Let’s Play the Continental Divide Game!

Hey there! Are you ready to play an exciting game? I know I am! Today, I’d like to introduce you to a really cool game called the Continental Divide Game. In this game, you’ll get to test your knowledge of geography and learn some interesting facts along the way. Trust me, you’re going to have a blast!

How to Play

Alright, let’s get started! The rules of the Continental Divide Game are pretty straightforward. First, I’ll give you a list of countries and cities, and it’s up to you to figure out which continent they belong to. Sounds easy, right? Well, here’s the twist: the continents will be mixed up, so you’ll have to think carefully before making your choice.

For example, I might give you the city “Sydney”. Now, you might automatically think it belongs to Australia, but hold on just a second! In this game, things are a bit trickier. Sydney could actually belong to North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, or Australia. Wow, who knew geography could be so mind-boggling?

Once you’ve made your guess, simply click on the continent you think the country or city belongs to. Don’t worry, if you get it wrong, I won’t judge you. Instead, I’ll show you the correct answer and give you some fascinating facts about that country or city. It’s a win-win situation, if you ask me!

Keep playing and challenging yourself with more countries and cities. The more you play, the better you’ll get at distinguishing between the different continents. And trust me, this game will make you a geography expert in no time!

Why Play the Continental Divide Game?

So why should you give the Continental Divide Game a try? Well, let me tell you, there are several reasons why this game is one you definitely don’t want to miss:

1. It’s Fun and Exciting: Who doesn’t love a good game? The Continental Divide Game is a perfect mix of fun and excitement. You’ll be on the edge of your seat, eager to guess the correct continent for each country or city.
2. It Challenges Your Knowledge: Think you know your geography? Well, this game will put your knowledge to the test. As you play, you’ll discover that some countries or cities aren’t as easy to place as you might think. It’s a great way to challenge yourself and expand your knowledge.
3. You’ll Learn Interesting Facts: Not only will you improve your geography skills, but you’ll also learn some fascinating facts about different countries and cities around the world. Expand your horizons and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge.
4. It’s Suitable for All Ages: Whether you’re a student, a parent, or a teacher, the Continental Divide Game is suitable for everyone. It’s a game that brings people together, as you can challenge your friends or family to see who can get the most countries and cities right. Trust me, it’s a lot of fun!

So what are you waiting for? Click that play button and let the Continental Divide Game take you on a whirlwind adventure around the world. Get ready to explore different continents and become a geography guru. Have fun and good luck!

Get ready to conquer the American continent! The Civil War has ended, and now America is determined to connect its coasts with powerful locomotives and sturdy tracks. This thrilling railroad game takes place across the vast and untamed lands of the Western United States, from the muddy Mississippi to the beautiful California coast.

In Continental Divide, each player becomes the President of a Railroad, leading the charge to build railways that span the expansive plains, towering mountains, scorching deserts, and dense forests of the West. You’ll even cross the Continental Divide itself!

But this isn’t a game of chance or luck – it’s a fierce competition that requires wit, cunning, and strategy. As the President of your railroad, you’ll face countless decisions. Which routes should you build? How can you maximize your profits? What are your short-term and long-term goals?

Hey there! I want to talk to you about this amazing modern classic that features all the hurdles and obstacles that those ambitious capitalists had to overcome in order to build a powerful empire – just like a real-life superhero!

The Building Blocks

• First, you’ll need 1 Game Board.
• Next, you’ll need 288 Railroad Cubes, with 36 of each of the 8 colors.
• Don’t forget to grab 80 Shares of Railroad Stock, with 10 for each railroad.
• Grab 1 Red Turn Order deck with 6 cards, and 1 Blue Turn Order deck with 6 cards.
• Make sure you have 8 Charter cards, 1 for each railroad.
• And of course, you’ll need 1 Game Turn Locomotive.
• Don’t leave out the EGG Money.
• Finally, make sure you have the Instructions.

Let’s Set Up

First, lay out the game board. Then, I’ll tell you how much money each player gets:

• If there are 3 players, each one gets $80.
• For 4 players, give each one $60.
• With 5 players, they each start with $48.
• And if there are 6 players, they’ll each have $40.

Now, take the Game Turn locomotive and put it in the Game Turn 1 box on the game board A.

When you play the game, you’ll need to use as many Turn Order cards as there are players. Any extra cards should be put back in the box. Make sure to shuffle the Blue Order cards. Each player should take one randomly and place it in front of them with the number face-up. The player with Turn Order 1 will start the game.

How to Play

When it’s my turn with the “Turn Order #1” card, I get the chance to buy stock and build track for my railroad. Then the player with the “Turn Order #2” card goes, and so on, until everyone has had a turn.

