Mini Express

About this board game

Mini Express is a strategic train game for 1–5 players, playable in about 45 minutes, in which wealthy capitalists manage four railroad companies during the western expansion of the 19th century.

On each turn, choose one of two actions: lay track to expand a company’s railroad or take a stock from a company. To build, take train pieces from a company’s reservoir and place them one per hex, extending its network toward a new city.

Building into a city earns you influence in the goods demanded there. The game features four types of goods, each matching the color of one railroad company. Cities can accept only 1–3 companies; once a city reaches its limit, its demand tile is removed.

• Expand railroad networks by placing train pieces across landscape and city hexes.
• Gain influence in goods demanded by newly reached cities.
• Take company stocks, provided you can pay their influence cost.
• Benefit indirectly when rival companies gain trains in their reservoirs.

When you build into a hex, any other train companies already in that hex gain a train in their reservoirs, representing the profits created by your expansion. Taking a stock requires you to reduce your influence in that company by the number of trains in its reservoir, so timing your investments is crucial.

The game ends after the round in which all shares have been claimed from two companies or two companies have no train pieces remaining. Each good and company is then scored separately: the shares you hold are multiplied by a points multiplier based on your influence compared with the other players. The higher your standing, the more valuable your shares become.

Plan your routes, manage influence, and execute carefully in Mini Express as you compete to become the most influential railroad baron and complete the transcontinental railroad.