Great Western Trail - El Paso: Rapid Review
Information:
Player Age: 12+
Player Count: 1 - 4 Players
BGG Weight: 2.88
Time to Play: 60 - 90 Minutes
Year Published: 2024
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the VR Distribution
Rundown:
The original ‘Great Western Trail’ is one of the most popular Euro games available. The popularity of it has even warranted three more stand-alone entries in the series. El Paso is the latest of these stand-alone additions. It is the most accessible version yet, as it was designed to be, and takes the original concept and compacts into a 60-minute game. This isn't just a compact version but one that adds its own elements, creating not only a lighter edition but one that can stand on its own merit.
In this GWT game, players are moving around a shared rondel in the pursuit of building the best hand of cattle. When the player reaches El Paso they have to stop, gain 5 gold (not the amount gained from cattle like other games), take one Simmental cattle card into their discard pile, and deliver their cattle by discarding their hand. They will sum up the total values shown on the unique cows in their hand to create a score. This score can be increased with temporary or permanent certificates.
With this score players will place a disk from their board onto a trading post of either equal or lower value, gaining any benefit displayed below. The disk cannot be placed on a trading post that the player has already played on unless it is trading post 0, 12, or 16. The disks with a black border surrounding them on the individual player boards can only be removed when reaching a black border trading post. Whenever players remove disks off their player board, they will be unlocking benefits or new auxiliary actions to improve their engine.
Actions:
On a turn, players move up to three spaces (four if upgraded) forward across the map. An empty spot does not count toward movement, but moving over your opponent's buildings will. When the player stops their movement on a location, they can either perform one auxiliary action (mandatory if it is an opponent's location) or perform the action(s) shown on the building. Since the location tokens have Euro iconography, it is important to know the related actions (explained below).
Cattle:
Even if it is on a smaller scale, GWT is a deck-building game. Cattle can be gained, discarded (make way for a better hand), or removed from your deck. There is one auxiliary action for drawing and discarding cards, as well as one for removing a card from your deck.
To buy a cattle card, players have to discard an amount of cowboy cards and pay a certain amount of dollars when on the ‘buy cattle’ action icon. 
Moving Herder:
This action allows you to move your herder again, up to that amount of spaces. This gets that player to El Paso faster and awards an extra activation at the new location the player lands on.
Auxiliary Action:
Each player has four auxiliary actions, where the game begins with two unlocked and the other two can become stronger during the game. These abilities include gaining currency and certificates, removing cards from the game, and drawing then discarding cards
Using the Train:
After discarding the number of engineers/wild workers and paying the cost, players can activate one train card at this location.
The majority of the train actions will award either an objective (white) or a bonus (black) tile. The objective tile will give the player a way to gain additional points at the end of the game if the objective is met. The bonus tiles will award an immediate/ongoing bonus for the player, as well as a small number of points at the end of the game
Building:
Players can build two buildings throughout the game. When they create a building they will place the location at an available spot on the trail and add their coloured token onto that building. This shows that only the owner can use the location’s abilities. If an opponent stops on this location they will only have the use of one auxiliary actions Buildings will have a builder and dollar cost that needs to be spent (discarded) to be built. Players can upgrade their building instead of building new, which requires only the difference of builders and money to be paid instead.
Gaining currency, certificates, or exchange tokens:
There will be actions that will gain players currency, certificates that can be used to increase cattle value, and exchange tokens that allows players to draw and discard one card to assist in creating the best hand for cattle.
Hiring a Worker:
When a worker is hired they will be placed in your discard pile for a future hand. The wild worker will always cost an additional four dollars.
Passage:
The game will end once a set amount of Simmental cows have been depleted from players visiting El Paso (this amount changes based on player count). After this, the next player to visit El Paso ends the game and every other player has one more turn.
With only 12 available building spots on the board (not including El Paso), the trail in this version is much shorter, making the passage of the game feel much faster. Not only this but cowboys can be discarded to gain an extra movement space on a turn, and a lot of the buildings will also add movement. Due to these reasons, a player could lap around the board in one or two turns if they wanted to. This makes it essential for players to have the right deck of cattle cards and helps streamline the decision-making processes for new players when compared to other GWT games.
Intricacies to this Version:
There are two core Intracies in this version of GWT; the workers and the buildings.
Buildings:
The buildings in this version are communal and no player has their own set. Instead, there is a reserve of two of the same tokens for each building. The other element is that each player can only build two buildings. This makes the placement of the building more crucial for how players are going to combo their turns and interfere with oppositional plans.
Workers:
Workers are a part of the deck building and will go straight into play when gained. Once used, they will be placed into the discard pile to be moved into play immediately (and replaced) when drawn into your hand. Workers can also be discarded for a bonus effect during a player’s turn rather than to be used in a price. In terms of bonus effects, wild workers are worth two dollars, engineers are worth one dollar, cowboys can be discarded for additional movement, and the builder allows the player to increase their certificate by spending two dollars.
Determination:
- There is still a lot to understand in the game, but is currently the go-to GWT for introducing new players to the franchise.
- Workers are now a part of the deck-building engine.
- The game will end shortly after your engine is established, making some players feel like the ending is abrupt. This is especially true for players who move around the board at a slower pace.
GWT El Paso is receiving a Go-To Golden Seal. In the past when I have dabbled in GWT, I always enjoyed the mechanisms but found the game daunting due to the size. El Paso not only succeeds in creating a faster GWT that plays in 60 minutes, but also creates a perfect jumping on point for players who found any of the other games too daunting at first glance. If that was all El Paso did then it would still be great, however, it does so much more. It makes this version stand out on its own with a different way of incorporating both the buildings and workers, therefore adding a different depth for players to explore. If you were ever intrigued by GWT but haven't delved into the game for one reason or another, I heavily recommend trying El Paso for a more succinct play.
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I found this to be a really well-structured and insightful piece. The way you broke down the costs added a lot of clarity. Great job, and keep it up!
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