Empire Builder Series

Empire Builder Rules

Empire Builder is a game of transcontinental railroad construction and
operation. Build your railroad and haul freight to make your fortune.

Game Parts

Empire Builder contains:

1 Puzzle-cut board

92 load chips

1 sheet load labels

2 packs cards-including:

120 Demand cards (plus 2 blanks)

20 Event cards (plus 2 blanks)

24 Loco cards

6 Wipe-off crayons

6 Pawns

1 How to Play Empire Builder

1 Empire Builder Rules (this booklet)

If any of these parts is missing, please write for free replacement (identifying the
missing part) to: Empire Builder Parts, Mayfair Games, P.O. Box 48539, Niles, IL
60714 or call (708)647-9650.

Playing Board The central feature of the board is a map of the continental United
States and southern Canada. The map has a grid of round, triangular, and star-
shaped dots, called mileposts in the game. The mileposts regulate rail building
and train movement. In scale they are approximately 50 miles apart.
The map shows 51 cities. Near each city are symbols representing the
goods available for pickup in that city. The map also shows the relative location
of the seacoasts and major river obstacles. The locations of some coastal cities
have been moved slightly inland from the coast to ease play of the game.
The cost of track building in certain special cases of the map is described
at the end of this rule book.

Crayons The special wipe-off crayons supplied with the game let players draw
on the playing board during play and clean the board afterwards. No other
marker than those supplied should be used without carefully checking for
erasability on a section of the board away from the playing area.

Cards There are three types of cards: Demand, Event, and Loco.
Before playing, the Loco cards should be separated from the others and
kept with the money. The blank cards should be removed and kept to replace
missing cards. The remaining Demand and Event cards are shuffled together to
make the card deck.

• Demand Cards Each Demand card shows the demand for three goods and for each good shows:

• Event Cards The deck has 20 Event cards which affect the play of the game.

When drawn, Event cards are immediately placed face up and shown to all
players; the drawing player then continues to draw cards until he has three
Demand cards in his hand. Every player must always have three (3) Demand
cards.

Event card effects are described in detail below.

• Loco Cards Each player has one Loco card, showing the type of the player's train, its maximum speed, and its load capacity. There are four types of trains:

• A freight may carry 2 loads and travel up to 9 mileposts per turn.
• A fast freight may carry 2 loads and travel up to 12 mileposts per turn.
• A heavy freight may carry 3 loads and travel up to 9 mileposts per turn.
• A superfreight may carry 3 loads and travel up to 12 mileposts per turn.

Each player starts with a freight. At the end of his turn, he may upgrade
his train instead of building track. The upgrade costs $20 million for a fast freight
or a heavy freight. If he has a fast freight or heavy freight he may further
upgrade his train by paying $20 million for a superfreight.

Load Chips Before playing, the printed stickers must be applied to the plastic
chips, one sticker per chip. Save the blank stickers to replace missing chips.
Each load chip represents a load which can be carried on a player's train.
To show that a load is being carried, place the load chip on the player's Loco
card.
The unused loads are placed in the plastic tray, where players can see
what loads are available for pick up. When a player delivers a load, drops a load
without delivering it for payoff or loses a load from an Event card, the load is
returned to the plastic tray with the other available loads.
The load chips are limited to those provided in the game; additional loads
should not be made except as replacements. Charts showing the number of loads
available, as well as where the loads are available for pickup, are included for
player reference in the center of the booklet, How to Play Empire Builder.

