TransEuropa/TransAmerica

TransEuropa and TransAmerica have the same rules; the only thing different about them is the game board, which forms a map covered with a gird of triangles. Each player is a railroad baron, and their goal is to connect five cities with train track before anyone else does.

The game is very simple – on the game board are a number of cities, and they have all been assigned a colour. There is also a deck of cards that represent the cities, and the back of the cards matches the colour of the cities. The cards are shuffled and each player takes one card of each colour. They look at them but keep them secret from the other players.

Then on their turn players can place track: two sections across open land but only one section through mountains or crossing rivers. They start from a specific point of their choosing and build their network outwards from there. BUT – once two players rail networks connect, they are now one network, and they can build from any point they like in that network. Thus, whether they like it or not, players will be helping each other reach their goals by building on their behalf – for instance, the player desperate to reach Washington in Trans-America will be delighted to see another player building track all the way to New York.

As soon as one player completes all their connections, they reveal their cards and score zero points (points are bad in this game). The other players each score 1pt for however many connections they were away from reaching their five cities (2pts if crossing rivers or mountains!) As soon as one player goes over 12pts the game ends.

Most sets of Trans come with the Vexation option too – these are three sections of track in your own colour that only your trains can pass through – placing them is exactly the same as normal track but the other players will have to build around them to reach the annexed part of your network. This adds a little variation and spice!