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|  | |  | | | Catan Histories: Settlers Of America - Trails To Rails | | | | | SKU:
MFG 3203 | | In Stock | | Availability:
Usually ships in 1 business days | | | WARNING:| CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
| | | The 19th Century has arrived and America is heading west. Settlers form wagon trains and create long trails as they leave the east behind. Their goal as they strike out towards the fertile land of the vast prairies is to grow crops and claim grazing lands for their hungry herds of cattle. As more people head west, new cities pop up. But the vast distances between them require a new form of transportation for vital goods...the railroads!In Settlers of America: Trails to Rails, you'll experience the pioneer days of the old west! A large and beautiful map of the United States utilizes the simple yet fun Catan hex-tile system of play. Players collect and trade resources in order to purchase and move settlers, build cities, lay rails, and acquire and move trains. Rail links allow them to acquire gold, which allows them to buy resources and use other player's rails. Fulfill your manifest destiny by being the first to use your trains to deliver 8 goods to your opponent's cities and win the game! Contents of Settlers of America: Trails to Rails: - 120 Rails
- 48 Cities
- 8 Train Engines
- 8 Settler Wagons
- 1 Outlaw
- 40 Goods Cubes
- 40 Gold Coins
- 4 Building Costs Cards
- 1 Map Board
- 12 Number Tokens
- 95 Resource Cards
- 24 Development Cards
- 2 Dice
- 1 Rulebook
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List Price:
| $55.00 | |
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| $44.00
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| | Product Details | | Product Length: | 2.88 inches | | Product Width: | 11.62 inches | | Product Height: | 11.62 inches | | Product Weight: | 5.0 pounds | | Package Length: | 11.7 inches | | Package Width: | 11.7 inches | | Package Height: | 2.8 inches | | Package Weight: | 3.7 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 21 reviews |
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| | Features | Catan Histories: Settlers Of America - Trails To RailsAges: 12+Number of Players: 3-4Playing Time: 2 Hours
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 21 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 78 found the following review helpful:
 Relive "Manifest Destiny" on your kitchen table Nov 16, 2010
By Cameron Sybertz
Settlers of America- Trails to Rails is a great variation on a great game. My family and friends have been playing Catan and its expansions for years, so when I saw this as a pre-order on another web site, it caught my attention. Using the trading, robber, and probability controlled resource production mechanics of Catan, Trails to Rails adds the element of money, covered wagons, railways, and locomotive driven deliveries which replaces the point system, cities, ports, and bonuses (like longest road or army). The resources are Wood, Grain, Ore, Steer, and Coal. The artwork is very attractive and done by the same artist who did the 4th version of Catan, and fits well with the theme of Manifest Destiny.
Other than the fact that I enjoy the theme, I also like that during the game it seems as if you can build or do at least one thing per turn; there is very little time waiting while there is a famine of 8s or 6s (if you have played Catan you will know what I mean), or the robber is on your only source of coal.
**For those that have not played Settlers of Catan** I would venture to guess that since the rules are very well written, no prior knowledge of Catan would be needed. Plus, there is a very good explanation of how to play on their web site, so check it out before purchasing. Give yourselves a few hours to play, have stimulating conversations, eat some ice cream, and for your wife to feed your 5 month old; playing a Catan game is more of an event than a quick diversion. The pieces are a very sturdy wood, and the board and box are hefty enough to last; but, the pieces are small, so, make sure to keep them away from little mouths (human or otherwise). In a world of fast paced do-dads and gadgets that tie us to work 24-7, Trails to Rails (and other Catan games) is a great diversion that allows for fellowship and fun.
Altogether, this game will keep its space on my shelf next to Agricola, Puerto Rico, Twilight Struggle, and Settlers of Catan for those days we want to relive the romanticized days of the Oregon Trail, Trans Continental Railroad, Robber Barons, and Little House on the Prairie (at least for my wife).
