car on the right side of the symbol is always the higher-value (more luxurious) railroad car (a 1-value railroad car in this example) that you are allowed to upgrade to. It replaces the lower-value railroad car.

Each symbols lets you upgrade exactly one railroad car to its next step in value. If you are allowed to upgrade multiple railroad cars then the symbol is shown multiple times.
In your trains, a railroad car can never be of a higher value than the one to its left, but it can be of the same value. You can freely upgrade the first railroad car of each train since there is no other railroad car to their left.
If you have several railroad cars of the same value in the same train, you must always upgrade them in order from left to right.

Note: When you are allowed to carry out multiple upgrades, you can always split them between both of your trains. You can also upgrade the same railroad car multiple times, provided you have the right upgrade actions to do so.

The other upgrade actions all function in the same way.
You may not skip steps while upgrading. In other words, 0-value railroad cars must always be upgraded to 1-value, 1-value railroad cars must always be upgraded to 2-value, and subsequently 4-value, 7-value, and finally 12-value.

Upgrade a railroad car of your choice

You may upgrade a railroad car of your choice exactly one step.

You may also take take a new 0-value railroad car instead of upgrading.

This symbol lets you upgrade the railroad car of your choice. In other words, choose a railroad car in either of your trains and upgrade it exactly one step.

You can also use multiple upgrades of this kind to upgrade the same railroad car multiple times.

You may also use upgrades of this kind to instead take a new 0-value railroad car from the supply and add it to the end of one of your trains.

Move your conductors

Each of you has 2 conductors (one each for your upper and lower trains).

These symbols allow you to move both of your conductors to the right the same number of spaces. The number of arrows indicates how many spaces both of your conductors move.

Symbols that show a single conductor allow you to move both of your conductors to the right a combined number of spaces. Once again, the number of arrows indicates how many spaces they may move, however the movement may be split between them. Thus, movement is not automatic as it is with the double conductor symbols.

If your conductor has reached the last (rightmost) railroad car of a train or the Locomotive tile, then you cannot move it any further. Any unused movement is lost.

Move your locomotive

The upper-left corner of your player board shows your Orient Express route and the stations your trains will visit. Some stations will earn you points while others will grant you bonuses. First, let’s see how your locomotive can move along your route.

These symbols allow you to move your locomotive to the left along your route. The number of arrows indicates how many spaces your locomotive moves.

Note: The first 3 stations are printed on your player board. (The starting station does not count.) If you want to move your locomotive further, you will have to expand your route.

Your locomotive moves onto or past a bonus station

When your locomotive moves onto or past a bonus action station , then you will receive the corresponding bonus action (shown on the space with the matching symbol ) during each subsequent scoring phase.

Your locomotive moves onto or past a points station

When your locomotive moves onto or past a points station , then you immediately (and once only) receive the number of points indicated by the station.

If your locomotive has reached the last (leftmost) station of your route, then you are not allowed to move it any further. Any unused movement is lost.

Expand route

If you take a new Route card, you add it to the left of the end of your current route.

Bonus actions and points are only scored for Route cards once your locomotive has reached the various stations.

You will want to expand your Orient Express route as much as possible, since it brings points and bonuses. Each new Route card you add can score you points as well as give you additional bonuses during each scoring phase.

Route cards are among the available Action cards. If you choose to take a new Route card on your turn, you add it to your player board. New Route cards are always added to the left of the end of your current route.

If it is your first Route card, you add it to the left of the pre-printed route on your player board. Your route always runs from right to left. Route cards have between 1 and 4 stations.

Bonus actions and points are only scored for Route cards once your locomotive has reached the various stations.

The Contracts

Fulfilling a contract provides you with a bonus.

You can fulfill a contract before or after your regular action for the turn, or during a scoring phase, if you meet or exceed the minimum requirement.

Once the contract is fulfilled, you receive the indicated bonus.

Fulfilling a contract is extremely useful as it can provide you with a bonus.

Contracts are recognizable by their vertical or horizontal clipboard.

If you choose a Contract card as your action, place it face up next to your player board.

