A Solo Roll and Write Train Game

by

Kendall “Hounds” McKenzie

Designer’s Note
This game came to me pretty much fully formed while I
lay in bed one night. I find the 18xx style of game to be
very interesting, and am known among my game group
for comparing all sorts of disparate games to the stocks
and shares gameplay all 18xx fans know and love. I keep
coming up with ideas for variants, tweaks, or whole new
mechanics to add to the genre. I hope I’ve managed to
capture the feel of playing a 6 hour train game in my little
30 minute roll and write.

Thanks for reading and hopefully playing!

Special Thanks
Thanks to all those who have playtested, downloaded, or
even just thought about this game.

Thanks also to Norm & ScruffyGamer for super early

feedback and playtesting, as well as being far more
enthusiastic about trains than I am. Check out their
podcast Always Player One.

Thanks to Lena who doesn’t know that she’s done

anything for me yet but I’m sure will proofread my
rulebook because she’s nice like that. And for helping
drag me down a tabletop gaming rabbit hole.
Introduction
Rollway Station is a game inspired by the 18xx series of
games originated by Francis Tresham. In these games
players take on the role of an investor, trading stocks and
shares in train companies in order to beat the competition
and earn the most money. Rollway Station distils the
experience into a short solo experience, using dice to
add a layer of unpredictability.

Components
To play Rollway Station you will need:

• 8 standard six sided dice. You can play with only 5

dice but it will be a little fiddly.

• A pencil, pen, or dry erase marker.

• A score sheet. Three different maps are provided,

you can choose your favourite or pick at random.
You may wish to laminate these sheets and re-use
them.

Game Overview
Rollway Station is played over 15 turns. Each turn you
will roll 5 dice and assign them to three different actions:
investing in train companies, auctioning trains, and laying
new railroad track. At the end of the 4th, 7th, 10th and 15th
turns, you will perform an operating round where the train
companies run their routes and award you points based
on how many stops they make and how many shares you
have in those companies. After the last operating round,
you add up your score and compare it to the target to see
how well you’ve done.
The Score Sheet

1 2

3 4

6
The score sheet is divided into 6 sections.

1. Shares. This is where you keep track of the shares

you own in each company. There are three companies in
the game: Square Rail, The Circle Line, and Pentagonal
Express. There are five shares available for each
company. In Rollway Station, you don’t play as a single
company, instead you will usually pick up shares in all
three while you try to maximise your score.

2. Trains. This is where you keep track of the current

train auction and which company owns each train. Each
row represents a train. This section also doubles as the
turn tracker as one box will be filled in per turn, meaning
the game is over when the last box is filled in.

3. Map. This is where you draw the tracks and try to

connect the most valuable stops to your network. The
icons in the middle of some of the hexes are called
stops.

4. Lay Track. This box is a helpful reminder of the dice

results needed to lay each type of track and where it can
be laid.

5. Engineers. Sometimes you don’t get the result you

need. This section contains Engineers that will lay extra
track for you but at the cost of a points penalty at the end
of the game.

6. Scoring. Space to write down the score for each

company in each operating round, as well as a space at
the end to tot up your final score.
Turn Overview
Each turn, roll 5 dice and assign them to three different
actions. When you assign dice to a section, you resolve
an effect based on the value of the die or dice assigned
there.

You must assign:

• 2 dice to obtaining a share
• 1 die to the train auction
• 2 dice to laying track
You may assign and resolve these dice in any order you
like. Additionally, once per turn you may use an Engineer.

At the end of your 4th, 7th, 10th or 15th turn (when a whole
row has been filled on the train auction, except the first),
resolve an operating round.

Once everything has been resolved, begin your next turn

by rolling 5 dice.

Example
Norm rolls 5 dice. He
gets 6, 4, 4, 3, 1. He
decides to assign the 4s
to Shares, he puts the 1
in Trains, leaving the 6
and the 3 to Lay Track.

When he has finished resolving his actions, he checks

the score sheet and sees there is not an operating round
this turn, so he picks the five dice back up and begins his
next turn.
Shares
Each turn you can obtain a maximum of one share in one
company. Shares act as a score multiplier, so if you have
three shares in a company, you will earn three times as
many points from that company than if you only had one.

