
- BGG rank
- BGG #643
- BGG rating
- 7.1
Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition
- 1–6 players
- 20–30 min
- Complexity 1.5/5
- 2018

Rules assistance for Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion is an expansion for Railroad Tiles released in 2025 for 1–4 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Lorenzo Silva and Hjalmar Hach and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Pattern Building, and Connections.
Your goal is to build Lakes and place Ferries in them to score points. Lakes also have another purpose: you can send a route into the lake side of a tile to create a Harbor (a bit like Canal End tokens work in the Canals Expansion), and all routes that are connected to the same Lake via Harbors are also connected to each other... basically, Lakes act as big Stations! Another special feature of the Lake Expansion also lies in the way Ferries are placed. At the end of each round, when you look at the active Placement tokens and place pawns accordingly, you must also look at each one of your Lakes: if you have more Harbors than Ferries in a certain Lake, you may place 1 Ferry pawn for free on any empty Ferry pin point until you have an equal number of Ferries and Harbors in that Lake. You score 1 point +1 point for each Ferry in the same Lake, up to a maximum of 3 Prestige points (they have a lower point limit than other pawns, which can be worth up to 5 points each, but you also place them for free on top of those coming from the 2 Placement tokens, instead of in place of 1 of them). Like all expansions, the Lake Expansion comes with a few Objectives as well: for example, the Fishermen's Island must be reachable by at least 3 Traveler pawns, while the Hydroelectric Plant must be part of a closed Lake with no open sides. —description from the publisher
Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion belongs to these categories: Trains, Transportation, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Pattern Building, and Connections. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion are: Lorenzo Silva and Hjalmar Hach. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Railroad Tiles: Lakes Expansion as an expansion for Railroad Tiles. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Railroad Tiles to use it. Check that your edition of Railroad Tiles is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.