Each contract has a minimum requirement (upper part of the card) that you must meet to obtain its bonus (lower part of the card). Fulfilling the requirement allows you to get the bonus from the contract.

If you meet or exceed the minimum requirement, then you can fulfill the contract. You can do this before or after your regular action for the turn, or during a scoring phase. Once the contract is fulfilled, you receive the indicated bonus. Depending on the type, you carry the bonus actions out immediately and only once. Any unused part of a bonus is lost.

Turn the fulfilled contract face down and add it to your pile of “completed” Action cards.

Details about the different requirements are explained in the corresponding module.

Hint: You are allowed to leave contracts unfulfilled for as long as you like. This can be very beneficial for those contracts that are worth more points later on. However, unfulfilled contracts are not worth any points at the end of the game.

The Game End cards

Each player already received a Game End card during setup.

You may buy Game End cards paying 4 coins each. Some action cards also give you a Game End card.

Taking a Game End card gives you a small one-time bonus.

Once your turn is over, and only then, refill the Game End card selection to 4 cards.

At the end of the game you will score points for your Game End cards.

Each player received 1 Game End card at the start of the game, and 4 more Game End cards were set out on the table during setup.

Whenever it is your turn, for each Game End card you wish to take, you can pay 4 coins to take 1 Game End card. Certain Module cards will also give you Game End card.

Taking a Game End card gives you a small one-time bonus. Take the bonus and then add the Game End card to your face-down Action cards.

Once your turn is over, and only then, refill the Game End card selection to 4 cards.

After the final scoring phase at the end of the game , you will score points for your Game End cards.

The Mail cars

As soon as you add the 5th car to one of your trains, choose one of your mail cars and add it as 6th car to that train.

You get the bonus depicted on the mail car.

As soon as you add the 5th railroad car to one of your trains, you must immediately add one of your mail cars as the 6th car. You can choose from any of your available mail cars. You will be able to add exactly 2 of your mail cars over the course of the game: one to your upper train and one to your lower train.

Note: Mail cars can never be upgraded. They also score no points during scoring phases.

You immediately get the bonus depicted on the mail car.

The locomotive tiles

As soon as you add the 9th car to one of your trains, take the top Locomotive tile and add it as 10th car to that train.

You get the bonus depicted on the locomotive.

Locomotive tiles score their printed points during each scoring phase, if a conductor is on the tile .

A locomotive is the final car of a train. No further car may be added to that train.

As soon as you add the 9th railroad car to one of your trains, you must immediately add the top Locomotive tile to the end of your train as 10th car.

Once placed, each Locomotive tile provides an upgrade 1 or 2 railroad cars of your choice. These upgrades may be applied to any one of your trains, not only the one you added the Locomotive tile to.

Reminder: In a 4-player game, the first 4 locomotives allow 2 upgrades of your choice. The next 4 locomotives allow 1 upgrade of your choice.
In a 2-player game, only the first 4 Locomotive tiles are used, all of which allow 2 upgrades of your choice.

Locomotive tiles also score their printed points during each scoring phase, but only if a conductor is on the tile .

Once a Locomotive tile is added to a train, you may no longer lengthen that train (i.e., you can no longer add cards to the right).

Constantinople

The first 3 conductors reaching the locomotive tile of their train score points in Constantinople.

If one of your conductors reaches a locomotive, place a scoring cube on the topmost empty space of the Constantinople tile and score the depicted points.

A player may place a cube for each of his trains as long as there are spaces left on the Constantinople tile.

Once one of your conductors reaches a Locomotive tile, it symbolizes that your train now reaches Constantinople and it earns the proper title of the “Orient Express.” The sooner your conductor gets to a Locomotive tile, the more bonus points you score.

You placed the Constantinople tile near the Locomotive tiles at the start of the game because they are closely related. The first 3 conductors to reach a Locomotive tile will score additional points. The purpose of the Constantinople tile is to keep track of which conductors have reached their respective locomotives.

If you are the first player to have one of your conductors reach a locomotive, immediately put one of your scoring markers on the Constantinople tile and score 20 points on the score board.