Here are the main things I can do during my turn:

– Buy Railroad Stock

– Build Railroad Track

Once every player has had a turn, we move on to these other tasks in this order:

– Pay Dividends

– Check if the game is over

– Move the Game Turn Locomotive

– Determine the new Turn Order

Now let’s talk about buying railroad stock. I can buy shares of a railroad stock, either as the first share in a new railroad (one that no one else has shares in) or by adding to an existing railroad (one that already has shares held by players).

If I want to buy the first share in a new railroad, I can do that. And if I want to add to an existing railroad, I can buy one or more shares. It’s up to me to decide how many shares I want to purchase.

That’s the basic rundown of what happens during a turn in this game. Now it’s time to jump into the action and start building my railroad empire!

When you play the game, you get to choose where your railroad begins. You have three options: Chicago, Memphis, or New Orleans. Whatever city you pick, you’ll place a cube of the same color on one of the three hexes that make up that city.

Next, you take another cube and put it on the Railroad Income track on the game board. It goes in box A, which is at the 0 position.

So, here’s the deal. You get to be the boss and decide how many shares your railroad will issue, but there’s a catch – you can only issue between 3 and 10 shares. Any extra shares you decide on are out of the game. But don’t worry, you still get to keep one share for yourself.

Once you’ve made your decision, grab one of the cubes and put it on the Issued Shares track at the right number. That cube will stay there for the whole game.

Now it’s time to set the value of your railroad’s stock. You can pick any value between $10 and $50, but here’s the thing – no two railroads can have the same stock value. So choose wisely!

Once you’ve settled on a value, take another cube and put it on the Stock Value track at the value you paid. That cube will stay put for the entire game – stock values never change.

When you play the railroad game, you start with some unsold stock and a few cubes. You keep the unsold stock in the certificates area, and place 12 cubes in the Starting Railroads area. As the game progresses and the railroad builds west, more cubes become available. You can place 10 of these cubes in the ‘Available After Building into Central Region’ area, and another 10 in the ‘Available After Building into Western Region’ area on the Charter card. Lastly, you keep the railroad’s money supply in the Railroad’s Treasury, which is located to the right of the Charter card.

Buying Shares of an Existing Railroad

If you want to, you can buy one or more shares of a railroad that already exists. The money you pay goes into the railroad’s treasury.

The minimum cost for one share is the stock value of that railroad plus the dividend that would be paid at that moment. For example, if the blue railroad has 10 total shares and has an initial value of $32 with an income of $30 ($3 dividend), the minimum cost per share is $35. Of course, you can choose to pay more than the minimum if you want.

Building Railroad Tracks

If you are the person with the most shares or tied with others for the most, you can build tracks for one or more railroads.

When it comes to building track for a railroad, there’s an important element involved – the cubes. Each railroad has its own collection of cubes that are used to build the track. You can take a cube from the available collection and place it in a hex to indicate that the railroad has built track there.

Now, here’s the catch. The track you build must connect back to the Starting City of that railroad. You can only use the track belonging to that specific railroad to make the connection. And here’s another rule – each hex can only have one cube from a railroad.

In each hex, there’s a number indicating how much it costs to build it (on the left), and a number indicating the income it provides.

When it’s my turn to build, I have to place the track in a straight line, starting from a hex where there’s already a track. I can choose any hex that belongs to that railroad.

When I play this game, I have to start by building track from a specific hex, and all the track I build during my turn has to go in a straight line from that hex.

But here’s the thing – I can’t have more than 3 railroads in one hex. I guess they don’t want things to get too crowded. Good thing there’s no limit on how much track I can build! As long as I have enough cubes and money, I can keep going.

Oh, by the way, it’s only the railroad that can pay for track. I can’t use my own money. I guess they really want to make sure it’s all fair and square.

Starting Cities

When I start the game, I get to choose a starting city. There are three options – Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans. Each starting city is made up of three hexes, so it’s a little group of its own.

The catch is, I can only have one railroad in a starting city. And here’s the bummer – starting cities don’t bring in any money. So I have to think carefully about which one I want to pick.

Port Cities

Now, port cities are a whole different story. I can have more than one railroad in a port city, no problem. And you know what’s even better? Port cities actually bring in some income! So they’re definitely worth considering.

Hey there! Did you know that certain cities, like San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, act as major connection points for railways? Pretty cool, right? They’re called Port Cities, and they play a crucial role in the Transcontinental Connection. But here’s the thing – each Port City can only have one railroad. So, it’s kind of a big deal!

