Bus is a game about the development of public transport in a city that is expanding quickly. The citizens are busy traveling up and down between their houses, the office, and, most importantly, the pub.
Your task as a player is to develop a bus line which takes as many passengers as possible to the place they want to be. You do this by expanding your bus line, developing new suburbs, luring new potential passengers to the city, and investing in more and more buses! But you can also try to ride just a bit earlier than other companies and steal their passengers away.
Sometimes, something unexpected happens: time comes to a standstill and, all of a sudden, the demand for transportation is completely different. But you cannot let this happen too often, as the space-time continuum will rupture and the universe will collapse, thus ending the game.
Place the game board on the table. The game board is divided into two sections: the city map and the action area, which consists of seven actions. Each player chooses a color and receives 20 action markers, the line markers, 5 bus tokens, and scoring disk in that color. The scoring disk for each player is placed on the zero space of the victory point track on the game board. Place the five glass time stones on the spaces next to the clock.
Before your first game, fasten the cardboard clock hand to the clock using the plastic fasteners. The clock hand is place so that it points to the house on the clock. Each player puts one of their buses in the bus depot in the action area. Put four passengers on the roundabouts directly adjacent to Central Park.
Randomly determine a starting player and give that player the start-bus.
Before the game really starts, a number of buildings must be erected first. There are three kinds of buildings: Houses, Offices, Pubs.
The starting player first chooses two zone 1 locations (the encircled turquoise numbers) on the board and puts a building on each of them, freely choosing which types of buildings to place. The zone 2, 3, and 4 locations cannot be used until later in the game.
Proceeding clockwise from the starting player, each of the other players may erect two buildings. Only the zone 1 locations are available at this time.
General rule for placing buildings: No more than one building can be built on any of the locations.
Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, all players put down a line marker in their own color in one the streets in the city. Players are allowed to place a line market in a street occupied by another player. These markers indicate the first bus lines.
The last player to place a line marker (i.e. the player ro the right of the starting player) now expands their bus line by placing a second line marker at one of the ends of their first line marker.
Continuing in reverse player order, all other players place a second line marker. The starting player is therefore the last to place their second line marker. The rules for expanding your bus line (see Line Expansion) must be followed when placing the second line marker. This means that placing the second line marker in an occupied street might not be allowed.
When all players have placed their two buildings and two line markers, the starting player begins the first round!
A round consists of two phases. First, the players choose actions. Then, the actions are performed one by one.
The actions are shown in the action area of the game board. Each player must choose a minimum of two actions each round. The maximum number of actions you may choose is limited only by the number of action markers in your possession.
The starting player begins by placing one of their action markers on one of the seven actions. Then, the next player in clockwise order, places one action maker. Play proceeds in this way until everyone has chosen at least two actions.
The actions Buses, Clock, and Starting Player can only be chosen by one player each round.
The other actions may be chosen by multiple players. The first player to chose such an action puts their marker on the space marked A, the second puts their marker on the space marked B. etc. Players may choose the same action more than once in the same round.
If a player has already placed two action markers when it becomes their turn to play, they may pass. This means they cannot place any more actions markers that round. Players keep choosing actions until all players have passed. Players may use as many action markers as they want in a given round, subject to available action spaces. If a player has no more action markers, they are out of the game.
The actions are resolved one by one, from top to bottom on the game board, beginning with the Line Expansion action and ending with the Starting Player action. The first player to perform an action is always the one whose action marker is furthest to the left. For Line Expansion and Buildings, the will be the last player that has chosen the action. For Vrrooomm! And Passengers, it is the first. This will be apparent if the action makers have been placed in the correct spots.
A player must perform all the actions they have chosen to their fullest extent. If an action can only be partially performed, it must be completed to the maximum extent possible. Players are not allowed to skip actions or parts of actions.
At the beginning of the game, each player only has one bus. Later, players may buy new buses. The largest number of buses owned by one player determines the maximum number of buses. The higher that number is, the more passengers, line expansions, and buildings can be brought into play.
