Setup
Alternatively, manually do the setup as follows.
- Create a deck of 25 tiles: 20 crossroads tiles ( = track in all 4 directions, with a split) and 5 station tiles.
- Place these in a 5x5 grid.
- Shuffle all remaining track tiles and place them facedown as one draw pile.
Shuffle the 5 Train Pawns and place each on a random station. You can’t start a Train on its destination ( = station that shows its icon and color).
Finally, pick any (single) Switch Tile. Place it in any orientation above the instruction row too.
Combine the default Health Cards and the specific Health Cards for this game. Shuffle and take out 5: this is your Health Deck.
Place 5 instruction tokens in a row. You’ll place your vehicle cards underneath these each round. Pick any start player.
Objective
In this game, you’re not steering a single train, but rather controlling the rails (on which multiple trains travel).
You win once you’ve delivered all trains to their matching stations. You lose immediately once you’re total loss: your health deck is empty.
Gameplay
Skip “Rounds & Turns” if you already know how to play Naivigation. The other section has unique rules for this game.
Rounds & Turns
Play happens in rounds.
From the start player, take clockwise turns doing one thing: play a Vehicle Card.
Add a card from your hand, facedown, to an empty spot on the row of instructions. (Then draw a new card.)
Continue until each instruction token has a card below it! Then, reveal each instruction and execute it (left to right), one at a time. This moves the vehicle.
Whoever played into the first slot becomes the new start player. Discard the instructions and play the next round!
No communication about the game is allowed.
Whenever you take damage, reveal the top card of your Health Deck. These cards always have a handicap, which must all be followed at all times.
Moving & Visiting
When a train enters a station of the right color ( = matching color/icon), remove the train from the map! (Remember that you win once all trains are safely removed in this way.)
You incur 1 damage in any of the following situations.
- A train enters the station of a wrong color. When this happens, though, you may teleport the train to another station of the wrong color.
- A train tries to leave the map.
- Two trains collide ( = a train enters a tile that already has another train).
When moving trains, the Switch Tile is crucial.
The Switch Side that points up (away from the instruction row) shows the direction (symbol) you should take.
If multiple directions are allowed, you choose. If none of the directions matches your train’s current tile, you can go any direction (as long as there’s railroad track there).
Whenever you take damage in this game, you may also (instead of losing health) do the following: change the map.
- Remove 5 crossroads tiles.
- And replace them with the top 5 tiles from the deck. (You can’t replace stations.)
If there are fewer replaceable tiles left (than 5), just replace as much as possible. If none are left, you can’t take this option anymore.
Vehicle Cards
The following vehicle cards are available.
- Train Color: move 1 train of a matching color by 1 “step”.
- Switch: rotate the Switch Tile.
- Map: rotate 1 map tile; or replace 1 map tile from deck.
Because all the vehicle cards allow choice when executing, there’s a single major change from the core Naivigation rules: whoever played the card makes the decisions for it. (Instead of the start player deciding for all.)
Upgrades
Played the base game and ready for more? Try some of these expansions!
Leaders & Followers
This expansion adds two new Vehicle Cards (Disengage and Control Room)
During setup, pick any one train to become the Leading Train.
- When it shares a tile with another train, it doesn’t collide. Instead, the other train is attached to the Leading Train.
- If the Leading Train moves, it takes all trains on the same tile with it.
- A train attached to the Leading Train can’t move independently anymore. The only way to cut the connection is by playing a Disengage card (see below).
Animals & Crossings
This expansion adds Animal Pawns, a new Vehicle Card (Wildlife), and a new map tile (Railway Crossing).
During setup, place an animal on every crossing.
During gameplay,
- If a train enters a tile adjacent to an Animal, you’re allowed to move it again in any direction.
- If a train collides with an animal, remove the animal and take 2 damage.
- If a new crossing is added, place a new animal on it.
Rails & Fails
This expansion adds tiles with different types of rails. Their special powers apply to trains moving over them.
If this is too much at once, you can also enable only one or two of the special types, and pretend the others are “regular”.
Direction & Delay
The Switch Tile system in the base game makes train movement very easy. This final “expansion” makes it a bit more realistic—but also harder—by giving trains “forward” and “backward” movement.
It adds new material: Train Tiles (one per train) and a Vehicle Card (Electricity).
During setup, place the Train Tiles for all trains above the instruction row too. Rotate them such that “Forward” points up (or “is at the top”).
When moving a train, you only consider the Switch Symbols when the track splits (3-way or 4-way split). Otherwise, the train follows its Train Tile.
For an even bigger challenge (optional): even on split tracks, “forward” and “backward” still matter! For example, if you choose the “Square” direction, but your Train Tile is set to Backward, then you actually move in the opposite direction.
Traintwist & Railsteal
This is a competitive variant of the game. Because the game already has multiple trains buzzing around, this needs minimal changes.
During setup,
- Create a 6x6 grid.
- Each player picks a personal color. Include 2 trains for each color. (The material of this expansion provides the extra pawns.)
- Place every Train Pawn as far away from its station as possible. (It’s fine if this means multiple trains start on the same tile.)
The objective is simply to be the first to finish all your trains!