Preparation For Play

The players sit around the playing board. One player acts as a banker; he
takes the money and gives each player $40 million to start the game. The banker
holds the Loco cards and available Load chips.
After shuffling, players cut the deck to find who moves first. The player
who cuts the card with the highest payoff goes first (Event cards have a zero
payoff). He reshuffles the cards and deals three cards face up to each player.
After looking at the cards, players discard all Event cards and receive new cards
in return. (Event cards are discarded only at the beginning of the game; Event
cards drawn later are displayed and become immediately effective.)
The dealer shuffles the discarded Event cards back into the deck and
places the deck on the board. When the deck becomes exhausted during play, the
dealer reshuffles the discard pile to form a new deck.
At the beginning of the game, each player has:

• 3 Demand cards (face up)
• One freight Loco card
• $40 million in cash
• One pawn and one crayon of like color

A player must have three Demand cards in his hands at all times.
Whenever a Demand card is discarded and whenever an Event card is drawn, a
replacement Demand card must be drawn. If a player finds he has fewer than
three Demand cards, he must draw a replacement Demand card immediately,
whether or not it is his turn.

How To Play

The first player takes his turn, and play continues clockwise around the
table. On his turn, each player can:

First, operate his train, by moving, loading, and unloading his train, paying use
fees and collecting payoffs;

Second, spend up to $20 million per turn either to build track or to upgrade his
train.
Instead of taking his turn, a player may discard his entire hand and draw
three cards, displaying and replacing any Event cards drawn. Event cards drawn
take effect immediately. A player who loses his turn from an Event card may not
discard his hand during the lost turn.
After the player has completed his turn, the next player begins his turn.

Building Railroads

The playing board begins without any player's track drawn on it. At the
beginning of the game, players take two turns with no train movement to start
building their rail empires using part (or all) of their initial $40 million. Each
player may use up to $20 million in each beginning turn.
After looking at the nine demands listed on his Demand cards, each player
finds where the loads are located on the board. Knowing this, he plans the route
for his railroad and begins to build track.
A player builds his railroad by drawing a line from one milepost to the
next. For each section of track, the player must pay the cost for the milepost to
which he is building. See illustration for building costs.
For example, building from a clear milepost to a mountain milepost costs
$2 million, building from a mountain milepost to a small city milepost costs $3
million, etc.

These rules must be followed when building tracks:

Beginning Construction A player may build track from any major city milepost
or from any milepost to which the player has already built track. A player may
not build more than two track sections from major city mileposts during one
turn. No track may be built within the red area of a major city.

The cost for building to each milepost is:
Clear $1 million
Mountain $2 million
Small City $3 million
Medium City $3 million
Major City $5 million
River $2 million add'l
Ocean Inlet $3 million add'l

The cost for building across a river ($2 million) or an ocean inlet ($3 million) is in
addition to the regular cost for building to a milepost. Building to a mountain
milepost and crossing a river thus costs $4 million.

Right to Enter Major City Every player has the right to build at least one section
of track from every major city. No track may be built from a major city which
would block any other player from having one section of track from that major
city.

Limited Entry Into Medium And Small Cities Only three players may build track
into a medium city, and only two players may build track into a small city. No
player may build more than three track sections to or from a medium or small
city. No track may be built to or from a medium city which would block a third player from having one section of track to that medium city, or from a small city that would block a second player from having one section of track to that small city.

Right of Way Only one section of track (track section) may be built between any
two mileposts.

No Credit/No Loans A player may not build more track than he can
immediately pay for. Track drawn which cannot be paid for is immediately
erased.

Hauling Freight

A player earns money by carrying a load on his train from a city where the
load can be picked up to the city where there is a demand for the load.

Starting the Train Each player may start his train (represented by his pawn) at
any city on the map.

Running the Train A player moves his train by traveling on track built on the
board and counting the mileposts reached, up to the maximum movement of the
player's train. Freights and heavy freights may move up to 9 mileposts each turn,
and fast freights and superfreights may move up to 12 mileposts each turn.
There is no limit to the number of trains that may end a turn on one
milepost or use the same track. One train may not block another train's
movement; two trains may pass each other on the same track. A train may
reverse direction only at a city (including all major city mileposts).
All players' tracks are connected across the major cities by the red area
(which represent the local belt or terminal rail system). Trains may travel across
the city (including rivers) using the red area as their own track connecting all
major city mileposts. Loads may be picked up or delivered at any major city
milepost. The center milepost in a major city is a milepost for movement.
A player pays nothing to run his train on his own track. A player may run
on his opponent's track, but must pay $4 million per turn to each opponent on
whose track he has run during his turn. A player may not use an opponent's
track unless he has the cash to pay for its use before using it.

