When the weather gets colder and the nights draw in we love to play some good board games. I know the temptation is to go for one of the ‘old favourites’, but sometimes it’s nice to learn a new game. Hence, we have started to play Colt Express, by Ludonaute. This is an outlaws game set in the Wild West where you are a bandit planning to rob a train. Essentially players take on the role of the bandits pulling off a train robbery and the game play objective is to become the richest robber.
The 30-minute game is best played with 4-5 players. So, with the kids facing me down and looking down the barrels of their six guns at me, we kicked off.
Colt Express: Getting it together
Colt Express is not played on a board but on a 3D cardboard train. In total there is 1 locomotive and 6 train cars. The pieces come flat-packed and it takes a good half an hour to build the locomotion and all the carriages: once built they fit safely inside the box. Firstly, each player gets a unique bandit with a special ability. Each then also gets an identical deck of action cards, 6 bullet cards, and a wooden bandit token.
The player who shoots the most bullets also gets the gunslinger award. There is a deck of 17 round cards that help decide how many cards are played each round, and whether they are played face-up or face-down during the round. The artwork on the cards has a cartoonish feel that works with the game to build atmosphere.
Finally, the game has various cardboard tokens to represent the loot in the game. And to really get into the theme, the game also comes with 10 different pieces of terrain (cacti and rocks, etc) that look pretty on the game table.
Win, lose or draw
Colt Express is played over five rounds in two phases, schemin and stealin. Each round the play involves moving, shooting, looting, and punching other players in the hopes of scoring the most loot. Players have to carefully plan their actions if they hope to win (strategy is key), but sometimes information is hidden, and you need to be lucky. After 5 rounds of lootin’ and shootin’, the player who has the most money is declared the winner.
Verdict
Even though the rules are very simple (only 2 pages), we found it was a better game for the grown ups than the children. Toby (9) didn’t really grasp the concept, meaning he stood little chance of winning.
Millie got quite frustrated at times too. But for adults, it’s a lot of fun. We think the more people playing, the better: 3-4 players works fine, but the game risks being predictable.
A game lasts around 30 minutes from start to finish – a good length. This is will make a great Christmas evening/Boxing Day family game. Probably teenagers upwards will appreciate it most. A good game, but slightly too ‘old’ for us to play as a family.
Disclaimer
Colt Express was sent to us to review as members of the Bloggers Board Game Club
