Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad is one of five finalists in the Hasbro Gaming Lab Fall 2016 Challenge!  We each need your support to get at least 100 backers on Indiegogo.

Support Aardvark and get a copy of the game by clicking on a "Perk" option.  The cost of shipping will be added, as needed.  (Within the USA: shipping one, two or three copies of the game doesn't change the shipping cost.)

(Prototype shown here; the exact appearance of final components will be subject to change)

What is a Runaway Railroad and who is Aardvark?

Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad is a cooperative game; everybody wins or everybody loses together.  More than luck determines the outcome.  The players need to discuss the options, trade track pieces and find a strategy to slow down the train engine or make the track form a loop.

Aardvark is a hard-working train engineer who is having trouble with the breaks on his engine today.  Aardvark’s friends will bring pieces of track to try and help him, but Kangaroo keeps bringing straight track which just makes the engine go faster. And some pieces of track are broken and must be avoided.

If more curves than straight track pieces are placed in front of Aardvark’s engine, then the engine will slow down and eventually stop.  Split tracks don’t slow down the engine, but do help to give Aardvark options.

Deceptively simple, Aardvark will typically run out of track if the players do not cooperate and trade track pieces effectively.  On the other hand, if the players check the distance the engine will move down the track and consider the order of player turns and the pieces they have remaining then they can frequently stop the engine.

How to Play Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad

A game of Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad takes between 10 and 25 minutes depending upon the number of players and how well they work together... and you can learn to play in less than that!  (Let's test that theory...)

Set the Engine Speed Indicator to the number of players plus one.  So if there are four players set the indicator to 5.

Place Aardvark’s engine on the Track Start.  Deal two pieces to each player, track-side up. Players should be encouraged to talk and make a plan.

Each player has two different pieces of track to choose from each turn.  Each player selects one piece of track to connect to the existing tracks.  (Warning: The engine can't run on broken track.)

Deal out another piece of track to each player, so they each have two pieces again.  Don’t move Aardvark just yet.  This is the end of Set Up.

If a player ever has two identical pieces in one hand, both pieces should be discarded and that player must take two new pieces.

Every Game Round each player first places one piece of track from their hand on their turn.

Now look at the Engine Speed Indicator and move Aardvark that many pieces of track.

Study the pieces Aardvark just covered this round (not including the piece he started on). Check to see if the engine is speeding up or slowing down.  Were there more plus one (+1 straight track) or more minus one (-1 curve track)?

Adjust the Engine Speed Indicator up or down one unit… or not at all if the curves and straight pieces have the same number.

Now players can choose to trade the piece they have remaining in their hand with any of the other players.  The players need to know how far Aardvark's engine will travel (just look at the Engine Speed) and then attempt to trade pieces to the best advantage of everyone.  In many cases the players have to choose between bad and worse options (straight or broken track).  The object of the game is to overcome these challenges with planning and cooperation.

And then deal one piece so all the players have two pieces again.  And remember, if you have two identical pieces you’ll have to discard them and get two new pieces.

Don’t overlap or cross the track... Don’t go faster than 7... And try not to run out of track!

End the game successfully by slowing the Engine Speed down to zero or…

…looping the track so it connects “smoothly” back to itself.

What’s in the Box?

Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad includes the following components:

1    Engine Speed Indicator Dial
1    Aardvark’s Engine
1    Track Start
58 Track pieces

Why is the Goal $6,000?

I’m asking to raise $6,000 to make a minimum production run of this game. I need to have a unique die (laser cut) created to cut out the track pieces. Maybe after this game comes out, stop-sign-shaped pieces will become so popular that I will be able to order them in bulk online. I doubt it, though.

About Aardvark

Once I settled on the idea of a game where players would work together to stop a train, I wondered who the story would be about.  I liked the idea of anthropomorphic animals for this game.  There are so many products that feature mice and rabbits; I felt I needed to steer clear of those.  I started from the top of the alphabet and ended right there: Aardvark.  I found several images of aardvarks and they immediately struck me as sympathetic characters.

FAQ

Question: Do I need to know how to operate a train engine to play Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad?
Answer: No. Actual experience operating a train engine will not be particularly helpful. However, experience operating a pretend or toy train could be useful.

Question: Can you play Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad on a train?
Answer: Yes. You’ll want one of the tables in the lounge car.

Question: Who did the artwork?
Answer: The artwork and design for Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad were created by Steve #3 Ehrensperger.

Question: How much is shipping?
Answer: We are currently shipping Aardvark’s Runaway Railroad only to the US and Canada. (When we can find a cost effective means of shipping around the world, we will update this. In the meantime, it seems unreasonable to ship something at a cost of more than triple its value.  This will be updated if I find a good solution.) Shipping costs are as follows:

US addresses: $10
Canadian addresses: $25

What you can do...

• Back Aardvark!
• Get an extra copy for your Railfan friends!
• Follow our progress on facebook or twitter!
• Share this campaign with friends who might enjoy a new train game by using the "Share This Project" buttons!
• Get in touch with us by email with any questions or concerns!

Thanks for supporting the Hasbro Gaming Lab Fall 2016 Challenge! 

Be sure to check out the other designers and upcoming challenges:

Kelly Adams'          Chibi Quest!
Eugene Bryant's   Cloud Control
Michael Eskue's    Trash Pandas
Jason Wiser's        Monsters in the Elevator