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shannon_aI've fallen off my Wallace-a-Thon in the last month, but when a shiny new copy of Tinners' Trail showed up in my mailbox on Tuesday, I was happy to dive right back in.
I was at first leery of Tinners' Trail because it's the first of Martin Wallace's new TreeFrog games, which are supposed to be lighter and simpler. Generally I've found that his super-light games like La Strada and Toledo are OK, but not as enthralling as his deeper stuff. I was afraid this would be more of the same.
I'm happy to be proven wrong. My interest in Tinners' Trail first perked up when I head the setting: mining in Cornwall. I always really appreciate the authenticity of Wallace's deeper games, and this one looked like it would fit in right next to Brass.
Beyond that, I've now played the game twice, and I'm happy to see that it's got the serious gameplay of one of his heavier games, and still comes out at 60-90 minutes. There's not as much depth, but it's a compromise that I think falls on the right side of things.
Overall it's a pretty pure economic game. You build mines, you develop them, and you mine. The object is to manage your money and your turns more effectively than the other players. Wallace is pretty serious about his economic simulations, as witnessed in games like Age of Steam and Brass, and this hits that straight on. It doesn't have some of the other Wallace specialties, such as alternate victory conditions, nor does it feature any warfare (although warfare among the mines of Cornwall certainly sounds like a fun game), though one presumes that this is all part of the fact that it's intended to be a more accessible game.
I need to write a review of this one, as Mr. Wallace was kind enough to send it to me. I think it's going to rate a "4" out of "5" at RPGnet: well above average (and exceeding my hopes for the TreeFrog line).
Edit: The benefit of the TreeFrog line is that Wallace is now planning to put out 3+ games a year, rather than one. The next is called After the Flood and it's due in just a month. It looks terrific:
http://www.warfroggames.com/After%20the%20Flood.html
I was at first leery of Tinners' Trail because it's the first of Martin Wallace's new TreeFrog games, which are supposed to be lighter and simpler. Generally I've found that his super-light games like La Strada and Toledo are OK, but not as enthralling as his deeper stuff. I was afraid this would be more of the same.
I'm happy to be proven wrong. My interest in Tinners' Trail first perked up when I head the setting: mining in Cornwall. I always really appreciate the authenticity of Wallace's deeper games, and this one looked like it would fit in right next to Brass.
Beyond that, I've now played the game twice, and I'm happy to see that it's got the serious gameplay of one of his heavier games, and still comes out at 60-90 minutes. There's not as much depth, but it's a compromise that I think falls on the right side of things.
Overall it's a pretty pure economic game. You build mines, you develop them, and you mine. The object is to manage your money and your turns more effectively than the other players. Wallace is pretty serious about his economic simulations, as witnessed in games like Age of Steam and Brass, and this hits that straight on. It doesn't have some of the other Wallace specialties, such as alternate victory conditions, nor does it feature any warfare (although warfare among the mines of Cornwall certainly sounds like a fun game), though one presumes that this is all part of the fact that it's intended to be a more accessible game.
I need to write a review of this one, as Mr. Wallace was kind enough to send it to me. I think it's going to rate a "4" out of "5" at RPGnet: well above average (and exceeding my hopes for the TreeFrog line).
Edit: The benefit of the TreeFrog line is that Wallace is now planning to put out 3+ games a year, rather than one. The next is called After the Flood and it's due in just a month. It looks terrific:
http://www.warfroggames.com/After%20the%20Flood.html