On the Underground

About this board game

On the Underground is a London network-building board game for 2–5 players, with games lasting around 60 minutes. Players represent companies developing underground lines and compete to build the most successful network while earning points from connections and passenger travel.

On each turn, the active player builds four pieces of track in any of their colours. Every piece must extend its matching line, or the player can spend two branch tokens to branch out from an existing line. Branch tokens can be gained by extending a line to a terminus station or by skipping a building turn.

Track placement offers several ways to score. Players can connect to stations marked with a National Rail symbol, reach terminus stations, link two connection tokens of the same type, or complete a circular line and score for each station inside it.

• Connect to a National Rail station for 1 point.
• Reach a terminus for 2 points and a branch token.
• Connect matching connection tokens for 3 points.
• Complete a circular line for 1 point per station inside it.

After each turn, the passenger moves to one or two face-up destination cards: first an express destination, then a regular destination. The passenger takes the shortest route from their current position, avoiding walking and line changes, and scores 1 point for every line used.

When the destination deck can no longer provide enough cards, the passenger leaves the game. Players receive equal turns, but passenger movement no longer awards points; only track building continues. In On the Underground, the player with the highest score wins by the end of the network’s development.