The player who placed first in the Line Expansion, Passengers, and Buildings actions (in the A space) must perform the action up to the maximum number of buses. The next player (in the B space) must perform one number less, etc. For example, one player owns five buses. The first player builds four, etc. Note that building actions occur in a different order than the order in which they were chosen!
It is vital for each bus company to have a good route. The city government demands that these routes overlap as little as possible.
The first player to choose the Line Expansion action (the player on a space A) must add as many streets to their route as the current maximum number of buses. The player on space B must add one less, the player on space C must add two less, etc. Note that these actions are performed in reverse order: the player on space A will be the last player to expand their line! To add a new street, place a line marker of your player color on that street.
A bus line can only be expanded from one of its two ends. You must expand a line in a direction which is still empty of other bus lines. You are not allowed to build a line that runs parallel to another player’s bus line. There are two exceptions to this rule:
Example: The blue player at A must build in the direction of the arrow. Bus lines already exist in the other directions from the intersection at A, and there is only one road left open.
Blue could also build at B. Here, they may choose any of the three roads. Although the road straight ahead has been built on by another player, Blue may build parallel to the other line. If Yellow builds a road there first, this opportunity is lost.
The Red player at C may choose in which direction to build. As both roads are occupied, Red is free to use any. However Red cannot back up along their own line.
At D, Red must move upwards along the red arrow. Red cannot build parallel to the yellow line, because the ends do not touch each other.
If a player builds a circle, the end of their line remains at the crossing where the circle was closed. This player can only build from this crossing, in two different directions, as there are two ends present. When you close a circle, take the action marker from the action board and place it on the crossing to indicate the location of the ends. In this way, it is obvious for all players from which point you may build in the future.
The ends should always remain such that the complete route is a line. So, a bus must be able to travel from one end to the other by passing each street exactly once.
Players are also not allowed to build a line parallel to one of their own lines. Lines that have been put on the game board can never be removed.
Example: The Purple player lays a line marker on the shaded spot, thus closing a circle. Purple can do this in two ways. Purple can extend the line from A to B, closing the circle at B. In that case, Purple's following street must be one of the streets marked 2. If Purple does not connect one of them right away, they must place the action marker involved at B so that everyone can see where Purple must connect their next street.
Instead of extending the line from A, Purple could extend the line from B, closing the circle at A. Now, Purple's following street must be one of the streets marked 1, and the action marker must be placed at A.
There can be more than one bus on a line. The more buses ride the line, the more passengers you can transport. If you want to move around lots of passengers, you will have to buy more buses.
The player who chose this action places a bus token in the bus depot in the action area. Every bus token in the bus depot stands for one bus which may ride that player's line. Each bus will transport a maximum of one passenger each turn.
It is important for all players to know the number of buses owned by the player who has the most buses. If the player who has the most buses buys another bus, the maximum number of buses immediately increases. All players who have chosen the Passengers or Buildings actions must bring more passengers or buildings into play that turn.
From time to time, a new passengers come to the city. These passengers arrive by train. By choosing the Passengers action, players can bring these passengers into play.
Similar to the Line Expansion, the first player to choose Passengers (the player on space A) must bring into play the same number of passengers as the maximum number of buses. The second player places one less passenger. Etc.
The passengers must be placed at one of the two stations:
You may distribute the passengers over both stations. The line of the player who chose the action does not have to be connected to the station. The new passengers are taken from the supply and put on the station. If there are no more passengers in the supply, no more passengers can be put into play. If a player still chooses this action, they do nothing.
During the game, the city is continuously expanding. Players can erect new buildings. There are three types of buildings:
Similar to Line Expansion and Passengers, the first player to choose this action (the player on space A) must erect as many buildings as the maximum number of buses. The second player erects one less building, etc. Note that these players will have their turns in reverse order with the player on space A being the last one to erect buildings.
A building may be placed on any available building location (the encircled numbers) on the board. You are free to choose which type of building you build. At first, only the 1-locations may be built. Only when all the 1-locations have been built, the 2-locations can be used. If they are all full, the 3-locations become available. When they too have been built, players may start using 4-locations. If there are no more free locations the game ends at the end of the current round.
