Alice the Train

The clashing of metal against track, engines roaring, steam billowing out of the exhaust— Choo Choo! As soon as you hear the whistle, you know just what it is. It's Alice the Train, a colorful steam locomotive that takes animals to the zoo.

Alice the Train is a light-weight, pick-up and deliver board game that is based on the children's book of the same name. In this game, you play as trains with the mission of picking up animals and dropping them off at the zoo. You will build and manage your train cars based on how many animals each can hold while in the "vores" variant, separating the carnivorous tigers from the herbivores of the game. Collect stars when dropping off animals at the zoo with the winner being the player closest to 15 stars.

• 1 Game Board
• 16 Destination Cards
• 4 Train Tiles
• 20 Train Car Tiles
• 84 Animal/Star Chits
• 4 Train Tokens
• 4 Star Tokens
• 1 First Player Marker
• 20 Wood Tokens
• 1 Chit Bag

NOTES Due to a shortage in component parts, wooden Train and Star Tokens have been substituted with plastic parts which may appear differently than the images shown on this page and in the rulebook. (9/11/2022)

Carnivore and omnivore chits now have a different color backgrounds to assist players playing the Vores Variant. (9/11/2022)

1. Place the Game Board in the middle of the play area.
2. Distribute 1 forest, 1 desert, 1 waterfront, and 1 zoo Destination Card to each player. These cards will be the player’s hand, and will be used to plan routes.
3. Each player will take 1 Train Tile, as well as the corresponding Train Token and Star Token of their color and place it in their player area.
4. Based on the number of players, stack the Train Car Tiles by color/number and place them on the indicated spaces on the Game Board. There should be one Train Car Tile of each color/number for each player.

5. Based on the number of players, distribute the following number of Chits and Tokens on the Game Board:

   • 2-Player Game: 2 Animal Chits on each space except for the zoo, and 2 Wood Tokens on each of the five forest spaces.
   • 3-Player Game: 3 Animal Chits on each space except for the zoo, and 3 Wood Tokens on each of the five forest spaces.
   • 4-Player Game: 4 Animal Chits on each space except for the zoo, and 4 Wood Tokens on each of the five forest spaces.

6. The first player will be the person who most recently rode a train. They will take the First Player Marker. Game play will then proceed in clockwise order. In player order, players will complete the Action: Build a Train Car. This preliminary Action will not use up a Destination Card, however, all other placement rules still apply.

After each player has Built a Train Car, gameplay will continue in clockwise order with the first player changing at the end of each Round. Alice the Train is played throughout several Rounds with each consisting of 2 Phases. Players will first, simultaneously Plan a Route and then, in player order, Move while Picking Up Animals, Building a Train Car, and/or Dropping Off Animals at the Zoo according to the route that they planned. At the end of the Round, the first player would then hand the First Player Marker to the player to their left, and gameplay would resume.

Phase 1: Plan a Route

Players will simultaneously plan their route by secretly reordering the Destination Cards in their hands. The forest, desert, and waterfront Destination Cards are straightforward and represent all spaces with those locations indicated on the Game Board while the zoo card contains a wild option. Players may choose to add the zoo to their route by keeping the card right side up, however, may also choose to use the wild option by flipping the card 180 degrees, making the 3 symbols of forest, desert, and waterfront now at the top of the card. Once players have decided on a route, they will place their Destination Cards face-down in their player area. They will reveal their route at the start of their turn but may not make any changes to it once the first player has started their turn.

Phase 2: Move

Once a player’s route has been revealed, they will start their route on the space that they are currently occupying and move to an adjacent space of the location type that they chose as their first destination. While moving, players may choose to complete 1 of 3 Actions per destination on their route. If there are animals available, the player may choose to Pick Up Animals at that destination; If there is wood available, the player may choose to Build a Train Car at that destination; And if a player’s Train Token passes through or ends its route at the zoo, the player may Drop Off Animals at the Zoo.

Additionally, player’s Train Tokens may pass through and take Actions on spaces occupied by other player’s Train Tokens, however, they may not finish their route on the same space unless it is the zoo.

The player would repeat the process of moving and taking 1 Action per destination until they have either completed their route or can no longer move their Train Token.

Pick up Animals

Once a player has moved their Train Token to a destination with available animals on it, the player may choose to pick up one species of these animals and place it onto any of their Train Car Tiles.

When picking up animals, players may pick up more than one Animal Chit as long as they are of the same species, however, they may not pick up more Animal Chits than they have vacant spaces in their Train Car Tiles. The star-side of Animal Chits may also not be covered either. The number of Animal Chits (either animal side-up or star side-up) that can occupy a specific train car is determined by the number on the Train Car Tile. For example, the Orange 1 Train Car Tile can only be occupied by 1 Animal Chit at a time, while the Purple 5 Train Car Tile can be occupied by 5 Animal Chits at a time.

In a typical game of Alice the Train, any species of animal may share the same train car. For a more realistic feel to the game, however, check out the Vores Variant under Variants.

Build a Train Car

Once a player has moved their Train Token to a forest space with available wood on it, the player may choose to Build a Train Car by picking up 1 Wood Token, placing it onto the train car track of their color below the stacks of Train Car Tiles on the Game Board, starting with the Orange 1 Train Car Tile and then continuing in ascending order. Once the Wood Token is placed below the stack of Train Car Tiles, the player may take one of the tiles from the stack and place it to the right of their train. A player may only have 1 Train Car Tile of each color, with each costing 1 Wood Token each.

Drop Off Animals at the Zoo

If a player chooses to go to the zoo, after placing their Train Token onto that location on the Game Board, the player may then choose to drop off animals at the zoo by turning each Animal Chit over to its star-side. Players may then proceed to adjust their Star Tokens on the star track accordingly. A train car does not need to be full to do this.

Play Alice the Train: The Board Game for free on Tabletop Simulator.

This version, as well as many other Tabletop Simulator mods by Maikai Games may come with a few components that are different from the printed game, however, all components required for playing the game should be included. Please feel free to try out this game as many times as you like, and if you find yourself interested in Alice the Train: The Board Game, we hope that you'll consider adding it to your collection.

Thank you for visiting Alice the Train: The Board Game's page on The Game Crafter.

Alice the Train: The Board Game was created by Maikai Games, an international family from the US and Japan.

It is based on the children's book of the same title, available here.

With 3 very young children, we strive to create games that are simple to learn and engaging for all members of the family. We also love to mix fun with education and in Alice the Train: The Board Game, there is a variant utilizing the relationship between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

Thank you again for taking the time to look at Alice the Train: The Board Game. We hope that you enjoy it and that it makes your game night a memorable one, whether it be with friends or family.

Disclaimer: While Alice the Train: The Board Game may be mechanically playable by children younger than the advertised age, the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires that all products manufactured for children under the age of 12 be tested by an independent third party. Please note that Alice the Train: The Board Game has not been tested, nor has it received any certification for it to be manufactured for children under the age of 12.