American West

Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 6 – France & Old West includes a double-sided game board that features France on one side and the western half of the United States on the other.

In the France half of this expansion, 2-5 players collect train cards and claim routes in order to complete tickets in hand, but most of the tracks on the board aren't colored! Each time that you draw cards, you must take a colored tile that's 2-5 train cars long and place that tile on an empty track bed. Once you've done this, any player can claim that route by discarding the appropriately colored cards from hand, as in any other Ticket to Ride game. (Single-length routes are already colored, and the map contains a number of gray-colored ferry routes.)

Multiple track beds on the game board overlap, and once a tile has placed on the board, any track beds crossed by this tile are off-limits and nothing can be built on them. At the end of the game, players score their tickets, with bonuses being awarded for longest continuous route and most tickets completed.

In the Old West half of the expansion, 2-6 players start the game by choosing (in reverse player order) a starting location for one of their three city pieces. The first route that a player claims must have this city as one of the route's two endpoints, and each subsequent route claimed must connect to that player's existing network.

After claiming a route, a player can place one of their remaining cities on either end of that route by discarding a matching pair of train cards. Only one city marker can be in each city. Whenever a player builds a route that connects to a city owned by another player, the owner of the city claims the points for the route, not the player placing the trains. If both endpoints of the route have cities, then the owner of each city scores these points. Whoever completes the most tickets in this expansion scores 15 bonus points.

As a variant, you can play Old West with Alvin the Alien. No player can start the game in Roswell, and the first player who builds a route into Roswell scores 10 points, then places the Alvin marker in any city that they control. The next player to connect to this city scores 10 points, then moves Alvin as before. Whoever controls Alvin at the end of the game scores 10 bonus points.

Description from the publisher:

With the driving of the golden spike in 1869, the first transcontinental railroad was completed in the United States — but really it was only the beginning of a rapid expansion of railways that would crisscross the entire country.

In Whistle Stop, you make your way west across the country, using your fledgling railroad company to build routes, pick up valuable cargo, and deliver needed goods to growing towns, creating a network of whistle stops that you and your competitors can leverage as you continue to expand your networks. Along the way, you gain shares in other railroads and watch your reputation soar with each successful delivery before making a final push to complete long hauls to the boom towns of the West.

This design is a new twist on pick-up-and-deliver games. As players move their trains west and pick up goods, they can deliver those goods to small towns to gain shares in railroads, or hold on to them for a bigger payout when they reach the west coast. At the same time, they try to optimize their actions (and gain extra ones), lay down new track tiles, block the other players, gather and use valuable whistles for special moves and abilities, and carefully manage their coal resources.

Description from the publisher:

"Based on the classic computer game"

According to the box:

"You may:
1. Travel the trail
2. Work together to overcome calamities
3. Get at least one member of your party to Oregon
4. Stop and rest
5. Decide which of your friends will die of dysentery
6. Write your name on a tombstone
What is your choice?"

All sorts of gruesome deaths await you and the rest of your wagon party in this official multi-player card game version of the classic computer game. To win you’ll need to keep one player alive all the way from Independence, MO to the Willamette Valley. But between rattlesnakes, starvation, dead oxen, broken bones, dysentery, and a host of other calamities the odds are long . . . almost as long as the Oregon Trail itself.

Players work together to move along the trail, fording rivers and playing Supply Cards to overcome calamities. But be warned–there will be times when it makes sense to let one of your wagon mates succumb to a calamity rather than expend precious supplies. And every time players go the way of all flesh, you’ll flip over the roster card and write their names on tombstones (don’t forget to include a quick epitaph). It’s a great way to relive your fond memories of one of the world’s most beloved computer games, and to kill off your family and friends at the same time.

Description from the publisher:

America in the 19th century: You are a rancher and repeatedly herd your cattle from Texas to Kansas City, where you send them off by train. This earns you money and victory points. Needless to say, each time you arrive in Kansas City, you want to have your most valuable cattle in tow. However, the "Great Western Trail" not only requires that you keep your herd in good shape, but also that you wisely use the various buildings along the trail. Also, it might be a good idea to hire capable staff: cowboys to improve your herd, craftsmen to build your very own buildings, or engineers for the important railroad line.

