Designed by: Sebastion Bleasdale
On The Underground is a game with fairly simple rules that sees the players building subterranean routes around London, hoping to convey The Passenger along their own routes in order to score points.
The board shows the central map of the existing underground with genuine stations and routes – at the start of the game, they are merely proposed routes. Everybody takes a certain amount of route colours (how many depends on the amount of players) and on their turn, they can do one of two things up to four times: they can build track or take branch line tokens. So there’s a maximum of four track segments to be built on any one turn, and once you have started a route you have to keep expanding the same track – though you can trade in two branch line tokens in order to start a branch line and give yourself more freedom. You can also start a new (i.e. different coloured) track as well, obeying the same rules.
At the end of each round players take turns deciding which route the Passenger will travel. Where he travels to is dictated by a deck of cards, and he might go to two stations or only one. How he travels follows a couple of rules: he will walk (along unbuilt routes) as little as possible, and once he’s on the trains he will change lines as little as possible. Beyond that, it’s up to the active player how he travels – and whatever lines the Passenger travels by, the player who owns them scores a point.
There are also points to be had on the board by linking different areas of London together and reaching (or indeed starting from) a Terminus gets you 2 points plus a free branch line token.
The game ends when the card deck is exhausted, by which time much of London can be traversed easily by the nomadic Passenger!
It's possible to block lines you know your opponents are going for, but it's far from the overriding feature of the game.
Like so many games it does depend on the players - and sometimes you will need a bit of time to work out your best bet. But you're not drowning in options, and all players can help work out the legal routes of the passenger.
Low-ish. Mainly you're trying to find ways to get the passenger on your trains. But there is some luck too; it's possible to build track that will only be used once, or even not at all!
The Passenger's destinations come up randomly but they do dictate the shape of the game. However you can manipulate that randomness to your will - in fact, that's your challenge.
2-5
Players
10+
Years
60-90
Mins
Sam says
We've put it as a 3 complexity, but you could argue it's a two. The rules are pretty easy to grasp, but at times the game can feel weighty as opposed to fast-moving, because players will need to pause to try and work out their best options. That said, it's a great blend of luck and strategic thought, and the vagaries of the Passenger can cause great tension as the game closes out.