Board + Card Game: Ideas Needed

Don't be paranoid about your "idea". Ideas are worthless, it's the resulting game with a rulebook has a value. So I would say, don't share your rulebook unless you want the whole world to know about your game.

But at the same time, take whatever time you like to divulge as much as you see fit concerning your game "idea".

However know that an "idea" until prototyped and PROVEN... is rarely worth any degree of secrecy. I post entire blogs behind my design process and rarely do people concern themselves with the content... There is no need to worry about "copying" because largely in part not too many people will be interested in your IDEA. Maybe your game might prove to be different - but realistically ideas aren't worth much.

So take your time and tell us more about your idea. Personally I don't like the idea (Train robbers and such are not part of what interests me as a gamer). But others may feel differently. So don't be discouraged. It's just my own personal tastes.

Best of luck(!?) with your idea.

I am liking your theme of the train robbery but as others have suggested, perhaps use multiple maps. One theme that may work well to go along with the train robbery would be the hi-jacking of a plane (using a map of an aeroplane with different objects available within the plane). As for your heroes, it would be beneficial to create as many as you possibly can based on potential scenarios. If you were to create multiple maps, perhaps have "specific" heroes that would only be used in those scenarios. Just a thought :)

It sounds fun. Don't be afraid of revealing too much - in this community those who would have the capability to steal your idea and do something useful with it all have their own ideas that they care about more. You are better served to reveal too much and have help narrowing your focus and getting to a completed version of your idea faster.

It sounds fun and asynchronous gameplay can be interesting.

One thing that might be good to add is a time limit. You mentioned shoveling coal, maybe that gets the train to a station sooner so that speeds up time. (Maybe you already had this idea). A silent alarm in the bank could be hit that subtracts a couple turns from whatever you are using as the clock. (Maybe where the silent alarm is can be another hidden element?) The victims don't have to defeat the robbers - they just have to survive long enough to be rescued. Different maps may have slightly different mechanics for how much time you have and how the victims can try and speed things up to get rescued.

It's usually better for robbers in these scenarios to have the threat of violence rather than actual violence. Perhaps more violent actions also lower the time, so it is a choice for them when it's worth the risk to assert some extra force. Although stay away from very violent actions like actual murder. I think many would have a hard time with a game where one side plays criminals murdering the civilians played by the other.

We still do not have win goals (although maybe that is part of your idea you are hiding). I would suggest robbers need to escape (get to a certain spot) with enough loot, and victims have to run out the clock and prevent robbers from getting everything. As it stands, even with a few stat bonuses it feels like robbers will have a tough time of it. But that's for balancing. You should be playtesting already (at least with just yourself). Get a basic chess board and some dice and just experiment with various things. It's never too early.