Eurorails is another entry in the Mayfair Games crayon rail games, like Empire Builder and India Rails. Its puzzle-piece board forms a map of Europe broken down into dots. Players use different-colored crayons to draw rail from dot to dot, building their rail system. A large deck of cards is used to determine how much money will be generated by picking up a particular commodity and delivering it to the listed city, with the payoffs being related to how far away the source is from the destination. As players generate more money, they build successively larger and more comprehensive rail systems, hopefully connecting to almost all the major cities. The goal of the game is to generate a set amount of money once you've linked all the major cities.
Game intelligence
1. Place the Eurorails board in the center of the table. 2. Each player selects a color and takes the corresponding train marker and crayon. 3. Shuffle the demand cards and deal 3 to each player; players keep these in hand as their contract cards. 4. Each player starts with an equal amount of starting money (typically $50M ECU). 5. Players place their train markers at any city of their choice to begin. 6. Determine the first player randomly.
On each turn a player may: (1) Draw new demand/contract cards if desired (discard down to hand limit if needed). (2) Upgrade their train if affordable. (3) Build track by spending money to draw rail lines on the board using their crayon, paying terrain costs per milepost. (4) Move their train up to its movement allowance along any connected rail (their own or others', paying tolls if applicable) and deliver loads to earn money from demand cards. Phases are performed in order each turn.
First player to accumulate the target amount of money (typically 250M ECU) while also connecting the required number of major cities with their rail network wins the game. Target score: 250M ECU (plus major city connection requirement) Scoring sources: Completing demand card deliveries — each card pays the printed ECU amount, Efficient routing and train upgrades enabling more deliveries per game
Source: Rulebook
The most useful rules for getting a first game right.
The following cities exist on the Eurorails board with their grid coordinates and available loads: - Aberdeen (Scotland): Fish, Oil - Antwerpen (Belgium, F-5): Imports - Árhus (Denmark, H-3): Cheese - Barcelona (Spain, I-10): Machinery - Belfast (Northern Ireland, E-2): Potatoes - Beograd (Serbia, J-10): Copper, Labor, Oil - Berlin (Germany, H/I-5): [major city] - Bern (Switzerland, G-8): Cattle, Cheese - Bilbao (Spain, C-9): Sheep - Birmingham (England, E-4): China, Iron, Steel - Bordeaux (France, D-8): Wine - Bremen (Germany, G-4,5): Machinery - Bruxelles (Belgium, F-5,6): Chocolate - Budapest (Hungary, J-8): Bauxite - Cardiff (Wales, E-4): Coal, Hops - Cork (Ireland, D-3): Sheep - Dublin (Ireland, D-3): Beer - Firenze (Italy, G-10): Marble - Frankfurt (Germany, G-6): Beer, Wine - Glasgow (Scotland, E-2): Sheep - Göteborg (Sweden, H/I-2): Machinery - Hamburg (Germany, H-4,5): Imports - Holland (Netherlands, F-5,6): Cheese, Flowers - Kaliningrad (Russia, J-4): Iron - København (Denmark, H-3): Cheese - Krakow (Poland, J-7): Coal - Leipzig (Germany, H-6): China - Lisboa (Portugal, A-9,10): Cork - Lodz (Poland, J-6): Potatoes - London (England, E-4,5): Tourists - Luxembourg (Luxembourg, G-6): Steel - Lyon (France, F-8): Wheat - Madrid (Spain, C-10): [major city] - Manchester (England, E-3): Cars - Marseille (France, F-10): Bauxite - Milano (Italy, G-9): [major city] - München (Germany, H-8): Beer, Cars - Nantes (France, D-7): Cattle, Machinery - Napoli (Italy, H-12): Tobacco - Newcastle (England, E-2): Oil - Oslo (Norway, H-1): Wood, Oil, Fish - Paris (France, E/F-6): [major city] - Porto (Portugal, B-9): Fish, Wine - Praha (Czech Republic, I-7): Beer - Rome (Italy, G-11): [major city] - Ruhr (Germany, G-5,6): Tourists, Steel - Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina, I-11): Labor, Wood - Sevilla (Spain, A-11): Cork, Oranges - Stockholm (Sweden, J-2): Iron, Wood - Stuttgart (Germany, G-7): Cars - Szczecin (Poland, I-5): Potatoes - Torino (Italy, F-9): Cars - Toulouse (France, E-9): Wine - Valencia (Spain, D-11): Oranges - Venezia (Italy, H-9): [major city] - Warszawa (Poland, J-6): Ham - Wien (Austria, I-8): Wine - Wroclaw (Poland, I-6): Coal, Copper - Zagreb (Croatia, I-9): Labor - Zürich (Switzerland, G-4): Chocolate
Each demand card specifies a load type, a destination city, and a payment amount. To earn the payment, a player must carry the matching load from any city that produces it and deliver it to the specified destination city via their train. Players hold a hand of demand cards and may choose which contracts to pursue each game.
