GREAT WESTERN TRAIL (2021)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
1-4	75-150 mins	Alexander Pfister	eggertspiele

In GWT, players are cowboys herding their cattle along the titular trail and towards Kansas. Once there, depending on how much your livestock is worth, you’ll be selling it off for a tidy sum before choosing which city it will go to.

At first glance this game looks busy and complicated. There are so many symbols strewn across the player boards and building tiles. Your first few plays will see someone’s head stuck in the reference book.

But it’s a lot simpler than it appears. You basically move your cowboy along the trail, using the various building action spaces to do things like hire, buy, sell, and much more.

While on your journey, you’ll be sifting through your cattle deck, trying to get the best hand by the time you reach Kansas, a hand that you’ll be improving throughout the game.

Because when you reach Kansas, that isn’t the end. You hurry back to the beginning of the trail a little richer, and then do it all again.

🎲

This game demands forward planning. Knowing when to dump cattle for profit and when to hold on to a colour is critical.

Also, the building tiles are placed randomly, so each game will see you have to work out the best order for efficiency.

And that’s before you and other players put down more buildings along the trail.

Everything evolves as the game progresses. You modify your player board to become a better cowboy. The cows you buy are worth more money to sell. And your little train travels along letting you reach further locations to sell for more points.

This game is amazing. For us it’s 90+ mins where we chuck on a Western soundtrack and just chill out, following each other along the trail and getting in each other’s way.

There’s almost nothing I don’t like about GREAT WESTERN TRAIL. It quickly became one of our all time favourites. And while it might not be for everyone, you should definitely experiance it at least once.