The second player to have a conductor reach a locomotive immediately puts one of their scoring markers on the Constantinople tile and scores 10 points.

The third player to accomplish this scores 5 points, marked and scored in the same way as outlined above.

Note: You can score Constantinople bonus points twice, provided that both of your conductors are among the first three to reach their respective locomotives. In this case, you would end up with 2 scoring markers on the Constantinople tile.

The Coins

A player board offers 12 spaces for coins.

Coins must always be added to the lowest, leftmost, empty space on your player board.

If you receive multiple coins, you have to add them to your board all at once.

On their player board, each player has an area composed of 12 spaces for coins. Players start the game with 1 coin.

There are many cards that will give you coins, such as several of the Action cards in the various modules.

For each coin symbol shown, take 1 coin from the supply and add it to your player board.

Coins must always be added to the lowest, leftmost, empty space on your player board.
In other words, you have to fill all empty spaces in the first column before filling the spaces in the second column, and so on.

Important: If you receive multiple coins, you must be able to add them to your board all at once.

How do you spend coins and what are they worth?

You may spend coins whenever it is your turn, i. e. before and/or after taking an Action card and during a scoring phase.

You may spend coins to get the bonus depicted on its column.

You may spend 4 coins from any columns to get a Game End card.

You may spend 1 coin from any column to score 1 point.

You are allowed to spend coins freely during your turn. You are allowed to spend them before and/or after taking an Action card. Note that you must first complete/forego any actions the card allows you to carry out before spending any more coins. You may also spend coins during a scoring phase.

Coins give you small extra actions over the course of the game. To take an extra action, pay 1 coin from the corresponding column, returning it to the general supply. Depending on which column you chose, you can carry out one of the following actions:

Column 1 (space for 5 coins):
Take a 0-value railroad car.
Column 2 (space for 5 coins):
Move 1 of your conductors 1 space further or move your locomotive 1 station further.
Column 3 (space for 2 coins):
Upgrade one of your railroad cars by 1 step.
You can also pay 4 coins to take a Game End card from the display. You can pay with coins from multiple columns.
You can pay 1 coin from any column to score 1 point.

Coins always stay on the space they were placed onto when they were first obtained. This means that once placed, coins do not get shifted over to fill in gaps that are created during the game.

You are always allowed to spend as many coins as you like on your turn.

You do not need to follow a specific order when spending your coins.

End of a Round

A round is over when all players have had 3 turns. By then the card display is empty.

The player who took the Start Player tile, takes the Start Player figure and is Start Player from now on.

If nobody took the Start Player tile, then the start player remains unchanged.

A round is over when all players have had 3 turns; that is, all players have chosen 3 Action cards and/or the Start Player tile. Once the last player has taken their third turn, there will be just enough cards left to trigger the clearing of the last row (as seen on page 5). Once all of the Action cards are gone, the round is over.

Check to see which player took the Start Player tile.
That player returns the Start Player tile to the middle of the table and takes the Start Player figure from the current start player.

If nobody took the Start Player tile, then the start player remains unchanged. That player keeps the Start Player figure.

Important: If nobody took the Start Player tile, then no compensations are distributed.

New Round

When you finish round 1, 3 or 5 another 18 cards from the current pile are layed out.

When you finish round 2, 4 or 6 the cards of the current pile are exhausted. A scoring phase follows.
If it was the 3rd scoring phase the game ends. Otherwise proceed laying out 18 cards of the next pile.

The start player starts the next round.

After the 1st round with one of the piles

When you finish the first round with pile 1, 2, or 3, lay out another 18 Action cards from the same pile for the next round. These will be the available Action cards for the next round.

There will be 4 cards left over in the pile. These are removed from the game and will not be used.

The start player starts the next round. The round is played in the same way as the first round.

After the 2nd round with one of the piles

When you finish the second round with pile 1, 2, or 3, the current pile will be empty and you proceed to a scoring phase

Once the scoring phase is finished, a new round begins. Lay out 18 Action cards from the next pile. The start player begins the next round.