A player's hand is limited to 3 demand cards. When drawing new cards, if a player's hand would exceed 3, they must discard down to 3. Players may voluntarily discard demand cards and draw new ones on their turn.
The following load types appear in the game: Potatoes, Wood, Sheep, Wine, Marble, Flowers, Labor, Fish, Oil, Cheese, Machinery, Imports, Beer, Cattle, Coal, Hops, Chocolate, Bauxite, Iron, Steel, Cars, Copper, Tobacco, Wheat, Ham, Cork, Oranges, Tourists, China, Marble. Each city produces specific loads as listed in the city reference. A train picks up a load at a producing city and delivers it to the city named on the matching demand card.
On the building phase of their turn, a player may spend money to draw new rail lines on the board using their crayon. Track is drawn milepost by milepost. Each milepost costs a base amount, with higher costs for mountains, water crossings, and other difficult terrain. Track must connect continuously from the player's existing network or a city. Players may not build over another player's track. Track built is permanent for the game.
Each turn, a player may move their train up to its current speed (movement allowance in mileposts) along any connected rail lines. A train may travel on its own track or on another player's track (with a usage fee in some editions). The train may pick up a load at a city where that load is produced and carry it toward a delivery destination.
Players start with a basic train and may spend money on their turn to upgrade to faster or higher-capacity trains. Upgrades increase the number of mileposts the train can move per turn and/or the number of loads it can carry simultaneously. Upgraded trains allow more efficient delivery of contracts.
When a train moves into or through a city that produces a load matching one of the player's demand cards, the player may pick up that load. The load is then carried by the train until it is delivered to the destination city named on the matching demand card, or until the player drops it.
Demand cards vary in payment value. Focusing on high-ECU deliveries early accelerates progress toward the 250M ECU win condition. Since hand size is limited to 3 cards, cycling through low-value cards quickly to find high-value contracts is important.
Many loads (e.g., Sheep from Bilbao, Cork, and Glasgow; Coal from Cardiff, Krakow, and Wroclaw) are produced in multiple cities. Building a network that passes through several producers for the same load type gives flexibility to complete more demand cards without backtracking.
Track ownership is permanent and other players cannot build over your track. Placing track through key mountain passes or narrow corridors early can force competitors into longer, more expensive routes.
Higher train upgrades increase carrying capacity, allowing a single journey to deliver multiple loads. Combined with picking up loads mid-move, this multiplies ECU earned per turn and accelerates the path to 250M.
The win condition requires both money AND major city connections. Neglecting the network requirement until late game is a common mistake. Build with the connection requirement in mind from the beginning to avoid expensive last-minute track construction.
Trains may run on any built track. In the early game, it may be more efficient to route along a competitor's existing track rather than building redundant parallel lines, saving money for more targeted construction.
Yes, trains may move over any built track regardless of who owns it. Whether a usage fee (toll) is owed depends on the edition's rules — check your specific rulebook, but typically no toll is charged in the base game.
Yes. A train may pick up a load at a city during its movement and continue moving to the delivery city in the same turn, as long as the total mileposts traveled do not exceed the train's movement allowance.
Yes. A player may build track and move their train in the same turn. Building happens in the building phase and movement in the movement phase. Both actions are available each turn.
Drawing new demand cards occurs at the start of a player's turn, before building and movement. This allows a player to see their new contracts before deciding how to build or move.
A train may carry multiple loads simultaneously if it has the capacity (based on train upgrade level). The player chooses which loads to pick up at a city producing multiple types, up to their train's carrying capacity.
No. Both conditions must be met simultaneously: reaching the target ECU amount AND having the required major city connections in your rail network. You must continue playing until both are satisfied at the end of your turn.
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