# Great Western Trail

Great Western Trail is a board game for 2–4 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 out of 10 by 152 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $57.45 (United States).

- **Players:** 2–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 75–150 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 3.7 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2016
- **Categories:** American West, Animals
- **Mechanics:** Hand Management, Ownership, Track Movement, Rondel, Variable Set-up, Deck, Bag, and Pool Building, Contracts, Income, Set Collection
- **Ludoya rating:** 8 out of 10, from 152 reviews
- **Owned by:** 215 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 1,227
- **Unique players:** 943

**Designers:** Alexander Pfister

**Artists:** Andreas Resch

**Publishers:** eggertspiele

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gamers Guild AZ | 58.39 $ | https://gamersguildaz.com/products/great-western-trail-1 |
| Element Games | 38.69 £ | https://elementgames.co.uk/board-games/great-western-trail-2nd-edition |
| eFantasy | 54.99 € | https://www.efantasy.gr/en/products/board-games/195669-board-game-great-western-trail-2nd-edition |
| Zatu Games | 26.09 £ | https://zatu.com/products/great-western-trail-2nd-edition |
| Spelexperten | 428 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/strategispel/great-western-trail-1.html |
| Svet deskovych her | 1130 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/11646/great-western-trail-2nd-ed |
| Alphaspel | 529 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/137225-great-western-trail-2nd-ed |
| Va de jocs | 49.5 € | https://vadejocs.es/producto/great-western-trail |
| Milan Spiele | 51.7 € | https://www.milan-spiele.de/great-western-trail-neuauflage-2021-p-30528.html |
| Good Games | 87.5 $ | https://www.goodgames.com.au/products/great-western-trail |

## Expansions

- [Great Western Trail: Rails to the North](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-rails-to-the-north)
- [Great Western Trail: Promo Station Master Tiles](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-promo-station-master-tiles)
- [Great Western Trail: The Eleventh Building Tile](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-the-eleventh-building-tile)
- [Great Western Trail: 13th Building Tile](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-13th-building-tile)
- [Great Western Trail: At the Poker Table](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-at-the-poker-table)
- [Deutscher Spielepreis 2017 Goodie Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/deutscher-spielepreis-2017-goodie-box)
- [Brettspiel Adventskalender 2018](https://www.ludoya.com/games/brettspiel-adventskalender-2018)
- [Super Power](https://www.ludoya.com/games/super-power)

## Similar games

- [Great Western Trail: Second Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-second-edition)
- [Great Western Trail: Argentina](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-argentina)
- [Great Western Trail: New Zealand](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-new-zealand)
- [Great Western Trail: El Paso](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-el-paso)
- [IKI](https://www.ludoya.com/games/iki)
- [Ark Nova](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ark-nova)
- [Everdell](https://www.ludoya.com/games/everdell)
- [Woodcraft](https://www.ludoya.com/games/woodcraft)
- [Teotihuacan: City of Gods – Deluxe Master Set](https://www.ludoya.com/games/teotihuacan-city-of-gods-deluxe-master-set)
- [Ostia](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ostia-2)
- [Tramways](https://www.ludoya.com/games/tramways)
- [Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road](https://www.ludoya.com/games/merv-the-heart-of-the-silk-road)

## Rules questions

### How far can I move my cattleman each turn — do I have to use all my steps?

You must move at least 1 step and may move up to the step limit shown on your player board (start is 3 or 4 depending on player count); you must move forward along the trail (no backwards movement) and cannot pass over Kansas City (p.6).

### If I pass private buildings or hazard tiles with green/black hands but don’t have enough money, what happens?

You must immediately pay the indicated fees (to the bank for hazards, to the owner for private buildings) as you pass or land on them, but if you cannot pay you are still allowed to move — pay as much as you can and you never owe fees retroactively (p.6).

### When I land on a neutral or my own building, can I do its local actions and also an auxiliary action?

On a neutral building tile or a private tile you own you may perform each of that tile's local actions once (in any order); you may only perform an auxiliary action instead if you forfeit all of the tile's local actions (p.7; local actions explained pp.11–14).

### How do deliveries work — how far can I deliver and when do I pay transport costs?

Your Income subphase sets a total breeding value (sum of different cattle types plus certificates) and you may deliver to any city whose city value is ≤ that total (you cannot deliver to a city you already have a disc on, except Kansas City and San Francisco); transport costs apply if your engine's nose is behind the city — pay $1 per crest between your engine nose and that city's crest — and disc placement follows the white/dark corner rules (pp.8–9).

### How do auxiliary actions work — what's the difference between single and double auxiliary actions?

Each auxiliary action has two disc spaces: if at least one space is cleared the action is unlocked (single use), and if both spaces are cleared you may use it as a double action (requirements and rewards doubled); note that using an auxiliary action from a location in place of local actions can only be a single use even if both spaces are cleared (p.13).

### When does the game end and do other players get a final turn?

The game end is triggered when a worker is placed on the last job‑market space during Kansas City subphase 2 or 3 (moving the job market token out); the active player finishes that turn and then each other player gets one final turn (they may go to Kansas City but cannot take worker tiles from foresight during their final Kansas City subphases) before final scoring (p.15).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail)
- [Great Western Trail in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/great-western-trail)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/193738)

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