FAQ
35 answered questions34 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by GMT Games or the designers.
Common mistakes
- Buying from the IPO in the first Stock Round — players may only from the second. Ruling · Rule
- Moving the share price up for a dividend of exactly half the price — it must be more than half. Ruling · Rule
- Spreading four yellow tiles over several lines — they extend one line in one direction. Ruling · Rule
- Adding the share price twice in final scoring — price once, plus 10% of the assets. Ruling · Rule
- Counting a route bonus without scoring both cities — both ends must be scored stops. Ruling · Rule
Showing 35 of 35
When does a Managed Company float? Official
Once at least three 10% certificates are in play (owned by players, by Companies or in the Open Market) and at least one has been owned by a player, who becomes its Manager. A player who bought shares and sold them all can still be that Manager if no one else has owned any.
Source: BGG thread
Who becomes the Manager of a Managed Company? Official
The player who bought the first certificate, until another player owns more. The purchase that floats the Company does not change this.
Source: BGG thread
What happens when someone buys the Director's Certificate of a Managed Company? Official
It becomes a Directed Company. If the Manager owns as many shares as the buyer or more (counting any 10% shares bought together with it), the Manager takes the Director's Certificate and gives the buyer two 10% shares.
Source: BGG thread
Who takes over when a Director or Manager sells and several players are tied? Official
The next tied player in turn order from the player who sold. A Director may sell the Director's Certificate only if someone owns at least two shares; a Manager may always sell.
Source: BGG thread
Can converting Royal Bonds change the GIPR's Manager? Official
Yes, if the converting player then owns more than the Manager. Each conversion is its own Stock Round action.
Source: BGG thread
If two players each buy two GIPR shares, who places its home station?
The first player to own a share is the Manager; a later purchase that floats the Company does not change that.
Source: BGG thread
Can players buy from the IPO in the first Stock Round? Official
No. IPO certificates are open to players from the second Stock Round; Companies may buy from the IPO from the first Operating Round.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Do the certificate-limit exclusions apply to Companies too? Official
Yes, the same certificates are excluded for players and Companies. Guaranty warrants never count.
Source: BGG thread
Can a player one certificate below the limit buy a Director's Certificate that is swapped for two shares? Official
Yes. The player ends one over the limit and must sell down at the next selling turn. A player already at the limit cannot buy it.
Source: BGG thread
May a Company buy a Royal Bond and a share in the same turn? Official
No: after selling, a Company takes one purchase action, as a player does — a share from the IPO, one from the Open Market, a bond, or a conversion.
Source: BGG thread
Can the GIPR convert its own Royal Bonds into GIPR shares? Official
No. It may own bonds but never convert them. Other Companies convert like players, only if they own fewer than 3 certificates.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
What does a Company get for selling a share of a Company that has no price yet? Official
Its printed face value, as for players.
Source: BGG thread
Can four yellow tiles be laid on several lines at once? Official
No. The track starts from a City with the Company's station and every tile extends the same end of that line. It may pass the Company's stations or open City circles, stops at a City filled only by other Companies, and may cross a hex twice only on separate track. The Company must be able to use some track on each new tile.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Does the Portuguese East India Company's extra tile follow the normal rules? Official
Yes, except that it need not extend the same line as the Company's other yellow tiles that turn.
Source: BGG thread
Who decides the station positions when the OO tile is laid in Delhi or Kolkata? Official
The Company laying the tile, even if neither station there is its own. If only one of the two home Companies is in the game, another Company may lay the tile and push it into the other circle.
Source: BGG thread
Can the ferry in J37 be placed so it blocks Sri Lanka? Official
No. It must connect K38 with J35, I36 or I38.
Source: BGG thread
What is a "location" for the Danish East India Company? Official
A City station circle — never a Town.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Is the water-looking hexside between K26 and K28 blocked? Official
No, the map is correct: treat it as land.
Source: BGG thread
What makes a route legal? Official
It begins and ends in a City, includes at least two Cities, and one of them holds a station of the running Company. A route can never be worth ₹0 (the printed phrase about it is removed).
Source: BGG thread
Can one train use the same tile more than once? Official
Yes, on separate track each time and never through the same revenue centre twice — mainly on brown and gray plain track. On OO and triple-Town tiles it may score each separate stop (E-trains ignore Towns). Mumbai and Nepal count only once.
Source: BGG thread
Can two trains of one Company share track? Official
No. They may cross the same hex or tile only on separate tracks.
Source: BGG thread
Must an E-train include one of its Company's stations? Official
Yes, though that City need not be one of its four scored stops.
Source: BGG thread
Must both cities of a route bonus be scored? Official
Yes, for every train, express trains included.
Source: BGG thread
Does a commodity destination have to be scored for the bonus? Official
No. The route must pass through source and destination; a destination Town needs a City beyond it on the route. Ore and Tea have two sources, and each delivered source scores; with several destinations for one source only the best counts; two trains on separate track through a source can each deliver it.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Does a dividend of exactly half the price move the share price? Official
No. The board's chart is right ("more than half"); the printed rule saying "half or more" is wrong.
Source: BGG thread
Can a Guaranty Company's price ever fall? Official
Paying nothing never moves it back, whatever the reason, but ending its turn without a train still moves it one step left.
Source: BGG thread
How do I use the chart above the Stock Market? Official
The top line is the per-share Guaranty payment (5%). The other lines show per-share payouts: find the payout above the current price to see how many steps the price moves. At ₹67, a ₹210 revenue pays ₹21 a share: 3 steps.
Source: BGG thread
May a Company sell a train it bought from the bank this round? Official
No. But another Company may buy that train from it and then sell it.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Can a Company buy several trains in one turn? Official
Yes, up to the limit of two. It can even buy a train from another Company for ₹1 and sell it to the bank to raise money.
Source: BGG thread
When paying dividends, where does the share of IPO and Open Market certificates go? Official
The revenue is paid per share; the part for shares nobody holds stays in the bank. Withholding puts the whole revenue in the treasury.
Source: BGG thread
What happens if the bank breaks during a Stock Round? Official
Play the two Operating Rounds, paying beyond the bank. The game always ends at the end of the set of Operating Rounds in which the bank broke.
Source: BGG thread
What if a share reaches ₹400 during an Operating Round? Official
The game ends at the end of that Operating Round; this overrides the bank rule, even in the first of the two rounds after a Stock Round bank break.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Is the share price counted twice in the final Company value? Official
No: price once, plus 10% of the assets. Shares a Company owns count at their plain market price.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Are there official two-player variants? Official
Two ideas from MAINLINE Magazine: remove four random shares and deal 13 each, or add a hidden dummy hand you draw from when buying from your hand (untested).
Source: BGG thread
Are there misprints in the components? Official
Yes: one green 544 tile on the errata sheet has a brown back; the market board labels "3×3/3E×3" (there is no 3E×3) and "4×2" (should be 4×2/4E×2); the Royal Bond card wrongly says the converting player pays the GIPR.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread