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There’s a new letter train in the game box: will it be better
than the old one?
Materials
A board composed by 50 spaces, 126 carriages, 2 locomotives.
Preparation
Choose randomly a player to take the locomotive #1; the other one gets
the locomotive #2.
Place both locomotives on the space marked “GO”. Place the
carriages face up on the table -if possible in alphabetic order- so that
both players can easily see them.
 The
game
The player with the Locomotive #1 begins: he is the Engine-Driver;
the other player is the Brake-r. After each round, these roles will switch
between the two players.
First of all, the Engine-Driver chooses a carriage with a letter and places
it in the next available space next to his locomotive, along the track.
Then, starting with the Engine-Driver, players alternate in choosing and
adding a carriage to the last one added to the train. (The Engine-Driver
will add two carriages at the beginning of the game, before the Braker
may add one of his choice.) Carriages with a “?” are wild
cards, and can be considered to be any letter.
Proceeding this way, players alternate adding letters to a growing word.
The goal of the Engine-Driver is to form the longest word he can; on the
other hand, the goal of the Braker is to form the shortest word he can.
The longer the word, the farther the Engine-Driver (whose turn it is)
will advance along the scoring track.
Valid words
Once you have chosen a reference dictionary, all the words that you can
find in that dictionary are considered valid words, in any form, genre
or conjugation.
The word must be at least four letters long.
Players can’t write the same words twice during the same game.
End of the round
The round ends:
A) If one of the players manages to build a valid word made
up of all the carriages played during this turn, using the order the carriages
were played. In this case, the Engine-Driver moves his Locomotive onto
the space occupied by the last used carriage (of the word), unless
the word ends on a broken railway (see below). Note that it’s the
Engine-Driver that moves his locomotive, regardless of which player built
the word.
B) If the player whose turn it is thinks that no valid words exist that
can be made up of the letters given so far in that order, he challenges
the other player: he asks the other player what word he was thinking of.
Four outcomes are now possible:
1) If the Braker challenges the Engine-Driver, and the latter manages
to compose a valid word using the leftover carriages, then the Engine-Driver
advances his locomotive as in A);
2) If the Braker challenges the Engine-Driver, and the latter does not
manage to compose a valid word, the turn ends and the Engine-Driver
locomotive stays put;
3) If the Engine-Driver challenges the Braker, and the latter manages
to compose a valid word using the leftover carriages, then the Engine-Driver
advances his locomotive as in A);
4) If the Engine-Driver challenges the Braker, and the latter does not
manage to compose a valid word, the Engine-Driver may replace the carriage
added as last (if he wishes so) and continue to add carriages alone
(the Braker does not get another turn). If he manages to compose a valid
word, he advances as in A), otherwise his turn is over and he does not
advance.
In any case, all the used carriages are put on the table face down, and
cannot be used in subsequent rounds. If there are less than 10 carriages
face up on the table, all the face down carriages are turned face up and
can be used again.
The roles switch, and a new round begins.
Broken railway
If a word ends on a Broken Railway space, the Engine-Driver stays put
(he doesn’t advance on the track).
End of the game
If one of the players manages to place a carriage on the FINISH space,
the Engine-Driver may add all the carriages he wants in order to form
a valid word. If he composes a valid word, he wins the game. If he does
not, his turn ends without his locomotive advancing on the track, and
the game continues.
Example
The Engine-Driver starts with “TO”. The Braker would like
to write “TOP”, but a three-letter word doesn’t count.
Hence, he adds a “N”, trying to get to “TONIGHT”
(and end on the Broken railway!). The Engine-Driver adds a “E”,
finishing the word “TONE” and moving forward his locomotive
by 4 spaces.
Download the TOY TRAIN board and the game
tiles
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