On your turn, assign two dice to Shares and fill in the

leftmost empty box in any of the three companies, this
gives you a share in that company. Each company has a
different rule for obtaining shares.

Square Rail: Take the difference between the two dice

assigned to Shares and write it in the box. Values in
Square Rail must increase from left to right, the
difference between the two dice must be larger than all
previous Square Rail shares.

The Circle Line: If the two dice assigned to Shares

match in value, write that value into the box. Shares in
The Circle Line must have unique values, e.g. if you have
a 3 in any Circle Line share, you may not use a pair of 3s
to obtain another.

Pentagonal Express: The two dice assigned to Shares

must add up to 7. You may use the same combination
multiple times, so just tick a box to show you have a
share.

Burning a Share: If you can obtain a share with the dice

you assigned here, you must. Otherwise, cross off a
share from any company. You cannot obtain this share for
the rest of the game. Note that it is not mandatory to
obtain a share if it is possible with all five dice, only if it is
possible with the two you choose to assign to Shares.
Example

Norm has assigned a pair of 4s to Shares this turn. He

has already used a pair of 4s to claim a share in the
Circle Line, so he must take the difference between the
dice– zero – and write this into the leftmost box in Square
Rail.

If instead Norm had assigned his 6 and 1 to Shares, he

could claim a share in Square Rail or Pentagonal
Express. However, if he claimed Square Rail with a
difference of 5, he would lock himself out of any more
shares in the company because it is impossible to have a
larger value to put in the next box.
Trains
Each turn, one company bids for a train in an auction.
Each row in this section represents one train. The
number by each row shows how many stops that train
can make.
The die you assign here corresponds to a company:
• 1 and 2 are Square Rail
• 3 and 4 are The Circle Line
• 5 and 6 are Pentagonal Express
Write the initials of the corresponding company into the
first available box, starting with the leftmost empty box in
the top row and working from left to right, top to bottom.
This company is said to have made a bid on this train.

When a row is full, whichever company has the most bids

in that row owns that train and is the only company that
can operate it. If there is a tie, the last tied company to
bid owns the train. If a row is partially full, that train is not
owned and does not run.

Example

In the image above, Square Rail owns the 2 train as it

has all of the bids. Pentagonal express owns the 3 train
as it has a majority. The Circle Line owns the 4 train as it
is the last tied company to bid on it.
Lay Track
Each turn you will add a new piece of track to the map.
The dice you assign here determine what you can lay
and where.

Choose one die to be your track die, which determines

what you place:

A 1 or 2 places a straight track. Connect one

edge of the hex to its opposite edge.

A 3 or 4 places a gentle curve. Connect one

edge of the hex to an edge that is neither
opposite nor adjacent.

A 5 or 6 places a tight curve. Connect one edge

of the hex to an adjacent edge.

The above three shapes can be rotated any way you

choose.

The remaining die becomes your hex die which

determines where you can place track. Each hex has a
value, e.g. 3+. The hex die must equal or exceed the
value printed in a hex to place track there.

Example

To place the red track here, your track

die would need to be a 1 or 2. Your
hex die would need to be at least a 3
to match the value of the hex.
Alternatively, you can upgrade a hex that already
contains track. Each hex can only be upgraded once. To
upgrade track, your hex die must match the value of the
track already there.

Example
To add the blue upgrade, your track die
would need to be a 3 or 4 as it is a
gentle curve, and your hex die would
need to be a 1 or 2 to match the track
already present in this hex.

To add track to the map, simply draw the appropriate line

onto the score sheet. Track must always be connected to
an already existing piece of track on at least one edge.
You cannot upgrade or change the track on grey hexes.

Engineers
At any point during each turn you may use one engineer,
which allows you to either modify a dice roll or lay
additional track at the cost of points. To use an engineer,
tick off one of the nine engineer boxes. Each engineer
can only be used once per game, and the negative
number in the box shows you how many points you will
lose for using that engineer.

At any point on your turn, use a random engineer to roll

three additional dice and choose two to lay a bonus piece
of track. Each time you use this engineer, the cost
increases. The first time costs 5 points, then 10, then 15.
You cannot mix the dice received from random engineers
with the dice you rolled at the beginning of your turn. The
track you lay with this engineer must use only dice rolled
by the engineer, and the remaining die is discarded.