Picking Up Loads A load may be picked up by a train passing through a city
where the load is available. No more loads can be picked up than there are load
chips representing the load.
Trains may carry up to two loads at a time with a freight or a fast freight
or three loads with a heavy freight or a superfreight. Trains may carry different
types of loads. Trains may carry loads whether or not they have a demand for
that load. Players may drop a load without payoff at any city.
A player picking up or unloading a load incurs no movement penalty and
may travel his full movement. During his turn, a player may load, unload, and
move his train any number of times in any order; movement is limited only by
the type of train he has and by any Event cards in play.

Delivering Loads When a player delivers a load to a city with a Demand for that
load on one of his Demand cards, the player:

1. Discards the Demand card. Only one load can be delivered for payoff with one

Demand card.

2. Receives the amount stated on the Demand card from the bank.

3. Returns the load chip to the tray of available loads.

4. Draws a new Demand card.

5. Continues his turn, including, if he can, delivering another load for payoff,

dropping a load, picking up a load, and moving. The player may continue until

his movement allowance is used up.

After finishing his movement, the player may then spend up to $20 million to

build additional track or to upgrade his train.

The player's freight, loaded with cars for San Francisco, begins moving
from "A." Moving along the track, the train reaches the city after six mileposts.
The player then discards the Demand card (#98), returns the load (cars) to
the tray, collects the payoff ($34 million) and draws a new Demand card. The
train may continue three more mileposts to end its movement at "B."

Event Card Effects

An Event card takes effect immediately on being drawn. Generally, the
Event card continues in effect until the end of the drawing player's next turn,
when it is discarded. However, the Derailment and Rail Tax cards act once and
are then discarded. The players must obey the directions on the Event card while
it is in effect. The following paragraphs explain the effects of some Event cards:

Counting Mileposts Mileposts are counted in the same way as train movement is
counted. To count mileposts from a Major City, count from the city center and
not from the outer mileposts. To count mileposts from the seacoast, count from
the milepost nearest the seacoast. The Atlantic Coast extends from Portland, Me.
to the milepost south of Miami; the Gulf Coast extends from the milepost south
of Miami to the milepost south of Houston; and the Pacific Coast extends from
San Diego to Vancouver. For example, San Francisco is on the Pacific Coast.

Half Rate When trains move at half rate, freights and heavy freights move 5
mileposts per turn and fast freights and superfreights move 6 mileposts per turn.
When an Event card causes the drawing player's train (which had already
moved) to move at half rate, or a player's train moves into an area of bad
weather, the train's remaining movement is halved, rounding all fractions up.

Floods When track is flooded out, all track of all players bridging the river is
immediately erased. Track across the river may be rebuilt and new track crossing
the river may be built during the player's regular turn and only after the Flood
Event card has been discarded at the end of the drawing player's next turn.
Rebuilt bridges cost the same as the original track building, i.e. $2 million plus
the cost of the milepost. Floods disable and close the bridges in Kansas City only
while the Flood Event card is in effect.

Derailments When a derailment occurs, the only trains affected are those within
the areas at the time the card is drawn. Trains may enter the areas immediately
afterwards without penalty.

Lost Loads When a train loses a load, the player operating the train chooses
which load is lost from those the train is carrying. The Event card does not affect
any loads picked up after the card is drawn.

Canadian Rail Strike When the Canadian Rail Strike occurs, all mileposts
touching the Canadian border are affected.

How To Win

The winner is the first player whose continuous line of track connects five of the
major cities and who has $250 million cash. Only cash is counted; the money
spent on building railroads does not count toward winning.

Courtesy in Play A player's Demand cards and Loco cards (together with the
load chips on the Loco cards) must be face up in front of the player for all to see.
A player need not show his money until the Rail Tax Event card appears, after
which the amount of the player's money is also public information.



