Age of Steam Deluxe - Expansion Volume I

PREPARATION
Choose the desired map from those available in the expansion and place the starting tiles in the center of the table. Assign modest starting capital to each player and carefully prepare the thriving goods market by placing the cubes on the appropriate spaces.

THE GAME TURN
1) ISSUING STOCKS. Players can choose to borrow by issuing stocks to raise vital liquidity for their company, keeping in mind that they will then have to pay hefty dividends at the end of each turn.

2) DETERMINE TURN ORDER. A ruthless auction ensues, with players bidding hard cash to secure the right to act before their opponents, thus gaining crucial advantages on special actions.

3) SPECIAL ACTION CHOICE. Each player takes turns selecting a unique role that grants invaluable unique powers, such as building multiple rail lines at once or moving additional locomotives to maximize earnings.

4) BUILDING ROUTE AND MOVING GOODS. Physically lay tracks on the map by paying the steep cost of the land they cross. Then strategically move cargo cubes to coveted cities of the corresponding color, leveraging your network to massively increase your revenue.

END OF GAME
The game ends inexorably after a fixed number of turns. The winner is the player who has generated the most wealth by skillfully combining their accumulated fixed income and the value of their vast completed railway networks, thus proving themselves the true and sole undisputed emperor of the railways.