This review originally appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Gamers Alliance Report. It has received minor editing for BGG.
Also - please note that the pictures included are from BGG; my photography skills can't generate such nice pictures.
Tinner's Trail
Designed by <PERSON> and originally published Treefrog; republished by JKLM Games.
The Game
For some years now, <PERSON> has been known for his gamer-friendly designs. While Age of Steamstands out as his most popular design, many of his other designs such as Princes of the Renaissancehave gained their own followings as well. His lighter designs, such as ...und tschüss!and Der weiße Lotushave been somewhat less well received but, particularly in the latter case, there were apparently significant rule changes made to his design. Rather than risk such issues recurring, <PERSON> has moved to publishing some of his lighter designs under the Treefrog label. Lighter, however, does not imply light or gamer-unfriendly; the titles announced so far might be shorter in duration than some Warfrog offerings but they would otherwise fit right in. Such is certainly the case with Tinners' Trail, the first title in the line. <PERSON> has designed many economic games set in the United Kingdom previously, including Lancashire Railwaysand Brass: Lancashire, and Tinners' Trail fits right in. Unlike those games, it can regularly be completed in an hour and the options offered are somewhat easier to wrap one's head around, but it's still clearly a game aimed at more serious gamers.
The theme of Tinners' Trail is mining copper and tin in the Cornwall section of England back in the 19th century. The game is played over four turns; each turn, players receive ten time units to spend on various actions. The most important of those actions is the auctioning of land; players may only mine on land that they own. This action takes two units of time as well as the financial cost of the winning bid. Many of the spaces are seeded with copper, tin, and most unwelcome water at the start of the game; spaces that haven't already been seeded are populated by a dice roll once purchased.
Mining takes one unit of time and costs one pound per item extracted for each unit of water present. The initial mining limit is two units of copper and/or tin each time an area in mined. Future mining is impeded by the addition of a unit of water to the territory at the end of each mining action.
In addition, there are five choices of actions to improve land. 581
Miners take one unit of time to hire and improve the number of units that may be mined in one action by one unit. Ports require two units of time to build and remove one unit of water in addition to improving production by one unit. Steam Trains aren't available until the final two turns, but, at a cost of two time units, remove two units of water from the territory where they are placed as well as one unit from each adjacent space while increasing production. Each territory may only have a single piece of each type. Adits are placed between two spaces and remove a unit of water from each while adding a unit of copper and a unit of tin to each. Adits cost three units of time and only one adit can be placed between any two particular territories. Finally, steam pumps simply remove water from one or more territories at the cost of one time unit each. One other action is available; players may spend one unit of time to sell pasties – sandwiches – and receive one pound.
Each turn then continues, in a manner very similar to that of , with the player who has used the least time either taking an action or passing, until all players have passed (perhaps because they've run out of time for actions). Players are then paid for their mined copper and tin and, in the order that they passed, have the opportunity to purchase victory points. There is no advantage to buying in bulk, but it is a significant advantage to purchasing victory points early; points purchased on the final turn are twice as expensive as those purchased the first turn. This is balanced by the need to have money on hand for auctions and mining on the next turn. The game continues through four similar turns and, at the end, the player with the most victory points wins.
Reactions
The most common negative reaction I've heard to Tinners' Trail relates to the random factors. First, the prices for copper and tin are set randomly each turn.
There are various adjustments made under certain circumstances, but the value of the metals still can vary widely. The requirement than all materials must be sold each turn does somewhat limit the ability to plan for a better future. Not entirely, however. Players can choose which goods to mine and when. 118