CREDITS
Empire Builder
©1988 Mayfair Games
All Rights Reserved
Game Design by
Darwin P. Bromley & Bill Fawcett
Fourth Edition
Game Development: Darwin P. Bromley
Rules Edition and Testing:
Trella Wilhite & Jay Tummelson
Cover Art: ©1992 Ted Rose
Cover Design: Seth Schwartz
Board Art: Jim Malik
Board Design: Jim Clouse

Special thanks to: Forest Brown, Mariam McKenzie, Walter Smith, Bill
Wordelmann, Will Niebling, and to Steve Courtemanche, Louis Newman, Simon
Billenness, Ig Lew, Steve Ivanowsky, Bruce McIntyre, Steve Knight, Paul
Gardner, Mike Johnson, Ty Hare, Craig Mills, Brian Moore, Keven Stone, Conrad
von Betzke, Mike Barno, Jeff Zarse and the other Trax readers, and particularly to
the first Trax Master, Brux.
Empire Builder is a trademark of
Mayfair Games.

Variations

Since it first appeared, Empire Builder has been enjoyed by thousands of
players. Many have created house rules to enhance their enjoyment of the game.
The following play variations represent some of the best that have been
suggested to us; the best-the heavy freight and the rail tax-were added to the
regular rules. If you would like to share your rules with us and other Empire
Builder fans, send it to: Empire Builder Variations, Mayfair Games, P.O. Box
48539, Niles, IL, 60714.
Be Alert: Some rules radically alter the play of Empire Builder. In every
case, the use of any variation must be agreed to by all players before the
beginning of the game.

Fast Game
To speed up the play of Empire Builder, use any or all of the following
rule changes:
· Players start with $60 million and three pre-movement turns.
· Discard the Event cards dealt during the initial deal; do not shuffle them into
the deck.
· Freights and heavy freights move 12 mileposts per turn, and fast freights and
superfreights move 16 mileposts per turn. Half rate movement is 6 and 8
mileposts per turn respectively.
· The Rail Tax Event card has no effect and is immediately discarded.
· The first player who has $250 million is the winner; the player does not have to
connect five major cities.
· Sudden Death A sudden death game lasts until the last card in the deck is
drawn. The game ends at the end of the drawing player's move. The player with
the greatest sum of money wins. A player may not discard his entire hand if
fewer than twelve (12) cards remain in the deck.
The Fast Game rules are recommended for use by beginning and younger
players.

Honeymoon Game:
Empire Builder for Two
For play by two persons (or for particularly challenging play by three), use
these rule changes:
· Reduce the load chip availability by one load for every good. For example, only
3 loads of Oil are available, rather than 4 loads.
· Only two players may build track into a medium city, and only one player may
build track into a small city. A player who intends on building into a small city
must have a Demand card with a demand for that city or for a commodity
available at the city. Once the player builds into the city, that demand must be
fulfilled, and only when that demand is fulfilled may the Demand card be
discarded.
· Any load may be dropped at any city. If the load is available in that city, it is
returned to the tray. If not, it remains in that city. If there is already a load at the
city, the first load is returned to the tray, and the newly dropped load remains.

Mercy
During play by beginners (but also by old hands), it occasionally happens
that a player becomes trapped and unable to build or move to get out of the
predicament. Sometimes, the solution comes from merely discarding the player's
hand and getting new cards; more often the position is untenable. To let the
player continue to enjoy the game, try one of these rules:

Borrowing The player may borrow up to $20 million from the bank and
immediately spend it on building or hold it to pay other players' track use fee.
The player must repay the bank double the amount borrowed from all delivery
payoffs until the doubled amount is completely repaid.

Late Payment of Use Fee The player may use another player's track and pay the
track usage fee from delivery payoffs obtained by delivering loads while on the
other player's track.

Backtracking A player may reverse his train's direction on any milepost (not just
a city milepost) at the cost of losing one full turn. A train which backtracks can
move in any direction in its next turn. A train may not backtrack when the player
has discarded his cards during the same turn. A train may backtrack if it cannot
move for any other reason (e.g. derailment and Canadian Rail Strike). A player
whose train backtracks while on an opponent's track is assessed the use fee for
that turn.