Once the scoring phase after pile 3 is finished, game end follows.

Scoring Phase

During scoring phases, you first receive bonus actions for your route and then points for your trains.

Starting with the (new) start player, each player, in turn, carries out the following steps.

Route Bonuses

You receive bonus actions for each bonus space your locomotive has reached. You receive the bonus exactly once during the scoring phase.

If your locomotive moves onto or past another bonus station during the scoring phase, then you will receive that station’s bonus during the current scoring phase as well.

You can freely choose the order in which you use the bonus actions. But you must finish a bonus action, before taking the next one.

You may spend coins and fulfill contracts before/after and during your scoring phase, even if you didn't get any bonus at all.

You receive bonus actions for each bonus space (marked with ) that your locomotive has passed or is standing on.

You can freely choose the order in which you receive and use the bonus actions from cities you have reached on your route.

Note: You must always take the full bonus (everything on the space) you are entitled to before moving on to receiving the next bonus (next bonus space), although you can choose the order in which you receive an individual space’s bonus. If you cannot (or do not want) to carry out one of the bonus action provided by a space, that action is lost before you receive the bonus from another space.

Each bonus station provides its bonus exactly once per scoring phase.

Note: If you move your locomotive during the scoring phase, and it moves onto or past another bonus station, then that station’s bonus is also activated. You will receive that station’s bonus during the current scoring phase as well.

Important:
You may spend coins and fulfill contracts before/after and during your scoring phase, even if you didn't get any bonus at all.

Score points for trains

Each of your railroad cars (other than mail cars) and Locomotive tiles scores you points as long as your conductor has moved onto or past.

Railroad cars and locomotive tiles are worth as many points as the number printed on them.

Each of your railroad cars (other than mail cars) and Locomotive tiles can score you points.

The only railroad cars that score are those your conductor has moved onto or past. Any railroad cars to the right of your conductor (including your Locomotive tiles) score nothing, regardless of value.

Railroad cars that score are worth as many points as their value. So a 0-value railroad car scores 0 points, a 1-value railroad car scores 1 point, etc. Locomotive tiles are worth as many points as the number printed on them.

Add the value of each eligible railroad car and Locomotive tile and score those points.

Game End and Final Scoring

The game ends after the third scoring phase.

Each coin is worth 1 point.

Any unfulfilled contracts are worth 0 points.

The game ends after the third scoring phase, i.e., once you have played 2 rounds each with piles 1, 2, and 3. Any unfulfilled contracts you have left at this time are worth 0 points and are removed from the game.

Each coin you have left on your player board is worth 1 point.

How are Game End cards scored?

Each of the Game End cards shows a type of Action card and a point value.

Count up all of the matching Action cards (railroad car, locomotive, conductors) you chose over the course of the game and multiply the total by the number of points indicated on the Game End card. Score the resulting amount on the score board. Proceed this way for each of the 3 types of Action cards.

The winner is the player with the most points. In the event of a tie, then all tied players are winners.

The Modules

Each time you play First Class, you will use exactly 2 modules.

For your first game we recommend using modules A and B.

Each time you play First Class, you will use exactly 2 modules. All of the modules can be combined with each other.

Each module’s cards are identified by a letter in a ticket, shown on both sides of the cards. This makes it easier to sort them at the end of the game.

For your first game, use modules A and B. This will help you learn the core gameplay and the remaining modules.

Our suggestions for module combinations:

game: Module A - The Contracts and Module C - First Class Murder
game: Module B - Celebrities and Postcards and Module E - Switches and Mechanics
game: Module C - First Class Murder and Module D - Passengers and Luggage

Hint: By now only Modules A, B, C, E and F are implemented.

Module A - The Contracts

Note: You can fulfill a contract even if you exceed its requirements. Higher-value railroad cars than the ones required still count, since they used to be the lower-value railroad cars at some point. For example, a 12-value railroad car also counts as a 7-value, a 4-value, a 2-value, a 1-value and a 0-value railroad car.

