Image Courtesy of bloominoctober
This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
Please thumb this review if you appreciate my work. It does put a smile on my face to know you stopped by. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type – Sandbox Adventure Game
Play Time: 90-180 minutes
Number of Players: 2-6 (Best 4-5)
Mechanics – Action Points, Area Movement, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, Pick-up & Deliver, Take That, End Game Bonuses, Variable Player Powers, Betting & Bluffing
Difficulty – Moderate (Takes a couple of plays to put it all together)
Components – Excellent
Artist – <PERSON>
Release – 2018
Designer – <PERSON> -(Debut Game)
Overview and Theme
Out west the dust is grittier, the vultures prey on the dead and temperaments are on edge - connected by muscle memory to a trigger finger only inches away from a six-shooter already bored with being in its holster for all of 23 minutes.
Welcome to Western Legends, a sandbox adventure game that allows you to create your own story in the lands of the Wild West. Before I really crack in, what the heck is a sandbox game and how does it differ from other games? For starters we call them sandpits here in Australia but sandbox is definitely the better term in relation to gaming. It is used because a child can make pretty much whatever it wants out of a sandbox. They can mould hills and mountains, create rivers and caves, play army men in it...you name it. This then gives rise to the term 'sandbox game' to help define a game in which the players have more freedom in the paths they choose and the decisions they make, the actions they can take and there is usually a thematic element or story that can unfold.
All of this differs from a more traditional game where your role is set and the actions that you can take are fairly limited by comparison. , , or ...are all good examples of games that use a limited set of mechanisms\systems and give each player a role within a loose theme.
Western Legends, a sandbox game, is far more open than that and allows a player to pursue many avenues to victory. They can choose a life as an outlaw, be a lawman and hunt those dirty dogs down, rustle\wrangle cattle, prospect for gold, play poker in the saloons, rob the bank and so forth. 470
Players can even change their ways over the course of a game if they feel so inclined. Of course no game can be limitless and even Western Legends has its boundaries. But this is a card playin' romp through the days of frontier towns, where a man could set out to make of his life what he could...and if he couldn't he'd take it at the end of a barrel anyhow. Heck, even some famous women made a name for themselves in the 'ol west and proved they could be as skilled or as cunning as the next gringo.
But can a game with a far more open narrative and rules framework actually work at the end of the day? Is it a nice idea but ultimately fraught with danger in the end? That's what I'm here to find out and over plays spanning a year I played this one a few times to get the low down myself.
Pass me the rope compadre. I have me some lynchin' to do!
The Components
Western Legends comes to us from and is very well produced.
Board – The board is a generous 4-segment affair that feels like it should be called large or slightly oversized, without it matching anything humongous like the board.
The main playing area depicts the two towns of Darkrock and Red Falls and surrounding areas. This makes for over 60 locations to traverse, a railway, two ranches, 6 bandit hideouts and 3 prospecting locations. A pair of Mesas also limit movement and create narrow pathways between them as well as to the north and south. A black border surrounds both towns and serves to define the town boundary.
Icons frequent the board and symbolise key locations and actions that can be taken. Either side of the board allows for various decks to be placed and a Wanted and Marshal Track can be found on the left, which is integral to the roles of the player's characters and the benefits they can pursue.
At the bottom of the board can be found the Legendary Track, which ranges from 0-30. The map itself uses hues of mottled browns and reds to give it a real western feel and you can almost taste the dust just looking at it. 336