Restart A player may completely restart his position as follows:
· At the beginning of his turn, the player declares that he is restarting. The player
then discards his Demand cards, returns his Loco card to the bank, returns any
loads to the tray, returns all his money to the bank, and erases his track. Any
other player may protect part or all of the restarting player's track (for example, a
player riding the restarting player's track will protect the route back to his own
track). Protected track is not erased and remains the restarting player's track for
the rest of the game.
· The player receives a freight Loco card, $40 million, and three new Demand
cards. Event cards drawn take effect normally.
· The player may build up to $20 million on the restart turn. The player restarts
his train (pawn) at any city at the beginning of his next turn.

Tournament Rules

In addition to strict adherence to all stated rules, the tournament director
should enforce these additional rules:

Time Limit Play continues until a stated time limit, after which time play goes
one round, until the last player to start has finished his turn. The player whose
continuous line of track connects five of the major cities and who has the most
cash wins. If no player's track connects five major cities, the player with the most
cash wins.

Equal Turns When a player declares victory (connecting 5 major cities and
having $250 million), play continues until the last player to start has finished his
turn. If two or more players all declare victory in the turn, the one with the most
cash wins. In the event of a tie, the victory limit becomes $300 and play
continues, with all players still eligible to win; if no player's track connects 5
major cities, the player with the most cash wins.

Crossgrading
A player may crossgrade from a fast freight to a heavy freight, or vice
versa, for $5 million. When a player crossgrades, he may also spend up to $15
million to build track in the same turn. There is no limit to the number of times a
player may crossgrade. Money spent on crossgrading does not count towards the
upgrade to a superfreight.

Challenge Game
To create a more challenging game for experienced players, use any or all
of the following rule changes:

Slow Start Start with $30 million and a Slow Freight, which travels up to 6
mileposts per turn and may carry 2 loads. Players may upgrade the slow freight
to a freight by paying $20 million; upgrades occur normally afterwards.

Limited City Access For games of 5 or more players: a player may only build one
track section from a major city milepost in a turn. A player may have only 2 track
sections connecting to a small or medium city.

Field Warehousing Loads dropped off in a city without a payoff remain at that
city for 4 turns. During that time, any player may pick up that load by passing
through the city and picking it up normally. At the end of the dropping player's
fourth subsequent turn, the load is returned to the tray.

Open Contracts Whenever a player discards his hand, the discarded Demand
cards are not placed on the discard pile, but are placed on the board.
These cards are open contracts available to all players. The first player to
deliver a load on an open contract picks the card from the table, discards it, and
receives the payoff for the delivery in the usual way.
Only four open contracts may be face up on the table at any time;
additional cards are immediately discarded.

Reshuffle Use a blank card and write Reshuffle on it. Add the card to the deck.
When it is drawn, reshuffle the deck.

Cost to Move Each player must pay $1 million per turn that his train moves on its
own track. The $4 million cost for moving on the other players' tracks remains
the same.

Cost to Load Each player uses one milepost of movement to pick up or drop off
one load. For example, if a player both picks up 1 load and drops off 1 load or if a
player picks up 2 loads, the player has used 2 mileposts of movement.

Additional Trains
Each player starts with two trains, a freight and a fast freight, which may
be upgraded in the usual way. Both move and may move in the same turn.
Players may (by mutual agreement) have four Demand cards instead of three.

Branching
Players may build track from mileposts connected to any player's track.
No junction charge is paid. User fees are charged in the usual way.

Selling and Trading Track
Instead of building track, a player may purchase track from another player
for whatever price both players agree to. The purchase may take place only in the
purchasing player's turn. Players can agree to trade track for track, with no
money involved.
In both trading and selling, the selling player replaces his colored lines
with lines of the new owner's color.

