The rules for the board game TransportationTM should be read carefully and it would assist you greatly if you had the game set up in front of you.
The aim of the game is to become the wealthiest player by collecting as many goods as possible from all of the rival Ports using vehicles and exchange the goods when appropriate for payment. The faster you can get around the board - within the speed limits- the more money you can earn. But watch out for the level crossings. You can have your vehicle and load wiped-out by a train here if you are not careful. There are two types of goods, general goods(all one colour) and dangerous goods (white with a coloured cap). A player can only collect ONE piece of goods per visit to each Port and vehicles can only carry goods if there is a spare compartment on the vehicle. A player CANNOT carry both types of goods in one vehicle. Additionally, a dangerous goods licence is required before dangerous goods can be carried.
Place the board on a level playing surface and put the Customs, Police and Risk cards face down on their allotted areas. Between some two – six players can play the game. Each player must choose a Port as their home base. Each player starts off with one van, £15,000 in cash in various denominations and one van driving licence. All remaining cards, equipment and money go to the Bank.
A player should be chosen to administer the Banks cash and equipment. The Bank will collect all monies unless stipulated differently by the rules and instructions of the game. The Bank can never go bust. If the Bank runs out of a particular colour of goods the Bank may make a compulsory purchase of those goods from various players by paying the full market value of £500 per singular pieces of goods. However, the Bank must leave the player with at least one piece of the required goods since this is the objective of the game. If the Bank runs out of money then notes on ordinary paper may be handed out.
The highest throw on the dice determines the player to go first. Then go around the players in a clockwise direction (to the left). There are two suggested methods of game duration. Either the players should decide on a timed duration or if play has gone on for sometime and all players agree, then a count-up should take place. In both cases the player to have thrown last at the start of the game should be the player to throw last at the end of the game.
Players move their vehicles in a clockwise direction. To reflect the speeds that different vehicles travel, a player throws two dice to move a van and one dice to move a lorry - EXCEPT when exiting a Port, or told otherwise by the rules of the game. If a player has both the van and lorry on the board at the same time the player will have TWO THROWS every time it is that players turn. This can be done in any order lorry or van first. If either of the vehicles are exiting a Port then the white dice must be used. The WHITE DICE must be used when exiting a Port regardless of the vehicle to be moved or if instructed to do so by the rules of the game.
Access to all opponents Ports can only be allowed by landing EXACTLY on a placement area offering entrance (signified by an arrow into the Port). If a throw of the dice takes a player past a Port entrance, then the player cannot enter the Port. However if a player has an ‘unlimited access to all Ports’ pass, they can enter by simply reaching the placement area offering access. An overthrow therefore does not matter. If a player wishes to enter their own Port they need only to reach the placement area offering access – an unlimited access pass is not needed. Every time a player either goes into, or past their home base with a vehicle, the player will collect ‘vehicle earnings’ of £1,000 if it’s a van or £2,500 if it’s a lorry. If a player has goods on the vehicle the player MUST enter the home base to off-load it. A player will still collect the ‘vehicle earnings’ of £1,000 or £2,500 plus, an extra £1,000 for each piece of goods on the vehicle (the full market value of £500 plus an extra £500 bonus per piece, for getting the goods back to the home Port). Thus, for example, a full van with two pieces of goods would collect £3,000 and a full lorry with six pieces of goods would collect £8,500.
On exiting another players Port, the visiting player must pay the home player £100 for fuel if with a van or £200 for fuel if with a lorry. If a base is not being used by another player, the fuel payment must be made to the Bank. If a home player forgets to charge any visiting players the fuel payment and the next player has thrown the dice, then the home player will miss the opportunity for payment. When exiting a Port the player must throw the WHITE DICE regardless of the vehicle being moved and exit through the Customs area following the arrows. If a player lands on the Customs area when EXITING a Port, then the player must pick one of the Customs cards. Once a player has left the Port the player must then return to the relevant number of dice for the vehicle being moved on the next throw.
This can only be done when the player is in their home Port and it’s their turn. A van will cost £10,000 and a lorry will cost £20,000. A player can part exchange the van to purchase a lorry but will only receive £5,000 for the van. The player must also purchase the lorry driving licence. A van licence costs £1000 and a lorry licence costs £2000.
A player may purchase an additional vehicle on finance. This can only be done when the player is in their home Port and it’s their turn. A vehicle can be requested from the Bank without any payment but the player will NOT receive any 'vehicle earnings' from ANY of the vehicles whilst a vehicle is on finance. The player will only receive the full market value of £500 for every piece of goods that’s delivered back to the home base from all the vehicles in the players’ possession. This will remain the case throughout the game until the vehicle on finance has been paid to the Bank in full. The player can send the vehicle back to the Bank at any time without any penalty or payment whereby the player will return to full earnings.
Assets can be sold to raise money. Vehicles can be sold back to the Bank at half the original purchase price (i.e. £5,000 per van and £10,000 per lorry). Likewise, licences, passes or contract cards can be sold back to the Bank at the original market value or players can haggle and bid for these cards and the seller decides who to sell to. A player may sell goods back to the Bank to assist with cash-flow but only those goods that have been delivered to the home Port. The Bank will pay the full market value, i.e. £500 per singular pieces of goods. A player may also sell goods to another player, if that other player is willing to pay more than the Bank. The choice is the players. If a player wishes to sell groups of all five different coloured general goods or all five different coloured dangerous goods back to the Bank a bonus will be paid and the player will receive £10,000 for each complete group of five coloured Goods. If a player is in possession of ALL ten different pieces of goods from all five Ports and wishes to sell them back to the Bank during the game the player will receive £50,000 in exchange for them.
If a player chooses one of these cards and it offers the option of using it to reduce any penalty, this does NOT have to be done immediately. The player may hold on to it and use it at a time of their choice. This card can only be used once and then handed in. A player may also wish to sell these penalty reduction cards to another player. These cards do not hold any value when counting-up at the end of the game. Once these cards are used they should be kept to the side so that if a particular group of cards run out, they can then be re-shuffled and replaced back on the board to prevent anyone memorizing card order.
This is encouraged throughout the game to try and receive the highest price possible for saleable items. For example, if all six unlimited passes to all Ports were in the possession of one player, then the remaining players would either have to pay whatever price was being asked, or land exactly, on the placement area offering entrance.
If a player cannot pay any fines, penalties or raise the cash to do so by selling assets then that player will be made bankrupt. In the event that a player is operating only one vehicle and it is on finance, if that vehicle is wiped out due to an accident, that player can no longer continue in the game unless that finance is cleared. If any debt is owing and a player does not have any assets to sell then that player shall be made bankrupt. A player may not borrow money from another player.
When adding up the total assets at the end of the game, the full market value will be given for goods (£500 each plus bonuses for completed groups), vans (£10,000) and lorries (£20,000). This includes any goods on the back of vehicles which did not reach the home base. If a vehicle is on finance then no payment will be due for that vehicle only. The value for these items can be found in the SELLING GOODS, VEHICLES OR CARDS TO GAIN CASH section. The market value will also be given for all driving licences, passes and contracts in a players’ possession and the market value can be found on the rear of each card. The player with the most money after cashing in is the winner.