Three Regions – Eastern, Central & Western

Now, let’s talk about the map. It’s divided into three sections: the Eastern Region, the Central Region, and the Western Region. You can easily spot the divisions thanks to a bold red line that runs from the North to the South. And guess what? Every single railroad starts in the Eastern Region.

When a railroad begins, it gets a grand total of 12 cubes for building its tracks. These cubes are like the building blocks of the railroad!

Here’s something interesting: if a railroad decides to construct tracks in a hex located within the Central Region, it instantly gets 10 more cubes. Talk about a nice bonus, right? And guess what again? Those extra cubes can be used right away to continue building tracks. It’s like getting a huge boost!

Now, let’s say a railroad chooses to build tracks in a hex found in the Western Region. Well, here’s the exciting part – it immediately gets the remaining 10 cubes. Yup, all of them! And just like before, the railroad can use these extra cubes right away to keep expanding its tracks. It’s like a reward for venturing out west!

Traveling across the Continental Divide

When a railroad stretches into a hex on the western side of the Continental Divide, it gets an extra $10 in Income.

When you expand operations into the Central Region, you unlock an additional ten cubes. Expanding into the Western Region will give you the remaining ten cubes. And if you cross the black Continental Divide line, your railroad’s cube on the Income Track will immediately advance ten spaces.

A Quick Recap of the Rules

• You can have a maximum of 3 railroads in a hex.
• In a Port City hex, only one railroad is allowed.
• Each Starting City hex can only have one railroad.
• Similarly, a Port City hex can only host one railroad.
• Railroads can only build tracks in a straight line from an existing hex.

After every player has taken their turn, it’s time to Pay Dividends.

Pay Dividends

Every existing railroad must pay dividends to its shareholders, while retaining any leftover profits for itself. The dividends are paid by the bank directly to the shareholders, and possibly to the railroad as well.

Let’s figure out how much money you get from the bank for each share of a railroad you own. First, take the current Railroad Income and divide it by the number of Total Shares. Round up to the nearest whole number.

Now, here’s the interesting part. It’s possible that not all of the Railroad Income goes to the shareholders. Sometimes, the railroad keeps some of it for itself. And sometimes, if all the shares are held by players, they might end up getting more money than the railroad actually generates.

Let’s take the Red railroad as an example. It has a Railroad Income of 15, and there are 4 Total Shares. Pete owns one share, Dave owns two shares, and the Railroad itself holds one share. So, let’s do the math. 15 divided by 4 gives us 3.75. But since we’re rounding up, Pete gets $4, Dave gets $8, and the Railroad gets the remaining $3.

So, here’s an example to help you understand how the income and dividends work in the game. Let’s say we have the Red railroad, which has a Railroad Income of 15 and a total of 4 shares.

Now, Pete has one share, Dave has two shares, and Vince has one share. To calculate the dividends, we divide the Railroad Income (which is 15) by the total number of shares (which is 4). That gives us 3.75, but we round it up to 4.

So, Pete would receive $4 in dividends, Dave would receive $8, and Vince would also receive $4.

Once all the dividends have been paid, we need to check if the game is over. This happens at the end of turn 8. If it is turn 8, then the game is over and it’s time to determine the winner.

The winner is the player with the most Victory Points (VP). Ties are possible, so keep that in mind. Money is worthless when it comes to determining the winner. It was just a tool used in the game.

To determine the winner, we look at the Victory Points. Each railroad stock is worth a certain number of VPs. For example, if a railroad entered the Central Region, it’s worth 1 VP. If it entered the Western Region, it’s also worth 1 VP. And if it crossed the Continental Divide, it’s worth 2 VPs.

So, at the end of the game, the player with the most VPs is the winner.

• Earn 1 VP if the railroad has tracks in San Diego.
• Earn 1 VP if the railroad has tracks in Los Angeles.
• Earn 1 VP if the railroad has tracks in Portland.
• Earn 2 VP if the railroad has tracks in Seattle.
• Earn 1 VP if the railroad has tracks in San Francisco.
• Earn 1 VP if the railroad has no unsold stock.

Advance Game Turn Locomotive

If the game isn’t over, move the Game Turn Locomotive to the next box. Now it’s time to figure out the new player order!

Determine Player Order

To determine the player order, we have two sets of Turn Order cards. One set is already in use, showing the current player order, with the cards face up in front of the players. The second deck will show the new player order.

So here’s the deal: when we’re playing a game with four people, the player who went last gets to choose which Turn Order card they want for the next turn. They take that card from the other deck and toss out their old card.

Then it’s the next player’s turn to pick a Turn Order card. And then the next player after that, and so on. Finally, the player who went first in the previous round gets the last remaining card.