New Loads & Demands
A multitude of new loads have been proposed, from beer (from
Milwaukee and Detroit) and electronics (from Austin, TX and Boston), to textiles
(from Raleigh). To create new loads, mark them on the map (using a new color of
crayon) and use the blank stickers and cards to make new load chips and
demand cards. Try your hand at it. Our favorite new one is:

The Circus Take two load chips and mark them Circus. At the start of the game,
put both load chips in Tampa, where they will remain until picked up (like field
warehousing).
Each Demand card with a number divisible by 10 (eg. 20, 30, ..., 110, 120,
130) is modified by changing the lowest payoff demand(s); that demand becomes
$20 million to deliver the Circus to that city.
The Demand card then works normally, but when the Circus is delivered
to a city, it remains there until picked up and delivered again.
A player may not pick up the Circus unless he has a Demand card for the
Circus. However, it may be dropped without payoff at any city, and if it is lost
from a Derailment Event card, it is placed at the nearest city.

Play Tip

Some people have trouble keeping track of whose turn it is. For them, we
recommend passing some object from player to player, the possession being with
the player whose turn it is. The best object is a 12-sided die (available through all
specialty game stores), since, in addition to indicating whose turn it is, it can be
turned to show the number of mileposts remaining in a player's movement when
the player stops to load or to deliver goods.


Loads Available
BAUXITE
Memphis

CARS
Detroit
Toronto

CATTLE
Billings
Calgary
Cheyenne
Miami
Regina

COAL
Cincinnati
Duluth
Salt Lake City
Santa Fe

COPPER
Phoenix
Portland, Oregon

CORN
Des Moines
Minneapolis
St. Louis

COTTON
Dallas
Savannah

FISH
Boston
Norfolk
Portland, Oregon
Vancouver

FRUIT
San Diego
San Francisco
Tampa

IMPORTS
Montreal
Norfolk
Philadelphia
San Francisco
IRON
Birmingham
Duluth

LEAD
Boise
Calgary
Denver

MACHINERY
Boston
Buffalo
Cincinnati
Jacksonville
Knoxville
Raleigh
San Diego
Toronto

NICKEL
Sudbury
Vancouver
OATS
Fargo
Omaha
Winnipeg

OIL
Dallas
Houston
Oklahoma City

RICE
Houston
New Orleans

SHEEP
Billings
Salt Lake City

STEEL
Birmingham
Pittsburgh

SUGAR
San Francisco
SWINE
Des Moines
St. Louis

TOBACCO
Raleigh
Savannah

TOURISTS
Chicago
New York

URANIUM
Regina
Santa Fe

WHEAT
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Winnipeg

WOOD
Portland, Maine
Portland, Oregon

Cities
Atlanta
Billings Cattle, Sheep
Birmingham Iron, Steel
Boise Lead
Boston Fish, Machinery
Buffalo Machinery
Calgary Cattle, Lead
Cheyenne Cattle
Chicago Tourists
Cincinnati Coal,
Machinery
Dallas Cotton, Oil
Denver Lead
Des Moines Corn, Swine
Detroit Cars
Duluth Iron, Coal
Fargo Oats
Houston Oil, Rice
Jacksonville Machinery
Kansas City
Knoxville Machinery
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis Bauxite
Miami Cattle
Minneapolis Corn
Montreal Imports
New Orleans Rice
New York Tourists
Norfolk Fish, Imports
Oklahoma City Oil,
Wheat
Omaha Oats, Wheat
Philadelphia Imports
Phoenix Copper
Pittsburgh Steel
Portland, Me Wood
Portland, Ore Copper,
Fish, Wood
Raleigh Machinery,
Tobacco
Regina Cattle, Uranium
St. Louis Corn, Swine
Salt Lake City Coal,
Sheep
San Diego Fruit,
Machinery
San Francisco Fruit,
Imports, Sugar
Santa Fe Coal, Uranium
Savannah Cotton,
Tobacco
Seattle
Sudbury Nickel
Tampa Fruit
Toronto Cars, Machinery
Vancouver Fish, Nickel
Washington, D.C.
Winnipeg Oats, Wheat