About game: Have you every imagined to travel in time and become one of the Wild West gangsters? In the Colt Express your dreams will come through!

In this game you play a bandit robbing a train at the same time as other lawbreakers, and your goal is to become the richest outlaw of the Old West. The game consists of five rounds, and each round has two phases:

  • Each player plays 2-5 action cards on a common pile, with the cards being face up or face down depending on the type of the round.
  • The action cards are carried out in the order they were played – it is then when mistakes and oversights come to light!

The game takes place in a 3D train in which the outlaws can move from one car to another, run on the roof, punch the other bandits, shoot them, rob the passengers, or draw the Marshal out of position.

So, ready for adventure?
Number of players:

The game box suggest 2 to 6 players; I had the best fun with 4-5 players, as there was a lot of interaction and not too many breaks between the players turns.
Playing time: This is heavily dependent on the number of players and their experience with boardgames, but should never exceed 1 hour.
Complexity: Definitely not overly complex game – rules are straightforward, luck plays some element and in order to lead your bandit appropriately a good memory would be very useful!
What I like:
  • I really like theme – who would not like to move in time to the Wild West and rob the train?
  • There is a lot of suspense in the game – you simply do not remember who played what (or sometimes you will not remember your own moves). What comes of it is source of laughter for the whole players group 🙂
  • The components and 3D train model are gorgeous!
  • The game is relatively quick, provided you do not try with 6 players
  • It is very suitable to play with children
What I do not like:
  • There is always a luck factor when you draw the cards – still, this is reasonably mitigated in the game
  • The games takes too long with 6 players, and I do not like the duel (2 opponents) variant – although, there are special rules for this
  • After 10-20 games you know the game by heart and you need something new (expansions!) to spice-up the experience
For whom? Definitely for everybody from 5 years to 100 🙂 We play this game a lot with children and it greatly teaches them the the cause-effect dependency as well as is a good training for their memory.

The adults would love it too – it is such a great thing to finally become part of the Western tale and rob the train!
More about the game:

And now let us have a look at the components – all pictures from my session reports.

Everybody moving to the front of the train!

Doc, having 7 cards to choose from, is a formidable opponent!

But Tuco can shoot through the roof and is best suited to become top gunslinger of that robbery!

Watch out! Sheriff is on the move!

And what beautiful Cheyenne is planning now?

VERDICT:

ocena_4

The Colt Express was such an unexpected, positive discovery for me – I liked it from the first play and was sure, the children would love it too! It is one of our standard positions for the new adepts of baordgames hobby, always drawing attention with theme, components and suspenseful gameplay! Sure, for experienced players it will not give as much fun as to the beginner but they too can spend an exciting time with this title.

Try it by yourself! See you in another game review!