Bus is one of two full-size box games released by Splotter at Essen 1999, along with Roads and Boats. Through the game, players use a limited set of actions to build a road network in an attempt to deliver passengers to their desired destinations. The mechanisms employed in this basic concept are quite original and lead to a contemplative and close game play. While Bus has some peculiarities, it is one of the better games released last year and is definitely worth a play if you've not had the chance to try it.

The great-looking board shows the city plan with a series of intersecting streets, locations for buildings to be constructed, and two train terminals. At setup, each player gets one bus, places two buildings and places the first two sections of their road network in 'Settlers' fashion. After passengers are set on each of the four center corner intersections, the game begins with the first set of actions.

The idea of the game is to move passengers from where they are to where they want to be. Where they want to be is determined by the time of day; in the day, they are at work, in the evening at the pub, and at home overnight. Each building (work, pub, and home) is built at intersections, so if a passenger is delivered to a pub when it is evening, the player that carried them gets one point. Since the clock rotates from home to work to pub continually, every successfully moved passenger starts the next round on the previous time's building. Our pub passenger next turn would want to go home, so the bus that carries him to a 'home' building gets another point.

The Action Board, a separate strip from the main board, is the heart of the game mechanic and includes seven options. You only have 21 actions to use during the whole game, however, and must use at least 2 per turn, limiting the flexibility. Colored cubes represent the 21 actions that each player is given at the start, although the first is used in the setup to place a bus in the parking lot (one of the seven actions available on the board.) No actions are taken until everyone places each action cube that they plan to use for that round, beginning with the start player and only choosing one action at a time until everyone else has the chance to place. While you must choose at least two actions, you can choose as many as you'd like up to your limit of cubes. In practicality, you will use three actions once in a while and rarely find use for four in a single round. Once everyone has placed, the actions are executed in the manner that they are laid out on the Action Board, left to right. This has real implications, as you will see.

Some of the actions can be chosen by multiple players, while others, once chosen, are closed for the rest of that round. Three of the actions are limited by a concept called the "maximum number of buses". This is simply the most buses owned by any single player, and it limits the number of players that can choose the action and the number of buildings that can be constructed, passengers that can enter the city, and roads that can be built. Importantly, this limit decrements for each player after the first to choose the action. For example, if Dave has three buses in his fleet and this is more than any other player, only three players can build buildings. The first player to choose the action builds three, the next builds two, and the last builds only one. The same is true for road construction and new passengers, although sometimes the first player to place gets to move first and sometimes last for the chosen action because of the left to right rule.

Understanding each action is key. Here they are in order from left to right on the Action Board as they are executed:

1. Build Roads: Using the concept above, the roads built equals the maximum number of buses from the previous round. This is because, as the first action executed, even if someone chooses to add a bus they would not have their action implemented until after the roads are built. In most cases, once a road is built it will be unique for that block, but there are rules that allow multiple roads in the same lane when routes are cut off or two different lines meet at their heads. Multiple people can request this action.
2. Add a Bus: Only one player per round can do this, and when they do the action block is pulled into a parking spot with their other bus(es). This gives an easy visual reference to the number of buses in each fleet, and the maximum number of buses concept described earlier. When run, each bus can carry one passenger at a time.
3. Build Buildings: Using the maximum buses process, players can build their choice of buildings on spots still open. Spots are labeled A, B, C, or D and all the A's must be filled before the first B, etc. This keeps development roughly toward the city center early, spreading out as the bus lines grow. Since some intersections serve two building spots, placing different building on the two spots can make a passenger just jump across the street with no bus movement needed when the time changes. Each building, like the buses, can only accommodate one person at a time.
4. Add Passengers: People enter the city at one of two rail stations, and from there can be taken by any bus to their desired location. There are a fixed number of people in the game, and often all the potential passengers are in the city by mid-game. This is the last action to use the maximum buses limit.
5. The Clock: Only one player can affect the clock, and if no one selects this action the clock moves ahead as normal to the next 3-way position (Home to Work to Pub). If selected by one person, that player has the right to stop the clock (not allow its advancement) at the cost of one victory point. This freezes many passengers, since by definition those successfully delivered last round will already be where they want to be. This tactic can be used both offensively and defensively and is one of the issues discussed below where an improvement may help.
6. Run the Buses: This is the only action that allows you to score points. Beginning with the first player to choose the action, each player runs each bus in their fleet, attempting to deliver one passenger on their line to an appropriate building elsewhere on their line. No other lines can be used, and if there are no appropriate empty buildings or available people then the action is wasted. Like all multiple-player actions, this can be chosen more than once for multiple scoring opportunities.
7. Start Player: The one player to choose this action will be the start player the next round. If not chosen, the start player rotates, but this likely will never happen as the ability to place your action first gives the ability to build the most roads, run the first bus, or other 'he who is first wins' actions.

How these actions are used determines the speed, flow, and scoring opportunities in the game. The mechanic works well most of the time, although smart play usually results in very low scores as people try to block scoring opportunities for others if they will not disproportionately benefit. This is the first weakness in the game: it is too heavy for its theme. Studious gamers will spend a lot of time analyzing their action placement and implementation, creating a serious mood for what otherwise could be a strategic yet faster moving process.

The good points of the game clearly outweigh the weak, however. There are real choices in the action phase, although typically building roads and running buses will take precedent. Being locked out of first place, or in fifth place in a five-player game, can be the difference between scoring multiple points or nothing at all. This brings up the second flaw in the game: very low scoring with four or five players. The world loves soccer except for the US, so maybe it's my national bias that makes me cringe a bit at a high score of seven after a two-hour play. That said, the game is clearly exciting and keeps everyone interested due to the constant changing road networks, passenger flows, building constructions, and scoring potentials.

The last issue that raises some question is the clock. As mentioned before, choosing to stop time effectively freezes out many possible plays since the location preference doesn't change. Speaking with Gerard Mulder at the Gathering of Friends, he told me of a discussion whereby instead of stopping the clock the player would advance two spaces instead of one, ensuring that people could move but possibly not where most had planned. I'm eager to try this idea as it makes sense and may make the clock play both more strategic and less frustrating.

The production value of Bus can't be overlooked. The board shows a city nicely populated with buildings and fixtures all named after other games ("Axis and Alloys Wreckers" is a personal favorite,) and a scoring track made of islets named after other games. All of the other Splotter titles appear, of course. The naming has nothing to do with the game, but makes for a very nice appearance and generates a lot of smiles when people first realize what they're looking at. While only a limited number were produced, Splotter has promised to have more available for this year's Essen so those interested should be able to find a copy soon. Get one for yourself, and get on the Bus!