Continental Express

About this board game

Continental Express is a 2014 card game for 2–4 players that plays in about 20 minutes. Build your station with train cars, pursue face-up objectives, and fulfill a secret contract to score the most points.

At the beginning, each player chooses one of two dealt contract cards. Contracts may require icons of a particular color, groups of like-colored icons, or combinations of icons and company tokens in different colors. These requirements guide your choices throughout the game while remaining hidden from your opponents.

On your turn, draft a card from one of three face-up rows. The end card in each row is free, the middle card costs $1, and the card nearest its deck costs $2. You begin with no money, so drafting money can give you more purchasing power—but it also means passing up train cars, characters, or other useful cards.

• Train cars: Collect matching cars to claim one of the three displayed objectives.
• Characters: Use special actions such as taking a train car from the array, stealing another player’s money, or taking a company token of your choice.
• Events: Change the available cards by clearing either the objective display or the smaller cards players draft.

Claiming objectives is central to your plan because their icons can help satisfy your contract. Timing matters: when a player claims a fourth objective, every other player receives one final turn before the game ends.

Players then score their contract, claimed objectives, and remaining money. With limited cards, competing objectives, and character powers that can disrupt carefully prepared plans, Continental Express combines quick drafting decisions with a race to complete your hidden scoring strategy.