Great Western Trail

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 8.5 out of 10

   Afrochiapet

   Great Western Trail has the distinction of being the gateway game that brought me back into the hobby. As is the case with many of Pfister's heavier designs, GWT's game boards may make your eyes cross at first glance. It belies a fairly straightforward premise: partying until the cows come home. The main board serves as a space to build your engine and ready your hand of high value cows for delivery. The three job roles assist in achieving this goal: cowboys improve your cow quality, builders create spaces to improve your actions, and engineers improve player boards/scoring. Even after a long break since my last play, I continue to be impressed that it somehow works despite a seemingly hodgepodge manner of game mechanics. GWT holds a special place for me, and with the upcoming regional variants, it seems it does for others as well. The second edition smoothens out some of the game's questionable visual decisions, but part of me misses the discount rack country music box cover art.

2. 8 out of 10

   AaronDrakin

   Do you race around the track as fast as possible, throwing crappy cows at anyone who'll take them, or do you slowly and methodically craft a herd of bovine so magnificent even the gods would weep upon seeing it? In this case both answers are right. Or you can invest all your money in buildings that make the great western trail that much longer while wringing every ounce of efficiency out of your herd. Or, you know, you could go play with your trains I guess...

3. AHforever

   Out of my collection of around 300 boardgames, this is the only one my girlfriend hates and will not play. This is curious to me, as i wouldnt have expected the tenth best game of all time to be the only one she hates. The only reasons she has given so far, is that she feels the game is too repetitive just going in a loop over and over. This “issue” doesnt bother me, as i am getting so sick of being bombarded by yet another worker placement game every time i turn around, or yet another dice placement game, or yet another dice drafting game, or yet another engine builder......yuck. The loop in GWT is a breathe of fresh air. She has also cited the linear nature of the strategies, how you just pick one and run with it. I cant argue this, and its the main thing about this game that bothers me: train strategy in this game, or “ringing the bell”, might be the most linear and boring experience in my entire collection The reasons i am giving this a spot in my top ten over games like castles of burgundy (my #11), is that: #1: I am a sucker for super variable setups and this game has the best one outside of games with the names Tascini or Luciani on the box. I feel like a kid on Christmas and i cant wait to see what comes out. (Note however, this is at least 60% due to the EXPANSION) #2: every year that goes by, i am getting more and more sick of the same old mechanics all the time, and the “loop” that my girlfriend hates so much, feels different and spatial. #3: building strategy is so damn fun, it almost makes up for train strategy #4: turns are pretty quick, unless someone has linked up a bunch of those “advance your cowboy”, or cantrip, or free turn buildings or whatever you may call them. This is something you rarely see in games of this weight. Also, AP players aside, you can finish this game faster than most games of this weight. this game CAN, and i stress CAN, be as fast as the six turn Vinhos. Another negative about this game is the table space it uses up. You wont be able to play this game unless you have a full size table. For this reason i cant even bring it to two of my game groups So in the end, the innovation and variability of GWT make up for at least one glaring problem, and earn it ten stars and a spot in my top ten