# Great Western Trail: Second Edition

Great Western Trail: Second Edition is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 75–150 minutes and is meant for ages 12 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 8.2 out of 10 by 97 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $58.39 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 75–150 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 3.7 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2021
- **Categories:** Animals, American West, Farming
- **Mechanics:** Rondel, Ownership, Track Movement, Hand Management, Set Collection, Solo / Solitaire Game, Tags, Deck, Bag, and Pool Building, Variable Set-up
- **Ludoya rating:** 8.2 out of 10, from 97 reviews
- **Owned by:** 246 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 789
- **Unique players:** 612

**Designers:** Alexander Pfister

**Artists:** Chris Quilliams

**Publishers:** 本长文化, eggertspiele

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Atomic Empire | 58.39 $ | https://www.atomicempire.com/Item/308899 |
| Cardhaus Games | 58.39 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/great-western-trail-second-edition/ |
| Board Game Bliss | 68.95 $ | https://www.boardgamebliss.com/products/great-western-trail-second-edition |
| 401 Games | 69.95 $ | https://store.401games.ca/products/great-western-trail-second-edition |
| Ludifolie | 39.9 € | https://www.ludifolie.com/12656-great-western-trail-seconde-edition.html |
| Dragons Lair | 549 kr | https://dragonslair.se/products/great-western-trail-2nd-edition |
| Game Ninja | 599 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/great-western-trail-second-edition/ |
| Good Games | 90.01 $ | https://www.goodgames.com.au/products/great-western-trail-new-edition |
| Games Empire | 94.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/great-western-trail-second-edition |
| Gameology | 97.95 $ | https://www.gameology.com.au/products/great-western-trail-board-game |

## Expansions

- [Great Western Trail: Second Edition – Rails To The North](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-rails-to-the-north-second-edition)
- [Great Western Trail: At the Poker Table](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-at-the-poker-table)
- [Super Power](https://www.ludoya.com/games/super-power)

## Similar games

- [Great Western Trail: New Zealand](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-new-zealand)
- [Great Western Trail](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail)
- [Great Western Trail: Argentina](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-argentina)
- [Great Western Trail: El Paso](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-el-paso)
- [Ark Nova](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ark-nova)
- [Everdell](https://www.ludoya.com/games/everdell)
- [Teotihuacan: City of Gods – Deluxe Master Set](https://www.ludoya.com/games/teotihuacan-city-of-gods-deluxe-master-set)
- [Viscounts of the West Kingdom](https://www.ludoya.com/games/viscounts-of-the-west-kingdom)
- [El Burro: A La Granja Game](https://www.ludoya.com/games/el-burro-a-la-granja-game)
- [Boonlake](https://www.ludoya.com/games/boonlake)
- [Windmill Valley](https://www.ludoya.com/games/windmill-valley)
- [Teotihuacan: City of Gods](https://www.ludoya.com/games/teotihuacan-city-of-gods)

## Rules questions

### 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).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-second-edition)
- [Great Western Trail: Second Edition in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/great-western-trail-second-edition)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/341169)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._