In this module, you will often need to have a set number of railroad cars of a specific value.

This contract requires at least 6 upgraded railroad cars of 2-value or higher. You only need to have the total number of railroad cars, the trains they are in do not matter.

This contract requires a sequence of at least a 4-value, a 2-value and a 1-value railroad cars. These railroad cars must be in one of your trains and must be located next to each other.

This contract requires at least 2 upgraded railroad cars of 1-value, as shown, in both your upper and lower trains. These railroad cars must be located next to each other and be found in both your upper and lower trains.

This contract requires a mail car in both your upper and lower trains (as the 6th card in each of course).

This contract requires a mail car in both your upper and lower trains (as the 6th card in each). Additionally, you need to have moved onto or past both mail cars with your conductors.

This contract requires that you count up all of your completed contracts. You must also count the contract that you are currently completing. You receive the bonus as many times as the number of completed contracts you have.

Module B - Celebrities and Postcards

You must add celebrities to the first empty railroad car on the left immediately upon taking the Celebrity card from those available. A railroad car is empty as long it is unoccupied by another card. The card will remain there for the rest of the game.

In each subsequent scoring phase, you will score double points for that railroad car.

You must add postcards to a Route card immediately upon taking the card from those available. You can add the postcard to any previously-placed Route card. You do not need to add it to the first Route card placed. The card will remain there for the rest of the game.

In each subsequent scoring phase, you will receive double the bonus for that Route card.

Specific Contracts

This symbol means that you need to have a specific number of celebrities and/or postcards on your trains (in this case 2). It doesn’t matter if you have 2 of the same type or 1 of each.

This contract requires a mail car in both your upper and lower trains (as the 6th card in each). Additionally, you need to have moved onto or past both mail cars with your conductors.

This symbol means you must have at least 1 Locomotive tile (10th ‘card’) with 1 conductor on it.

This symbol means that you need to have placed one or both Locomotive tiles (10th ‘card’). Depending on the number of tiles you placed, you receive the following:
For 1 Locomotive tile placed, you receive 1 Game End card.
For 2 Locomotive tiles placed, you receive 2 Game End cards.

Module C - First Class Murder

What would the Orient Express be without a crime? In this module, one player is a murderer trying to divert the suspicions of the police to the other players. Will they be able to escape?

Setup:

Shuffle the Evidence tokens and place them face down on the table as a general supply accessible to all players.
At the start of the game, give each player 1 face-down Whodunit card. Make sure that only you can see your card. One of you will have the Murderer card, while the other players will be innocent.

Note: Not all the Whodunit cards will be in play in 2- and 3-player games. This means that it is possible that none of the players is the murderer. The remaining card(s) is(are) returned to the box without being revealed. It would spoil the mystery!

Evidence

You will collect face-down Evidence tokens over the course of the game. Some of the tokens have 1-3 fingerprints on them, others points, or even a ‘Discard 1 Evidence token’ symbol.
There are 26 evidence tokens: 12x, 7x, 3x, 1x , 1x , 1x , 2x . In a 2 or 4 player game 3 extra evidence tokens will be added: , and .

Note: Evidence are usually bad and can be used against you; try to get as little as possible.

Bring suspicion onto yourself: If you take an Action card with this symbol, then you must also take an Evidence token from the supply. You also immediately receive the bonus indicated on the card.

Cast suspicion onto everyone else: If you take an Action card with this symbol, then you give all other players an Evidence token from the supply. You also immediately receive the bonus indicated on the card.

Discard 1 Evidence token: One of the tokens that you may take or receive has no fingerprints on it; instead, it has a crossed-out Evidence token on it. If you have this token, reveal it at the end of the game, and discard it with another token with fingerprints of your choice. You are only allowed to discard your own tokens.

Destroy evidence cards: Some cards allow you to “Destroy evidence.” If you take one of these, place it face up in front of you. At the end of the game, discard Evidence tokens according to the number of these cards you have collected: • 1 “Destroy evidence” card: discard up to 1 of your Evidence tokens • 2 “Destroy evidence” cards: discard up to 3 of your Evidence tokens • 3 “Destroy evidence” cards: discard up to 5 of your Evidence tokens • Each “Destroy evidence” card above the 3rd allows you to discard one more Evidence token (for example, if you have 5 such cards, you would get to discard 7 tokens [5+1+1].)

