Rollecate - General game info
Rollecate
2-4 players, 10-15 minutes, 8 years and older
AuthorMichiel de Wit (michieldewit)
IllustratorMiša Jovanovic
Published byGamInBiz
H.O.T. Games
Online since 2022-07-10
Developed byBart De Cock (be_com4)
Boardgamegeek278824
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!
Rollecate - Rules

Rollecate

Rollecate is a beautiful, but fairly old steam locomotive. The last few years she has been slowly rusting away in an old shed, much to her dismay! So she needs your help to get going again. Use your cards to build a new railway and let the Rollecate ride again. But be careful not to derail Rollecate: That will cost you points!

GAME COMPONENTS

  • 55 playing cards, of which there are
    • 50 track cards(46 regular tracks, 4 broken tracks)
    • 5 chaos cards
  • 1 wooden train ("Rollecate")
  • 4 6-sided dice (4x wheel, 2x blank)
  • 1 rulebook

GAME IDEA

In this game you take turns extending the railway with your cards and rolling the dice to see how many steps Rollecate will move. While riding, Rollecate may derail and that will get you penalty cards.

To win, try to get rid of your cards and collect as few penalty cards as possible.

GAME SETUP

  1. Shuffle the cards and form a face-down draw pile in the middle of the table.
  2. Build an initial railway of 4 track cards by taking turns: Draw 1 card from the draw pile and add it to the end of the railway. Make sure the rails connect properly (see box). Put any chaos cards you draw aside. When the initial railway is finished, add the chaos cards back to the draw pile and shuffle the cards.
    NOTE: With 2 players, you’ll both add 2 cards; with 3 players, only 1 player will add 2 cards.
  3. Put the train on the third card of the railway. Rollecate will always move towards the end of the railway.
  4. REMOVING CARDS:

    2 players: remove 11 cards
    3 players: remove 9 cards
    4 players: remove 7 cards
    Draw a number of cards from the draw pile and put them back in the box unseen. The number depends on the player count (see box). These cards are not used in this game.
  5. Deal 2 cards to every player. Pick up your cards and keep them hidden from other players.
  6. Make some room in front of you for your personal discard pile.
  7. Whoever last traveled by train (or a random player) may start.

CONNECTING RAILS:

The rails should connect properly and the cards can never overlap each other.

GAMEPLAY

You play the game in turns, in clockwise order. The game ends when the draw pile is empty. The player who drew the last card finishes their turn. Then the player’s scores are determined.

When it’s your turn, first draw 1 card from the draw pile and take it in your hand (there is no hand limit). Then you must perform exactly 1 of the following actions:

  1. PASS
  2. BUILD TRACKS
  3. DISCARD CHAOS CARDS

ACTION 1: PASS

You’re always allowed to pass. It might be your only option, or it may just be your best option. When you choose to pass, move Rollecate 1 card forward if possible.

During a pass action Rollecate never derails! Then take 1 penalty card (see box).

TAKING PENALTY CARDS:

Whenever you have to take a penalty card, do so one by one from the start of the railway until you have reached the required number.

If you reach the card Rollecate is standing on, stop and don’t take the card.

At the end of your turn, you will put your penalty cards on your personal discard pile in any order you like.

COMBINING CARDS:

You are allowed to make combinations when putting penalty cards on your discard pile. If the card you discard has the same value as the top card of your discard pile, you may take both cards and put them in the box. They won’t count towards your final score.

If you have to discard multiple penalty cards during your turn, you are allowed to combine several times. However, each card can only be combined once . You are allowed to combine with cards you only just discarded in this turn.

NOTE: You are allowed to inspect the cards in your discard pile. By combining your cards cleverly, you can get rid of a lot of penalty points!

ACTION 2: BUILD TRACKS

Take 1 or more cards with the same value from your hand and add them to the end of the railway. There are a number of rules for this (see box).

ADDING TRACKS:

These are the rules for adding track cards:

  1. Add cards either vertically or horizontally.
  2. The rails on the cards should always align.
  3. Cards can never overlap each other.
  4. The difference in the value of two adjacent cards can never be 2. So you are never allowed to add a 1 to a 3 (but you can add to a 1, 2 or 4). Similarly, you can’t add a 2 to a 4. The symbol in the bottom left corner of every card serves as a reminder.

Example: When you have two cards of value 1, you are allowed to add both. But say you have a 3 and a 4: Then you will have to choose and you can add only one of them.

Example: You added two track cards with value 2, so you will have to roll 2 + 2 = 4 dice.

Example: You roll the dice and get 3 times a . So you will have to move Rollecate 3 steps forward. There is only one track card in front of Rollecate, so she will derail. Move Rollecate to the last card and take 2 penalty cards.

After you have added your card(s), Rollecate will start to ride. Add up the values of the track cards you added to the railway. Roll a number of dice equal to this total value. Roll multiple times when you need more than 4 dice.

Count the number of times you rolled an and move Rollecate an equal number of track cards forwards toward the end of the railway. If Rollecate moves past the end of the railway, she will derail (see box).

WHEN ROLLECATE DERAILS:

Put Rollecate on the last card of the railway and take penalty cards. The number of cards you take should equal the number of steps you weren’t able to complete.

Put these cards on your discard pile at the end of your turn. Please remember that you are allowed to combine cards when discarding (see before).

Whenever Rollecate passes over a Broken track or stops on one, she will get damaged. Take 1 penalty card to pay for the repairs. Discard this penalty card at the end of your turn. It is possible for Rollecate to pass more than 1 broken track in your turn. If that happens, you will have to take multiple penalty cards.

ACTION 3: DISCARD CHAOS CARDS

This action is only possible if you have at least 1 chaos card in your hand. Put 1 or more of these on your discard pile, in any order you like. The rules for combining apply. The chaos cards you discard don’t have to be of the same value. Unlike the pass action, you will not have to move the train forward or take a penalty card.

END OF GAME AND SCORING

The game ends after the last card has been taken from the draw pile. When you draw the last card, you still get to finish your turn. Then all players will add their hand cards to their discard pile.

NOTE: You are not allowed to combine cards anymore.

Add up the values of all the cards in your discard pile. This will be your score. Whoever has the lowest score wins.

In case of a tie, the player with the least cards wins. If there still is a tie, the tied player with the fewest cards of value 4 will win (followed by values 3, 2 and 1, if necessary). In the unlikely event this still yields no winner, the tied players will have to share the victory.

Hints for handling

Note the green arrow indicating the start of the track and the direction to move Rollecate. Even if tracks are laid in a loop, there is still a begin and an end. Rollecate never rolls over the start again.
 
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