Product Information
Free Ride, crafted by Friedemann Friese, the genius behind Power Grid and Friday, transports you to Europe's Golden Age of Railways in the late 19th century. As railway networks expanded, people flocked to major cities to admire Art Nouveau and Historicism - influenced structures. In this game, you're tasked with building railway lines across Europe. You move your train on these lines, both yours and state - owned ones, for free. But using a fellow player's line requires payment, which turns it into a state - owned line. To collect passengers, pick from city cards showing different travel routes. When your train reaches the destination, you fulfill the route and earn victory points. At first, handle one route, then later, your train can carry two and move faster. The game's goal is to visit as many European cities as possible. The game board has 45 connected cities. Balance building your lines with converting others' to state - owned as coins are limited. At the start, draft part of a travel route. Each turn, you can place rails, ride the rails, or take free rails if you have few. Once the third deck is empty, you can choose to withdraw or finish all routes and win coins. Score points based on coins and city cards, and the one with the most points wins. It also offers a tough solo challenge!
Let's get you started with Free Ride. At the start of the game, each player gets to pick part of a travel route. Remember, each route has three cards, and you choose either the first and second or the second and third as your start and end points. Put your train on the starting city. Now, during your turn, you have three actions to choose from. First, you can spend up to 2 construction points to place 1 or 2 rails on the board. If you want, you can spend 1 coin to buy five more rails from the supply. But make sure to finish a line between cities before starting a new one. Second, you can move your train along the completed railway lines. You can move up to two times, and if you pass through or reach the destination of your travel route, you get to claim new points. Just be careful when using your fellow players' lines; you'll have to pay 1 coin to use them, which then turns the line into a state - owned one. Third, if you have 0 or 1 rails, you can take 5 rails from the supply for free. As the game goes on, when city cards are drawn from the second deck, you can have two routes in progress, and from the third deck, you can move your train up to three times in a turn. Once the third deck is empty, you can either quit with uncompleted routes or keep playing until you finish them all. When all players have finished, it's time to count your score. You'll earn 3 points for each coin, 5 points for the first card of a city, and 2 points for each additional card. And don't forget, if you're up for a challenge, you can try the solo mode. Have fun playing!
