Summary
A game for 2 – 4 players
Playing time is around 10 – 30 minutes
Publisher is MR B Games & Tavern Games
Introduction
Are you ready to step on another train adventure, only this time it’s formulated as a Fast Card Game? Players will be placing Company Cards (Shares) into their Portfolio. This, along with the combination of cards in the Rail Yard, will determine the scoring values. Additionally, the type of goods will be part of the scoring. So choose wisely, as some delivery combinations, if formed in a player’s Portfolio or in the Rail Yard, can reduce your score!
Hop on and enjoy this speed play card game!
Let’s get it on the table
Shuffle the deck. Randomly determine the Priority Dealer and give that player the Priority Marker Boxcar, the top lid of the box. Deal each player one face-down card. A player’s face-down card is their “Insider Information” and shows the company (color) that is bad for them in the Final Scoring round. It also determines their favorite Good, which will count double for them in the Final Scoring round. You may peek at the card at any time.
Related to the player count, players will get their set of cards. When there are 2-3 players, each player will receive 8 cards, and with 4 players, each will receive 6 cards.
Now everybody is set and ready to go.
Let’s play
Starting with the cards, there are five different companies, each with its own color. There are three cities where these companies will operate and five different goods that can be delivered.
During the game, combinations of cities, companies, and goods will be essential.
The standard game will consist of three rounds with three general steps:
Step 1: Select – Each player will select one card to place in their portfolio (directly in front of them) and one card to discard to the Rail Yard (center of the table). These cards are placed face down on the table in their respective areas. The remaining cards are passed to the player on your left in this round and in the 3rd round, and to the right if it is Round 2. This step will be executed until all cards are played by each player.
Step 2: Reveal – All players simultaneously reveal their cards. Sort the revealed cards into companies (colors) for ease of viewing.
Step 3: Resolve – Each player looks at their Portfolio. If a player ever has 3 cards of the SAME City (name) AND Company (color) in their Portfolio, those three cards are considered “Over Invested” and must be discarded. They need to be placed in the discard pile. These cards will be part of the scoring phase, which will start from round 2. Invest in your Portfolio wisely and diversely! The Priority Dealer and all other players then check the Rail Yard for deliveries. If any Company has one of EACH City, those three cities are considered “Over Produced” and must be discarded. Therefore, these cards from the Rail Yard also need to be placed in the discard pile.
So, round one is sort of a preparation phase. After round two, the first scoring will take place for each player.
After steps 1 to 3 are applied, scoring will be based on the following combinations:
-Company scoring: How many companies does a player have in their portfolio, combined with the same company in the Rail Yard area? Each number of this company in your portfolio will be multiplied by the number of that company in the Rail Yard.
-Goods scoring: When all players are finished, they will proceed with the goods indicated on all cards in their portfolio, related also to what is available in the Rail Yard. One additional note: the goods that have the highest amount in the Rail Yard are overproduced and will not be part of the scoring. All other goods will be included.
After the 3rd round, the final scoring will be related to the “Insider Information” card that each player received at the beginning of the game. This is now revealed, and the company shown on this card will give points that need to be deducted from the total score. The goods indicated on this card are doubled in relation to the normal calculation of the goods scoring. However, all standard calculation rules still apply in this final scoring count.
The player with the highest score will be the winner of Pocket Rails.
Conclusion & final score
Difficulty: 2.00/ 5
Re-playability: 7
My score: 8 out of 10 dice
What a nice and easy game to take with you when you want something on the road! Well done, and I do think the gameplay has surprising depth, which will make it interesting for more experienced players as well.
It’s a well-done, different execution of the card game Bullying. In this case, players will have more ways to achieve victory in their own hands than just relying on which card they draw.
Nice quality and box set, which is easy to open and close. I like the fact that the top lid of the box is also useful during the game.
The rules are also extended with some nice play varieties, which will only enhance the durability of Pocket Rails. Simple but good, and players can have a lot of fun.
We want to thank Tavern Games for this review copy and the opportunity to write about this game.
