Trains

Setting up Trains involves each player choosing a color and taking twenty-one cubes, placing one on the zero space of the victory track. Players assemble a starting deck consisting of seven Normal Train cards, two Lay Rails cards, and one Station Expansion card, shuffling them into a draw pile. The central board is placed in the middle, and thirty white station tokens are set nearby. The common supply cards—including Express Train, Limited Express Train, Lay Rails, Station Expansion, Apartment, Tower, Skyscraper, and Waste—are organized alongside a randomized selection of eight cards chosen from the randomizer deck. Players draw five cards to form their initial hand and determine starting player order.

The main objective in Trains is to build the most extensive and profitable railway network across Japan. Players compete to connect cities, expand stations, and acquire valuable properties. Success requires a strategic balance of deck-building efficiency, efficient card purchasing, and precise placement of rail cubes on the map to maximize victory points from multiple sources.

A player's turn consists of playing action and train cards from their hand to generate money and resources. Money is spent during the turn to buy new cards from the supply or lay rail tokens on the game board. Cards must be played sequentially, and their effects resolved fully before moving to the next action. At the end of the turn, played cards and newly purchased cards go to the discard pile, and a new hand of five cards is drawn from the player's deck.

Scoring happens at the end of the game based on several criteria. Cities and remote locations with player rail tokens are evaluated, with points awarded depending on station markers and specific board spaces. Shared city locations provide points to all present players. Additionally, victory point cards purchased during the game—such as Apartments, Towers, and Skyscrapers—add to the final score, while unmanaged waste cards do not deduct points directly but hinder deck efficiency.

The game concludes immediately after the current player's turn when any of three trigger conditions are met: a player places all of their rail tokens, all white station markers are exhausted from the supply, or any four of the supply card decks (excluding waste) are completely depleted.