You are only allowed to discard your own Evidence tokens.

Specific contracts

These symbols mean that you need to have collected the corresponding types of Action cards (either “Bring suspicion” or “Cast suspicion”) over the course of the game. Each contract indicates which type of Action card is required.

This symbol means that you need to have collected 2 “Destroy evidence” cards.

At the end of the game

After the Game End cards have been scored and all players have scored their points, the player with the Murderer card must reveal themselves. Give that player 2 more Evidence tokens from the supply.

Then, each player reveals the Evidence tokens they have collected. Players who have “Discard 1 Evidence token” among their Evidence tokens may use these now.

Players who have “Destroy evidence” among their cards may use these now.

Finally, each player counts the total number of fingerprints on their remaining Evidence tokens. Who collected the most fingerprints?

The player with the most fingerprints is arrested and eliminated from the game. This player cannot win. In the event of a tie, there are multiple eliminated players.

If no player has any fingerprints, no player is eliminated from the game.

If the player with the murderer card was not one of the eliminated players, then another player was arrested in their place. The murderer was able to sow enough confusion to blend in and escape. As reward, the murderer scores an additional 20 points.

2-player variant

Setup
There also will be 2 dummy players A and B. The 4 Whodunit cards will be distributed among the 2 players and the 2 dummies.

Clearing a row
As soon as you clear a row, the cards belonging to module C will be distributed among the dummy players.
When clearing row 1, dummy player A will get the remaining cards of module C.
When clearing row 3, dummy player B will get the remaining cards of module C.
When clearing row 2, cards will be discarded as usual. No dummy player gets any card.
The implementation will mark the rows accordingly (eg → A).

What do the dummies do with those cards?

The dummy player gets an evidence token. The dummy player's evidence tokens are hidden information just as your own are.

The other dummy player and both players get an evidence token.

The dummy players will keep any "Destroy evidence" cards until game end (as well as any other player).
All other cards are discarded as usual.

Game end
The Whodunit cards are revealed as usual. The player with the Murderer card takes 2 extra evidence tokens. If a dummy player has the Murderer card, the dummy, too, takes the extra evidence.
After that the evidence tokens are revealed and evaluated as usual.
The player(s) with the most fingerprints will be eliminated from the game. This can be a dummy player as well.

Module E - Switches and Mechanics (middle cards)

With switches and mechanics, the space between your trains becomes important, because both switches and mechanics always affect both of your trains.

Please note the following:

Switches and mechanics can only be placed in the space between your trains. We also refer to these as middle cards.
Their effects always affect both of your trains.
If you want to place a middle card, then you always add your first middle card in the area between your first and second railroad cars in each train. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t added all of those railroad cars to your trains yet. Your second middle card will be placed between the 3rd and 4th railroad cars, and so on.
If you already have a Switch or Mechanic card placed and you want to add another one, you can either completely cover up the existing card or add the new card immediately to the right. You can cover up any middle card with any other middle card. They do not need to be of the same type and you do not need to have fulfilled their requirements.
Important: You can never partially cover up middle cards.

Switches

Switches score you points during each scoring phase, provided you meet their requirements. Each switch has a minimum requirement that you must meet to score points in one or both of your trains. These requirements are shown in the middle of the card (and marked with a '!'):

The left half of a Switch card always refers to a railroad car in your upper train (with an arrow pointing up). Likewise, the right half refers to a railroad car in your lower train (with an arrow pointing down).

For each of your trains, the conductor must have moved onto or past the referred railroad car.

Each switch requires that the referred railroad car must at least be upgraded to the indicated value.

If you meet or exceed the minimum requirement for an arrow, then you can score the points that are associated to that arrow during each scoring phase.

During each scoring phase, a switch can earn you points for your upper and lower trains.

