How to Play Railroad Ink: Deep Blue – Routes, Dice & Networks
Railroad Ink: Deep Blue is a simultaneous roll-and-write network game. Everyone uses the same four Route-die results each round but decides independently where to draw them.
Scope: base Deep Blue rules first; River and Lake are optional expansion modules included in the box.
Roll all four Route dice
At the start of each of seven rounds, roll the four basic Route dice once in the center of the table. Every player must use the same results.
Draw each rolled Route legally
Add the rolled road and railway shapes to your own board, respecting connection rules. New Routes must connect legally to existing Routes or board Exits as required, and roads cannot connect directly to railways except through Stations.
Stations connect road and railway networks
A Station joins Highway and Railway Routes into one connected network for exit scoring. An Overpass lets a road and railway cross without connecting them.
Special Routes provide limited flexibility
Your board shows Special Routes that can be used instead of a normal additional shape under the rulebook limits. Each specific Special Route is used at most once, only one Special Route may be used in a round and no more than three are used during the whole game.
Mark the round after drawing
Once all current Routes are drawn, mark the spaces with the current round number. Routes from earlier rounds cannot be erased or changed.
Deep Blue includes optional Rivers and Lakes
River and Lake dice add special route types and their own scoring rules. They also shorten the game to the round count specified by that expansion, so do not mix their timing with the seven-round base game.
After round 7, score networks and errors
Base scoring includes connected Exits, longest Highway, longest Railway, central spaces and penalties for incomplete Route ends.
Source: Horrible Guild Railroad Ink: Deep Blue rulebook. Checked September 21, 2026.