The city of Bus is located in a strange universe. A crazy professor has developed a complex machine that can halt time for a while. This may be lucrative, but it is also dangerous. If time is stopped too often, the space-time continuum ruptures, with dramatic consequences for the city.
The Clock action can be chosen by only one player each round. When it is time to resolve the action, this player may choose to stop time. The player is not required to do so. If the player stops time, the clock hand stays on the type of building which it was on. If no one chooses this action, or if the player that selected the action does not stop time, the clock hand moves one space clockwise.
If a player stops time, they must take one time stone from the clock. They keep this stone, which counts as one negative point. If you choose the Clock action and let time go its way, you do not take a time stone or receive a negative point. If there are no more time stones on the clock. The space-time continuum ruptures, and the game ends immediately. Further actions in that round are not played. Points are counted immediately.
The object of the game is to let your buses ride their line and transport as many passengers as possible. The Vrrooomm! action is the only one that scores you points. A player choosing Vrrooomm! can run all of their buses possible. You do this in the following way.
Each bus can transport a maximum of one passenger. If you have only one bus, you can therefore transport only one passenger. The passenger is taken from the crossing where they are located and is put down at the crossing where they want to be. Buses can ride only their own lines. Passengers or buildings which are on a crossing that is not connected to one of your lines cannot be used.
On each crossing, there can be passengers and buildings. Depending on the time of day as indicated by the clock, passengers will want to be in certain kinds of buildings: their houses, their offices, or the pubs. Each building can contain a maximum of one passenger. Passengers that are on a crossing which does not have the type of building needed want to get away. To indicate which passengers want to get away, put all satisfied passengers on their respective buildings.
Only passengers that want to get away can be transported. One needs an empty building of the right kind to deliver the passenger. This building must be connected to your own line. Each building can only contain one passenger! If there are no passengers that want to get away, a player cannot run their bus. If there are more passengers or empty buildings than the player can use, they freely decide which passengers, or buildings, to use. You must transport as many passengers as possible (keeping in mind the number of buses at your disposal).
If a player choose the Vrrooomm! Action more than once, they may use all their buses again every time they perform this action.
For each passenger that you move, you score one point. These are counted on the victory point track on the game board. The first player to score a certain score places their disk on the corresponding space. If someone else scores as many points, their disk is placed on op of the existing disk.
Example: First the clock (left figure). Time goes on from night to day, so the citizens want to go to their offices. For clarify, passengers on crossings with offices are placed on the buildings (A, B). The one at E crosses the street for that purpose. The passengers at D and G want to get away, because there are no offices there.
Then Vrrooomm! (right figure). Yellow moves first and has three buses but can only score one point. The only passenger Yellow can take is at D. The passenger at E is already where they want to be. The passengers at F, G, and the station are not next to Yellow’s bus line. Yellow moves their passenger from D to C.
Green, having two buses, also scores one point. The office at C is now occupied, as are most of the offices at A and B. Green can only move one passenger from the station to B.
Blue has enough passengers and free offices along their line to score three points. However, Blue only has one bus and will therefore score only one point.
A bit of extra attention will give you a head start next round. To achieve this, choose the Starting Player action.
Whomever chose this action will receive the start-bus next round. If no one chose this action, the start-bus to the player to the left of the previous starting player.
When all actions have been performed, the next round starts. All the action markers which have been used are put back in the box. They will no longer be used in this game. The player who has the start-bus begins the next round by choosing their first action.
The game ends in one of three ways:
Whomever has scored the most points wins the game! Each time stone counts as one negative point. If two or more players have the same number of points after subtracting these negative points, the one who has the most time stones wins. If this is still equal, the one whose disk is at the bottom of the stack (the player that achieved those points first) on the victory point track wins.
When playing with five, more line markers are used for the Line Expansion action. Every player resolving this action must add one additional line marker.
The first player to choose Line Expansion (the player on space A) must add as many streets to their route as the current maximum number of buses plus one. The player on space B must add exactly as many as the current maximum number of buses, the player on space C adds one less than the current maximum number of buses, etc.
This rule is only applicable to the line Expansion action.