Game Review: Tinners’ Trail

By Greg Schloesser
September 4, 2008

Publisher: Warfrog Games
Designer: Martin Wallace
Players: 3-4
Ages: 13+
Playing Time: 60-90 minutes
Rules Language: English
Link:

Martin Wallace is quickly joining the ranks of the most prolific game designers. Formerly, he usually released most of his creations under the Warfrog label, and generally one could expect only one or two designs per year from him. Now, his name is popping up on releases from numerous different companies, and his production has increased dramatically. For me, that is a very good thing, as Wallace remains one of my favorite designers.

To facilitate his designs that may not be as strategy-laden or intricate as his creations usually associated with the Warfrog line of games, the new Treefrog Line has been created. This new division will feature Wallace’s creations that, while not as “deep” as his Warfrog releases, are still filled with decisions and strategy options. The first in this new line of games is Tinners’ Trail, which is, in a sense, a prequel to his 2007 title Brass.

Tinners’ Trail focuses on the copper and tin mining industries of nineteenth century Cornwall. Players will establish land claims, erect and develop mines, attract miners, and improve transportation, all in an effort to extract valuable tin and copper and sell it for a profit. The unusual name “Tinners’ Trail” is derived from the long walks to the mines that miners were forced to take.

Play takes place on a board depicting the Cornwall region of England. The region is divided into twenty areas, eleven of which are seeded with tin, copper and water cubes. Players receive an assortment of mines and investment cubes, as well as a starting income of 15 pounds. There are no actual coins or paper money, as a player’s treasury is tracked on the board.

The game is played over the course of four turns. After determining the price of tin and copper via dice rolls and adjusting the developments available for the current turn, players then take their actions. This is the most active segment of the game, as players alternate performing various actions. In a mechanism lifted directly from Thebes, each action costs a specific amount of time. A player has ten “time points” per turn, and he may continue to perform actions as long as he is still behind on the time track. Otherwise, the player who is furthest behind takes the next action. I absolutely loved this mechanism in Thebes, and it works well here, too.

Possible actions include:

• Build mine. The player indicates an area that does not already contain a mine, and it is auctioned to the highest bidder. The winner places a mine marker in the area, and moves his marker on the time track. If the active player did not win the auction, he may place another territory up for auction, or take a different action. A player must possess a mine in a territory in order to extract ore located there.

  A player may place a territory up for auction that does not currently contain any ore or water cubes. The player who wins the territory rolls the dice to determine the amount of ore and water that is found. This is a risky endeavor, as it is quite possible to roll lots of water with few if any ore. Of course, it is also possible to find a mother lode of ore with little water to interfere with its extraction.

• Mine ore. Players may take tin and copper cubes from the area. The amount a player may extract per action depends upon the improvements in the territory. The base amount is two, and this can be increased up to five based on the presence of a miner, port and train.

  There is a cost to mine ore, and this is based on the number of water cubes present. Ore is more difficult and expensive to extract if the shaft is filled with water. Each time ore is extracted, a new water cube is added to the area, making it even more expensive to mine ore on future turns.

• Place miner, adit, port, train or pumps. Each of these is a different action, and each improvement either increases the production capacity of a mine (miner, port or train), increases the amount of copper and tin in an area (adit), or reduces the number of water cubes in an area (port, pumps or train). Trains even reduce the number of water cubes in each adjacent area, so they are very popular. A limited amount of each of these items is available each turn, and there tends to be a rush on acquiring them.

• Sell pasties. No, these are not the types of pasties found at certain adult bars, but rather a type of sandwich that miners could eat with their dirty hands. Selling pasties, pronounced with a short “a” sound, earns the player one pound, which doesn’t seem like much. However, money can be tight, so a pound can be quite significant.

• Pass. When a player passes, he moves to the top of the turn order for the following turn. This gives the player first shot at a desired item and allows the player to open up a new territory – known as prospecting – at the end of the turn.

Making this phase of the game more challenging is that only two players can make an identical purchase. So, turn order can be vital, giving added incentive to passing early during the turn. Of course, that means you likely won’t be able to take all of the actions you planned. Deciding when to pass is a tough choice.

Players should not spend all of their money on external investments, as they will need money to operate during the following turn. Of course, on the final turn of the game, all money should be spent on these investments.

The final action of a turn is prospecting, wherein the first two players each open a new area by rolling the dice and placing new tin, copper and water cubes.

Each round is conducted in the same fashion, with the game ending after the fourth turn. The player who earned the most victory points from external investments is victorious. The game generally plays to completion in about ninety minutes or so.

Tinners’ Trail is certainly easier to learn and play than many of Wallace’s Warfrog releases, and that is the intent. Still, the game is filled with important choices and decisions, and there are definite strategies to be pursued. Choosing which actions to take each turn can be tough, and there is a bit of a “chicken” game present in the proceedings. Acquiring developments is critical, but choosing which ones to secure can be tricky. A major part of these decisions is often are determined by what is available when it is your turn. Of course, you do have some influence on when your turn arrives by the actions you choose. Often, a skillful player will choose actions that give him several turns in a row.

Money management is also critical, as a player must attempt to have a sufficient amount to acquire new mines and make the vital external investments. It is heartbreaking to fall a pound or two short of the amount needed to make a desired external investment. So, players must carefully manage their funds and not overspend.

Some have complained that the limited number of options available each turn is somewhat confining. This might be a valid complaint, as the developments tend to be scooped quickly. On some turns, this does result in some players not having many viable options on their turn. Fortunately, this hasn’t happened frequently in the games I’ve played, so the other strengths of the game have outweighed this drawback.

I’ve also heard from some folks that they feel the game has limited staying power. They believe that after a few games, there really isn’t anything more to explore. That also may ultimately prove to be true, but after six or so playings, I’m still finding the game to be quite challenging. I continue to enjoy each play, and look forward to the next one. Perhaps after another half-dozen plays I feel the game will have played out, but I certainly have not reached that point just yet.

Tinners’ Trail is a fine first release in the new TreeFrog Line. I’m looking forward to future titles released under this label.

Comments:

< Back Home