# of Players: 2-6
Playtime: 30-60 Minutes
Playtime: 30-60 Minutes
Core Mechanic: Programming
Theme: Western
Type: Family Euro
Weight: Light
Year: 2014
Rating: 7.5*
This 2015 Spiel de Jahres winner slipped under the radar for me when it first came out. I didn't even know that it had won until the app came out and I looked into the game further. At first glance, it didn't seem like it would be my sort of game as I am not too fond of the idea of programming games, even though this may have been the first programming game I played. However, the theme and components were very appealing and it was award-winning. Would this family euro convince me that programming games were better than they sound?
The goal of the game is to have the most loot at the end. Each player controls a character with a special power that slightly alters the rules of the game and all of these characters are on a train. Each player is dealt a hand of cards from their personal decks with different actions to take which will be played into a common pile during the Schemin', either face up or face down depending on the turn and round. Once the players have played all their cards, the cards from the common pile are played one at a time during the Stealin', with the character of each player acting accordingly.
The actions that players can take include moving between train cars, moving up and down between the two levels of the train cars, punching or shooting your fellow riders, stealing loot, or moving the Marshall. Moving is pretty straight forward - you want to try to move to different cars to steal the loot that is there, with the more valuable loot generally closer to the front of the train. Changing levels is a good way to escape your fellow passengers and the Marshall and you can move a lot faster on top of the train. Punching someone in the same floor and train car as you knocks them into a neighbouring car and they drop one loot they were carrying, if any.
Again, the main mechanic of this game is programming. As players add cards one at a time to the common deck, they will need to react to what their opponents played before them in order to make sure they aren't wasting an action or move into the wrong car! With some cards played face down and other cards played two at a time, this adds to the strategy and surprise. This is a light game despite this tactical play - once you've played your cards you are at the mercy of watching the chaotic action unfold. The component quality is definitely the biggest draw. The double-deck train just looks like something that would be fun to play with even if the game play was mediocre, which luckily it is not.
In the end, I have mixed feelings about the game. I am a sucker for anything western-themed and as I mentioned the components are great. However, this game did not sell me on programming at all. I think that this game is a good candidate for the Gateway collection, but that is it. There are a couple of expansions available so maybe if I get a chance to play one of them it might change my mind, but I also don't see this game being one I would consider playing again with so many other games out there.
The goal of the game is to have the most loot at the end. Each player controls a character with a special power that slightly alters the rules of the game and all of these characters are on a train. Each player is dealt a hand of cards from their personal decks with different actions to take which will be played into a common pile during the Schemin', either face up or face down depending on the turn and round. Once the players have played all their cards, the cards from the common pile are played one at a time during the Stealin', with the character of each player acting accordingly.
The actions that players can take include moving between train cars, moving up and down between the two levels of the train cars, punching or shooting your fellow riders, stealing loot, or moving the Marshall. Moving is pretty straight forward - you want to try to move to different cars to steal the loot that is there, with the more valuable loot generally closer to the front of the train. Changing levels is a good way to escape your fellow passengers and the Marshall and you can move a lot faster on top of the train. Punching someone in the same floor and train car as you knocks them into a neighbouring car and they drop one loot they were carrying, if any.
If you played the card allowing you to shoot someone, you take one of your six bullet cards and give it to any player that is in a neighbouring car if you are on the bottom floor or any car other than your own if you are on the top floor. You cannot shoot people in the same car as you. If you steal loot, you either can take one of the items of loot available in the train car you are in. Finally, you can move the Marshall. When the Marshall moves into the same car as a player, that player gains a bullet card and moves to the roof of the car. I mentioned the bullet cards in this paragraph - these cards get added to your deck of cards and effectively become useless cards that take up your hand in place of the other action cards of your deck.
Again, the main mechanic of this game is programming. As players add cards one at a time to the common deck, they will need to react to what their opponents played before them in order to make sure they aren't wasting an action or move into the wrong car! With some cards played face down and other cards played two at a time, this adds to the strategy and surprise. This is a light game despite this tactical play - once you've played your cards you are at the mercy of watching the chaotic action unfold. The component quality is definitely the biggest draw. The double-deck train just looks like something that would be fun to play with even if the game play was mediocre, which luckily it is not.
In the end, I have mixed feelings about the game. I am a sucker for anything western-themed and as I mentioned the components are great. However, this game did not sell me on programming at all. I think that this game is a good candidate for the Gateway collection, but that is it. There are a couple of expansions available so maybe if I get a chance to play one of them it might change my mind, but I also don't see this game being one I would consider playing again with so many other games out there.
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