Metro

About this board game

Metro is a tile-laying railway game for 2–6 players, played in about 30 minutes. Originally released in 1997, it challenges players to build rail lines that stretch as far as possible across the board.

Players begin with a number of trains positioned around the board. On each turn, square tiles are placed onto open grid spaces, connecting track sections and shaping routes through the network. Unlike games that reward short, direct paths, Metro focuses on creating long lines.

Whenever a tile placement connects a train to a station, that train is removed and its owner scores points for every tile crossed by the completed route. A single tile may count more than once when the track loops around, creating opportunities for especially valuable lines.

Stations can be found on the board’s edge or in its center. Connections to the central stations—known as city connections—score double, making them important targets as players decide how to extend and complete their routes.

• Place square tiles to form interconnected rail lines.
• Score for each tile crossed by a route.
• Take advantage of loops that cross the same tile multiple times.
• Earn double points for connections to central city stations.

The tile system is designed so that any tile can be placed on any open grid space, provided its edges align with existing tiles according to the rules. Routes always connect a starting subway train station with an empty destination station rather than another starting train station, and correct play allows every train to score—even if some routes are shorter than their owners hoped.

Similar in its tile-based route building to Streetcar, Tsuro, Tantrix, and Spaghetti Junction, Metro was originally issued as Iron Horse and was later re-implemented by Cable Car.