If you cleverly manage your herd and navigate the opportunities and pitfalls of Great Western Trail, you surely will gain the most victory points and win the game.

Howdy, ya'll.
C'mon in and sit a spell. Let me tell ya about Jack Colty and his gang, and get ya up to gallop on all the interestin' events. Those filthy drovers and gunslingers are dangerous and desperate, each one generally havin' killed a man, and be content to live on a diet of Navy plug and whiskey.
I ain't never seen no queen in her damned undies, so the feller says. But I'll tell you what - after hearin' this here stupefyin' story I'm about to unfold, well, I guess you folks can make up yer own minds why I retired early.

The year is 1892.
The bank at Repentance Springs has been robbed.
Many good citizens, including Sheriff Anton Dreyfus and school-marm Sue Daggett, were brutally slain as Colty's gang shot its way, whooping and hollering, out of town.
Colonel Ned McReady and his men are tasked with bringing Jack Colty - a man so mean he'd steal a fly from a blind spider, or a coin off a dead man's eyes - and his gang to justice.

Revolver is a non-collectable card game set in the Old West.

Consisting of two balanced 62 card decks, the game pits two players against each other in a life or death struggle. One player takes the role of Colonel Ned McReady and his lawmen, and his opponent assumes control of the notorious and deadly Colty gang.

At their disposal, the Colty gang - the meanest bunch of low down dirty dogs in the West - have a roster of weaponry to bring down the lawmen on their tail: .38 Specials, .45 Long Colts, 1866 double barrel Derringers, and even a Gatling gun! Some example cards from the gang's deck: Cherokee Scout, "Adios, Amigoes!", "Thanks for yer coffee and eggs, ma'am", and "Chew on this, Gringo!"

The Colonel player's objective is to eliminate all the gang members before they can escape across the Mexican border. He can utilise such cards as Buffalo Stampede, Rattlesnake Bite, "I can smell those yellow bellies on the wind", "He shot my hat clean off!" Apache Scout, and Rickety Bridge.

The game has an asymmetrical design, with both decks featuring different cards and abilities. Revolver is played using a 5-column system, representing consecutive gunfights in the following battlegrounds: The Bank at Repentance Springs, Whiskey Canyon, Buzzard Point, Rattlesnake Creek, and the 3:15 Express from Rattlesnake Station. Gameplay is quick and bloodthirsty with bandits gunned down frequently, and law-men peppered with lead by the well-placed use of "Fire at will, boys."

Numerous tricky decisions must be made throughout. For instance, the Colty player could choose to deploy the Jackson Clan during the Whiskey Canyon battle, but the resources that this would require might make it a very risky, but rewarding, play. Similarly, the Colonel McReady player can deploy the Colonel at any time during the conflict - he's free to play aboard the 3:15 Express Train, but hugely expensive if used at Buzzard Point, for instance. Also, during the final confrontation, Jack Colty can force the train to crash - as a last ditch effort, probably killing some of his own crew in the process - he's as crazy as popcorn on a hot stove!

Primarily a combat-driven card game, each player must manage his deck of cards effectively to win. In addition to simple, unique abilities, each card also has two values: power and cost. Some simple icons are used to display such things as 'coming-into-play' effects, and if a gringo has 'True Grit'.

Revolver can trace its parentage back to San Juan, Magic: The Gathering, Battle Line, and is a new implementation of Aliens: This Time It's War.

Victory Conditions:

The Colty Gang player wins if he manages to "Escape across the Mexican border."
The Colty Gang player wins if he reaches and survives the battle on the 3:15 Express train.
The Colonel McReady player wins if Jack Colty and all the gang members are either hanged or killed.
The Colonel McReady player wins if Cortez is killed before boarding the 3:15 Express train.

Each bandit character card has a Survival Rating, indicating the likelihood of them surviving to the end of the game. For example, Lenny and Micky Mason have a low chance of survival, whereas Cortez has a high Survival Rating. Also, certain character's deaths have hugely detrimental effects on the game, such as having to discard a card, or in "Kittens" Mackenzie's case: the gang having to fight an extra two turns on the Rattlesnake Creek battlefield.