Location-specific cards in the Hinterlands (Guide)

Early Railway Content and Onwards

Most locations in the Upper River have several cards that can only be drawn in that location. Most of these fall into a few common groupings, such as Excavations and Statues, although there are a handful of unique storylines. Currently Balmoral and Marigold Station have the fewest dedicated cards, making them the best locations for trying to draw a specific non-location card. Conversely, Ealing Gardens has the most location-specific cards.

General Card Mechanics

Location-specific cards are retained in hand when you move from one location to another. If you are trying to draw a specific card, it is wise to play or discard any cards specific to a different location than where you are drawing. This will let you hold more cards in hand that can actually be drawn, helping trim your deck.

Note that many cards in the Upper River are unlocked by reaching a certain station, but afterwards can be drawn anywhere. For example, Halfway to Hell cannot be drawn until you unlock Jericho Locks, but thereafter can be drawn anywhere in the Upper River.

At a Glance

Location	Excavation	Lighting	Statue	Other	Total
Ealing Gardens	Yes	Yes	Yes	4-6	6-9
Jericho Locks	Yes	Yes	Yes	1	3-4
Magistracy of the Evenlode	Yes	Yes	Yes	0	2-3
Balmoral	No	Yes	No	0	1
Station VIII	Yes	No	Yes	0-1	2-3
Burrow-Infra-Mump	No	Yes	Yes	0	2
Moulin	No	Yes	Yes	0	2
The Hurlers	No	No	Yes	1	2
Marigold Station	No	No	Yes	0	1

Common Card Types

Excavations

Most Excavation cards let you trade Bone Surveys for Skeleton parts and have options that cycle the Airs value of their respective location. Excavation cards from later stations tend to grant Palaeontological Discovery.

• Ealing Gardens: Engage in Excavation (since this card has Frequent Frequency, it's ideal to hold in hand while trying to draw specific cards)
• Jericho Locks: Dredge the river
• Magistracy: Digs in the Magistracy of the Evenlode
• Station VIII: Lead a Dig

Balmoral, and all of the stations from Burrow-Infra-Mump onwards, lack Excavation cards.

Statues

Most locations let you erect a statue to a variety of people, including yourself. Erecting a statue in a location unlocks a card in that location. Some cards, but not all, have options that vary depending on which statue you erected.

• Under the Statue (in Ealing Gardens)
• Under the Statue at Jericho Locks
• Under the Statue at the Magistracy
• Under the Statue at Station VIII
• Under the Statue at Burrow-Infra-Mump
• Under the Statue at Moulin
• Under the Statue at the Hurlers
• Under the Statue at Marigold Station

Balmoral is the only location that lacks a Statue card.

Enlightening and Liberating

All Upper River locations have a Darkness quality. Some stations make more gameplay use of this quality than others. Darkness generally makes Excavations and Tourism more difficult, but Charity and Theft easier. Other actions may be unlocked or difficulty checks modified.

Modifying Darkness qualities is associated with the character's Colour at the Chessboard: Increasing Darkness requires playing Black pieces, while reducing Darkness requires playing White pieces. Playing Red pieces generally allows changing the darkness in either direction as you see fit.

All stations have a single card for adjusting the darkness, sometimes with different names depending on your current colour and with options unlocked by different Colours. Notably, players can remove these Colour-specific cards from their deck with extremal Darkness values: Enlighten cards are no longer drawn when Darkness is fully removed, and Liberate cards are no longer drawn when complete Darkness is achieved. Red cards will always be drawn at any Darkness level.

• Enlighten Ealing Gardens / Adjust the Lighting in Ealing Gardens / Liberate Ealing Gardens
• Enlighten Jericho Locks / Adjust the Lighting in Jericho Locks / Liberate Jericho Locks
• Enlighten the Magistracy of the Evenlode / Adjust the Lighting in the Magistracy of the Evenlode / Liberate the Magistracy of the Evenlode
• Balmoral in Gaslight
• Burrow in Candlelight
• Moulin in Gaslight

Station VIII and the Hurlers lack a Darkness card, as their light level is adjusted by a Storylet. Marigold seems not to use its Darkness quality at all.

Unique Cards

The following cards are unique to their location and do not fit into one of the above groupings.

Ealing Gardens

• Engage in Unobserved Charity
• Ministry Enforcement
• Rubbery Observances
• Upper River Artistry
• Constellations (Note: removed from your deck when Ealing Gardens: Darkness is below 6)
• Up to one card involving the Honey-Mazed Bear
  • Before beginning the cycle, you may draw The Incident of the Honey-Mazed Bear or The Bear, Again
  • After accepting the Urchins' request, there are no bear-related cards before you begin the hunt.
  • Players with A Gazebo! may set up their own Bear Show. Gazebo-free players have no bear-related cards to draw before returning the bear.

Jericho Locks

• Indulge in Illicit Charity

Station VIII

• Something is Landing (Note: after playing this card, it is removed from your deck for 24 hours.)

Burrow-Infra-Mump

• A Nosy Art-Historian (Note: this card will be removed after A Church in the Wild is founded)
• A Rose for the Dead (Note: this card will be removed after it is played once)
• The Bloom of the Rose (Note: this card will be removed after it is played once)

The Hurlers

• Grazing Goat-Demons