Who goes first in Russian Railroads?
Hans im Glück / Z-Man 2013 English base game
Shuffle the four numbered Turn Order cards and deal one face up to each player. Put each player’s pawn on the matching turn-order space. The player in the leftmost occupied position takes the first turn; the others follow track order rather than clockwise seating order.
Source & edition
- Russian Railroads — original English rulebookHans im Glück / Z-Man Games · Setup step 8 and pawn placement; Turn Order; Playing with 2 or 3 Players · Checked 2026-09-28
Image: © Hans im Glück / Z-Man Games · Hans im Glück / Z-Man Games · Editorial fair use (Small image of the publisher’s illustrated rulebook cover identifies the exact game and rules edition discussed in this starting-rule article; it is used for editorial reference with no more artwork than needed for identification.)
Rule details
The rulebook recommends dealing the cards blindly because their backs differ.
The two- and three-player setup changes do not replace the turn-order card method.
Later rounds can reorganize turn order through spaces on the track.
Our interpretation
With fewer than four players, use the leftmost occupied turn-order position. This follows the track-order rule when some numbered spaces are empty.
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