Are you a no good bandit? Or a by-the-book peacekeeper? Gamble on the cards? Maybe prefer the honest work digging and driving cattle? Perhaps you are all these things? That’s what makes you a legend.
Western Legends is a sandbox style, character focused adventure game. In it players take on the role of a historical Western personality, as they strive to solidify their legendary status by gaining Legendary Points through a variety of activities. It suits 2-6 players, with a listen game duration of 60-90 minutes.
Play happens on a central board, which contains the towns Darkrock and Red Falls, as well as their surrounding countryside. Scattered around are locations, which players can interact with to secure items, money or points. There are also bandits who lurk on the outskirts of town, and a Sheriff who can’t always be relied upon to go after the bad guys.
Each player possesses a character board. This is where they place the items they acquire, money or gold nuggets they collect, as well as their character card. They also have a hand of poker cards, the number they can hold being linked to their characters wound state.
Certain actions yield Legendary Points, such as mundane activities like winning games of poker or spending money on entertainment. Players can also join the Marshals or outlaws, performing acts to push them up each faction’s respective tracks for awards and points. Moving up the Marshals track provide game boosts, and additional end of game Legendary Points. Whereas being Wanted grants more immediate Legendary Points, but makes the player a more obvious target.
Poker cards have a number of uses. They contain the classic poker suits, and the in-game version of poker is played with them. Each cards also has an action or power that can be used in different situations, such as during a players action phase. Combat also revolves around the poker cards, with the card values dictating a players success.
There is one other aspect for players to contend with, the Story cards. Two Story cards are always active, with every card containing criteria. If a player meets the criteria during their turn, they place a token onto the card. Once the token threshold is reached the card is flipped over, and the players with tokens on the card participate in whatever event is revealed.
The game has a visual appearance which draws on its Western theme period. Character and poker card Illustrations, as well as the box and book artwork, have an ink pen and watercolour feel to them. Coloured cubes and discs are used to mark player progress. Each player chooses a miniature to represent their character, which they can clip a corresponding coloured disc base onto.
Items which can be bought at the General Store are inserted into a handy cardboard stand which slots together. There are also fantastically tactile gold nuggets, as well as some oddly oversized prospecting dice. Money takes the form of money cards, in $10 and $20 denominations. The miniatures are well sculpted, and each has a unique design.
Western Legends has a lot going on. From the very start players have a multitude of options open to them. Which can be quite daunting. However each character begins with different items, and position on the Law or Wanted tracks. These should help players, at least initially, in deciding what to aim for first, as they are already part of the way along a particular path.
However even if they are thrown off that path, like being arrested and losing all their Wanted levels, it is easy to quickly get back into the running. Whether this is following the same route, or changing tactics entirely to focus on other actions and locations. This is because the actions options are quite versatile, and can slot into any plan for gaining Legendary Points.
It may take a little while for some players to understand the multitude of action options, or how they factor into the long term goal of gaining Legendary Points. But after a few turns, and thanks to the extremely helpful player aids, it shouldn’t take long for players of every kind to get into the swing of the game.
The Story cards add a nice variable element to the game, and incentivise players to participate in a number of the activities. Rather than bouncing between the same two or three. But while they offer more chances for players to gain points or loot, the decision making and story aspect to them ultimately don’t make much impact on the game. It would have been great to see these aspects of the Story cards included more into the end game scoring mechanics.
Also given the large number of actions and locations, as well as the additional bonuses granted by some Poker cards, it is quite easy for analysis paralysis to set in for certain players. This is offset somewhat by players who manage to define clear goals for themselves, such as moving up the Wanted track. But even then these players may encounter hurdles to their decisions as they are faced with a multitude of variables across the board.
On the component side everything is really well considered and made. The player boards are attractive and functional, clearly providing players with a quick visual reference for how much they can carry or how badly their character is hurt. Having a standee for the General Store is a neat idea, and gives the items some prominence without overshadowing too much of the board.
The central board itself is well illustrated and marked, though the lined borders between towns and wilderness areas could do with being made a little more obvious. Each of the miniatures is really well sculpted and cast, and don’t seem out of place or unnecessary. Unlike some games which choose to utilise miniatures as playing pieces.
Some added replayability appears in the form of a two player mode. Players can take on an AI system called the Man in Black, who moves and performs actions around the board thanks to its own deck. Play can be extended further by adding Goal cards to the game, allowing players to collect Legendary Tokens throughout the game by completing certain objectives.
Overall I am really impressed with Western Legends. It offers an experience which feels a little like a resource management game, and a little like an rpg. The sandbox nature means players can pursue any path they want, but being sent back to square one doesn’t immediately take a player out of the running to win.
Interaction between players is usually adversarial, though the way it has been framed means that players are less likely to feel picked on. Leading in one area nets a player massive bonuses, but also paints a target on their back by making them an attractive way for other players to gain Legendary points. And because it is so easy to bounce back, players shouldn’t feel bad if their plans come crashing down.
Western Legends is a fantastic game, with a lot of replayability, which will suit groups of friends who love to challenge and double cross each other. Players of all kinds will enjoy the chance to make their character a living legend, but ease less decisive people into the game.
Western Legends is designed by Herve Lemaitre and published by Kolossal Games. It recently saw a general release in Australia and is available now through good game stores and retailers.