Fixed track engineers allow you to lay one additional

piece of track in any empty hex, i.e. a hex that contains
no stops and no track. You can use any of the three types
of track, but only one fixed track engineer of each type
can be used per game.

Modifier engineers do not lay additional track. Instead,

they modify the dice you assigned to laying track this
turn. The leftmost modifier allows you to add one to either
your track die or hex die. The middle allows you to
subtract one. The right modifier adds one to the track or
hex die and subtracts one from the other. You cannot
increase the value of a die above 6 or reduce it below 1.
You may use these engineers in any order, but each
engineer is available only once per game.

Note: Although Engineers can only lay track, it is possible

to lay track with an engineer and then upgrade it with
your basic track lay during the same turn.
Operating Rounds
After your 4th, 7th, 10th, and 15th turns (i.e. when each train
beyond the first is sold) there is an operating round (OR).
This is when the companies run their train routes and
generate points.

Each company runs each train it owns and adds up the

score generated. To run a train, trace a continuous line
along the track containing a number of stops up to the
value of the train. The number of hexes passed through
doesn’t matter, only the number of stops. One of the
stops on each route must be a station owned by the
company currently running a train.

As you go, add up the score for the route as follows:

• 1 per station
• 2 per dot
• 3 per triangle
• 5 per star

A train cannot double back on itself or score the same

stop more than once. A train must score any stops it
passes through, it cannot skip low value stops in order to
reach further, more valuable stops.

You do not need to pass through a stop to score it, the

stop at the beginning and end of a journey count towards
the score and the number of stops the route may contain.

Each company cannot use the same piece of track more

than once in each operating round (even with different
trains!). Different lines within the same hex may be used,
and different companies can use the same track during
an OR.
Once you have added the scores for each route from a
single company, multiply it by the number of shares you
have claimed for that company and write this value in the
appropriate space in the OR section.

Route Examples
The route in blue contains 4
stops. Square Rail can run a
train along this route to score
10 points (2 + 1 + 2 + 5). If it
only had a 3 train, it would
have to leave out one of the
stops at either end.
No other company could use
this exact route as it does not
contain any other company’s
station.

The Pentagonal Express

cannot reach all of the
stops here with a single
train because it would need
to double back. One way to
reach all the stations would
be to run a 5 train down the
pink and purple track, and
a 2 train down the red
track. Even though the two
trains would be moving through the same grey hex, they
would be using different sections of track, so this is
absolutely fine.
As long as they both have a good enough train, both
Square Rail and The Circle Line can run the whole
orange route above for 11 points. Because they are
different companies they are allowed to use the same
track.

End of the Game

After the fourth and final operating round, take a moment
to admire your handiwork, you should have a wonderful
train network! Add up your score from each operating
round and subtract the penalties for any engineers you
used. This is your final score.

See how your train journey was based on the score you
managed:
0 – 150: Cancelled due to strike action
151 – 200: Delayed due to leaves on the line
201 – 250: Standing room only
251 – 380: Table Seat
381 – 450: First Class
450 + Private Carriage
Advanced Rules
Two of the three score sheets contain additional rules to
make the game a little trickier. These are unique to those
score sheets.

The Mystery Station

On this map each company only has one
starting station. There is also the mystery
station. As soon as you connect track to this
station, you must decide which company
owns it. From that point on, treat it exactly as any other
station: it scores 1 point when part of a route, and the
company that owns it may draw valid routes containing
just the mystery station.

Points of Interest
This map has a new icon: the spiral. There are
three of these spirals on the map. Routes that
contain one or two of these spirals score just 1
point per spiral. Routes that contain all three
instead score a bonus 25 points.

Multiplayer
Give each player a copy of the same score sheet. The
game is played the same as solo except for the following
changes:
• The 5 dice rolled at the start of turn are shared –
each player uses the same values, but may assign
them as they wish
• If more than one player uses a Random Engineer
during the same turn, the three additional dice are
only rolled once. Each player may choose
whichever two values they wish.
• Whoever gets the highest score wins the game.