Kansas Pacific

Players begin Kansas Pacific with a certain amount of cash, depending on the number of players. To start the game, the initial "President's" share, of each railroad is auctioned. Players can bid on as many companies as they like (so a player can be the president of more than one railroad...conflict of interest and monopoly are a good thing in the 1800's Wild West!) and a $0 bid is an option. Once a player passes, he or she cannot reenter the bidding for that particular auction.

Once all the initial shares are auctioned, each railroad president can take the following actions (in this order):

Issue Share - The way to raise capital for the company. Be careful. If another player has more shares than the current president...see the next step in the turn!

Determine President - If a share has been issued, the person who has the most shares of that railroad becomes its president. Ties go to the person who currently has the "President's Share." If the company changes presidents, the President's Share is swapped with a regular share belonging to the person with the most company shares.

Land Grant - If a railroad has crossed the land grant line, the President may execute the land grant option, which allows the railroad to purchase 10 additional trains (using railroad and/or the president's money). Only three railroads can claim the land grant, and no railroad may claim the grant more than once.

Build Track -As railroads begin connecting cities across the plains, they will earn income. The more track that is laid in a turn, they more expensive the track gets. Wisely balancing expansion with generating income is always a challenge.  

Go West - Once a president's railroad has reached the Western edge of the map, the president may declare "Go West", which increases income and the railroad no longer has an active role (no more track is place and no more shares issued) other than paying dividends.

 Pay Dividends - The more a railroad makes, the higher the dividend.

Check for End of Game - The number of railroads that have gone west, crossed the land grant line, or have no trains in their inventory are what determine the end game (each has its own condition).

Wall Street - Your success can have a price. At the end of a round, if none of the end game conditions have been met, a share of the railroad that paid the highest dividend last round will be auctioned. The president bids first. So be careful about issuing stock of a high performing company! You may have suitors lining up to take the reins and reap the rewards!