Mechanics

When you take a mechanic, you immediately receive the bonus shown on the card.

Each mechanic is similar to a contract and refers to a railroad car in the upper or lower trains. These contracts are structured in the same way and can be fulfilled separately for each train.

The requirement is always shown on the left side of the Mechanic card (marked with a !). Each mechanic requires that the referred railroad car must at least be upgraded to the indicated value. Your conductor does not need to have moved onto or past the referred railroad car.

As soon as this requirement is met, you can immediately upgrade the next railroad car to the right 1 step.

Added note for clarity: As with any arbitrary update you will get a 0-value-car, if there is no railroad car on the right side.

Both of your trains are treated separately, which means that reaching the required value in the upper train only allows you to upgrade the railroad car next to it in the upper train. You only get to upgrade a railroad car in the lower train when you meet the requirement in that train as well.

You must still follow the usual rules for upgrading railroad cars. This means that if two contiguous railroad cars are the same level once the requirement is met, you will not be allowed to upgrade the railroad car to the right since railroad cars can never be of higher value than those to their left.

Mini expansion Teatime

Material and setup

Sort the 15 order tokens according to their number 1 (green, coffee), 2 (yellow, cake) and 3 (red, champagne).
For one game you’ll need number of players + 1 token of each color.
If you start a round with a new stack of cards, make sure to lay out the order tokens with the corresponding number of the stack.
Before you lay out new order tokens, you have to collect all remaining order tokens of the preceding round and put them back into the box. You are allowed to purchase order tokens of the current round only.

Gameplay

On your turn, you can purchase order tokens which are on display. In return, you have to pay 2 coins each from your board.

Each token has to be arranged with a railroad car of one of your trains. Thereby you have to pay attention to the following:

Railroad car and token must have the same color or a higher value. If a railroad car already has an order token you are not allowed to put another one there. If you do not have a free railroad car (celebrities and passengers/luggage are irrelevant) in the required color you cannot purchase the token.
It is forbidden to put more than one token of the same color in one train. Therefore you can purchase two order tokens per stack maximally.
You can purchase the tokens independently from each other, i.e. you do not need coffee in order to purchase cake or champagne later.

Scoring phase

During the scoring phase you will receive bonus points for order tokens according to their value on the top left corner. As usual the only railroad cars (plus tokens) that score are those your conductor has moved onto or past.

Note: The celebrities from module B do not double the value of order tokens.

Mini expansion: Module F - storage and factory

Components and setup

Components: 24 Module cards (8 in 3 pile colors), 1 Toolbox card Module cards: In the storage you can find all sorts of useful things. Factories help you to upgrade your railroad cars.
Setup: The Module cards and base cards are shuffled together as usual. The Toolbox card (from now on, referred to as "toolbox") has to be placed next to the 3 piles with Action cards.

Storage

When you choose a storage you draw 3 Action cards from the current pile (, or ) and, additionally, you take the toolbox. These cards (3 Action cards, 1 toolbox) have to be placed face up in front of you.
From these cards you choose up to 2 cards, carrying out their actions immediately.

Note the following:

You can only use the following (types of) cards:
Base cards: Locomotives, Conductors, and Railroad Cars
Module cards: Money cards and Game End cards

The toolbox is always one of the 4 available cards. If you choose the toolbox, you get 1 upgrade for a railroad car of your choice.

When there is no Action card which you can use, you only use the toolbox.

In between both of your chosen actions you are allowed to: e.g. fulfill contracts and/or spend coins, see Chain Reactions, Supplement Modules p. 8.

Then, you shuffle all drawn Action cards into the current pile and place the toolbox again next to the piles.

Note: Only the storage has to be placed next to your player board.

Factory

Here, the empty space between your trains becomes important as in Module E (Supplement Modules p. 6-8).

When placing the factories note the following:

Factories can only be placed in between both of your trains.

Their functions refer either to the upper or the lower train.

You always place your 1st factory in the position between the 1st and 2nd railroad car of both of your trains. Your 2nd factory is placed between the 3rd and the 4th railroad car etc. It does not matter whether you have already placed the respective railroad cars on both trains or not.

