
2021 · American West
Great Western Trail: Second Edition
Players take the role of 19th‑century ranchers who repeatedly herd cattle from Texas to Kansas City, selling livestock by loading them onto trains for money and victory points. Gameplay revolves around managing a hand of cow cards, optimizing the composition and value of the herd, moving along a shared trail, and using buildings encountered en route to gain actions or upgrades. Players hire specialists (cowboys, craftsmen, engineers) to improve their herd, construct personal buildings, and advance along the railroad. The game includes competitive interaction on the trail, strategic route planning, and a solo mode option, with modular elements that alter strategy and replayability.
- Players
- 1–4 best 3
- Playing time
- 75–150 min
- Age
- 12+
- Complexity
- 3.7 / 5
About the game
- Design
- Publishers
Expansions
See them in LudoyaPhotos from Ludoya tables
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Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 789
- Plays logged
- 612
- Players
- 1h 59m
- Average play
- 246
- In collections
- 26
- On wishlists
- 1
- Pre-ordered
8.2/10
from 97 Ludoya reviews
Jan Solo8.5 Muy buen Eurogame, diferente y con encanto.
Mestremuten9.0 Rating: 5/5 Production value: 3/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Do empty spaces on the trail count as locations or movement steps?
No. Only Kansas City and spaces containing a tile are locations, and each location along your path costs 1 step; empty spaces do not count. You must move forward at least 1 step and cannot exceed your current step limit (p. 7).
If I can’t afford a hand fee while moving, am I stuck?
No. You may still move, paying as much of the fee as you can and continuing normally. Hand fees are not paid retroactively if you later receive money (p. 7).
Can I perform a local action and then also take an auxiliary action?
No. On a neutral building or your own building, you may perform each available local action once, or—only if you perform none of them—one single auxiliary action instead. On another player’s building, a hazard, or an outlaw tile, you may perform only one single auxiliary action (p. 8).
When calculating my Kansas City income, do duplicate cattle types count twice?
No. Add the breeding value of each different cattle type in your hand only once, regardless of how many cards of that type you have; you may then add certificates. After taking that amount of money, discard your entire hand (p. 10).
Can I deliver to any city I can reach, and do I always pay transport costs?
You may deliver only to a city whose value is no higher than your total breeding value, and normally you cannot choose a city where you already have a disc; Kansas City and New York are exceptions. Transport costs apply only when your engine is below the destination: pay $1 for each railroad cross between your engine’s nose and that city’s value (pp. 10–11).
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.






















