How it plays
Railroad Ink has everyone use the same four route dice to draw on their own board. Across seven base-game rounds, add highways, railways and stations, connecting new routes to an exit or an existing route. Stations join road and rail into one network; an overpass lets them cross without connecting.
Connected board exits score as networks, while your longest highway, longest railway and occupied central spaces add points. Unfinished route ends inside the board lose points. Special routes offer a limited escape from awkward rolls, with at most one used per round and three over the game.
Decisions you’ll make
Check whether a connection joins networks or merely crosses them. A visually impressive junction does not connect road to rail unless a station provides the link.
Leave useful openings without creating more loose ends than you can reasonably finish. A new branch can reach another exit, but each exposed end carries a scoring risk.
Learning the game
Light: demonstrate route matching, stations versus overpasses, legal connections and end-game scoring.