When you take a new factory, you may cover an already placed factory with the new one. From now on, only the top-most factory counts. You are only allowed to place up to 4 factories in a row. The 5th factory has to cover an old one.

Note: You cannot cover factories partially.

A factory can earn you – depending on its position – 1-4 upgrades for your railroad cars. When you place a new factory, you immediately activate all your factories which already have been placed. Therefore, a factory can earn you multiple upgrades.

Note the following:

You always carry out your factories from right to left.

The number of upgrades you can earn depends on the position of the factory: a factory in position 1 gets you 1 upgrade, a factory in position 2, 2 upgrades etc.

On the factory, the two arrows on the left hand side (marked by an !) point from one railroad car of the upper and one railroad car of the lower train (1st, 3rd, 5th or 7th railroad car) towards the factory.
The railroad car with the higher value determines up to which step you are allowed to upgrade the railroad car of your choice. For the upgrade apply the normal rules. If there is no railroad car next to your factory, you do not get an upgrade for this factory.

Each upgrade that you get you can use on a position of your choice. You can decide for each upgrade anew, whether you want to use it on the upper or the lower train.

Before or after having used all upgrades of 1 factory you may: e.g. fulfill contracts and/or spend coins, see Chain Reactions, Supplement Modules p. 8.

Note: You may pick a 0-value railroad car instead of upgrading another railroad car, see basic rules p. 7.

Notes on Module E and F

When you are playing Module E together with Module F, you have to keep in mind that:

Each of these "in between–cards" (turnouts, mechanics and factories) have to be placed in between both of your trains. You may cover one with another – as usual only the top cards count.
Even when you combine both modules, you are not allowed to have a free space between your "in between–cards".
Note: the position of a factory determines the number of upgrades you will get – not the number of factories already placed: e.g. you have at position 1 a turnout, at position 2 a mechanic. If you then place a factory at position 3, you will get 3 upgrades for this factory.

Hints for handling

Clicking the eye icon on the top right of any player board opens a magnified view of that board.

Clicking on the topmost locomotive card in the display reveals an overview of all currently available locomotives.

Clicking on a placeholder for a railroad mailcar reveals an overview of all currently available mailcars for that player.

Clicking on the dummy game end card on the right side of any player board will show the game end cards for that player. The text indicates the sum (= multiplier) of values for each type of game end card. This text is displayed on mouseover, too.
During an ongoing game, the initially chosen game end card of other players is hidden. The text refers to that card with a '?'.

Clicking on the cardback to the right will show the discarded action cards for that player. The text indicates the number of cards for each type of game end card and the number of contracts. This text is displayed on mouseover, too.

Most of the elements may be magnified with a click. Some of the cards will show an additional description on magnify.

If it is your turn to take an action card but you want to forego the actions and get an upgrade of your choice instead, you have to check 'forego actions' BEFORE taking the card.
If you cannot use any action of a card taken, you will automatically forego the actions and get an upgrade of your choice.

If it is your turn to take an action card, each action card is divided in 2 sections: clicking on the lower section (with a red border) results in taking that card, clicking the top section will still open the card description. Clicking the card in the description will result in taking it.

If the conductors have already left their starting space, a small icon indicating the current value of the respective train will appear in that space.

Clicking on the cardbacks in the display will open an overview with all remaining action cards of the appropriate pile.

Module C (First Class Murder):

The player who got the Whodunit card with the murderer has a small dagger right beside their name in the player info; innocent players have a small heart there. This information is, of course, confidential and therefore will only be displayed in one's own player info during an ongoing game.

Module E (Switches and Mechanics):

Switches and Mechanics played will get a small green check, as soon as one of their requirements is met.
For an easy overview the total points for switches are displayed on the player board (if the total exceeds zero).

Mini expansion Teatime
At the bottom right of each player tableau a new area is added, showing that you may purchase an order token for 2 coins. If it is your turn and if you meet all conditions for purchasing an order token, this area will be highlighted and clickable.

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