Pros:
- Great theme for anyone that is a fan of U.S. History and Settlers of Catan
- Appealing artwork; U.S.A. made out of Catan hexes looks better than expected
- Simple game mechanics that allow for solid strategic game play
- More balanced game play than a random map and numbers game of Catan
- Extraordinary building phase (can build on other persons turn)
- Rail system and a built in compulsion to move West (similar to Seafarers island scenarios)both historical and interesting
Cons:
- Not modular like the original Catan, so the game becomes less varied (only some of the numbers can be changed, others are printed on the game board, but this can be modified with a little help from other Catan number pieces)
- Some geographical historical inaccuracies (Las Vegas being a destination for early settlers for example)
- Although problematic in regards to being P.C. it would have been nice to see the Native Americans have a larger role in the game (in all fairness though, they are used on one card and mentioned in the history section of the rule book).
- Unlike the product features suggests, it does not have as near as much the replay value of Settlers of Catan and its expansions
- My wife does not like losing
*Why only four stars? Because next to Agricola, Puerto Rico, and the original Settlers of Catan, which are in the category of games that I would place Trails to Rails, this game, although very fun, is not quite at the level of these others so for the sake of differentiation I gave it a very well deserved four stars.
20 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 Catan Histories,Go West Young one! Sep 23, 2010
By Eric Smith
A great new game from Mayfair games. It uses the same mechanics as Settlers with railroads thrown in. I taught Settlers of Catan to my after school daycare group and they loved it and couldn't wait to get this new version. Using your resources you expand westward attempting to deliver cargo to your opponent's cities. This took some getting use to my my students love it! I highly recommend it. Fun,educational with great game pieces and board. It takes a while to play (about 2hrs) ,but is very challenging. A must have if you love Catan.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
all it is supposed to be Dec 04, 2010
By bookman
a great game for adults who have the time to play it. it is a great competitive game that requires skill, collaboration and some luck too. easy to learn, difficult to master no two games are the same so strategies must me modified every game. the basic game is not to long to play almost anytime, some of the games can be little bit longer (we have had 4 hour games). it is challanging and fun, and no single person will dominate winning so everyone likes to play. our circle of friends has expanded as we meet more people who play. we play on avergae once a week and enjoy it a lot.
we continue to like the basic Catan the best though, can't say enough good things about these games!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
A fun change from the original Jan 05, 2011
By RavenRing
A friend of mine introduced the original Settlers of Catan to me and my family last year. It was an instant hit and we have played it many times since then. We bought the 5-6 players expansion and play with that, then the Seafarers expansion and played with that. This is our third incarnation of the game and I must say I was quite impressed. I got this game for Christmas and when I originally saw it I wasn't sure what to expect. I am not a fan of US history or trains. But I sat down to play it with some friends I was hooked. Despite knowing the rules for the original game, we still spent about a half hour learning the new rules and the new set up.
Unlike the original Settlers of Catan, Trails to Rails has a set board. I like the variability of the original game, but this certainly made it easier to set up. The basic start up is the same as the original game - two settlements, two rails, and a small collection of resources. The biggest difference between this and the original game is the way it is won. Instead of points, there is a single goal - deliver all of your goods. You can only deliver goods to other players settlements, only one good per settlement, and you only free up goods by building settlements. So in order to win you first need to build all of your settlements.
I really liked the addition of gold in the game. You can use gold to buy resources from the bank or pay other players to use their train tracks. It gave the game a lot more flexibility, and without the bonus of gold the game would have lasted forever. As it was, it took us about two hours to finish the game. Everyone had build all of their settlements and were down to their last few goods to deliver when I won :)
My biggest complaint about this game is that the darn trains don't actually fit on their tracks. The rules let you have two trains on the same track, so I guess you are supposed to put the train next to the track rather than on it, but would it really have been all that hard for them to make the tracks a little wider to accommodate just one train?!
Other than that, great game. At this time there are no expansions for this game, and looking at the rest of the History games, I doubt there will be any. So you are limited to four players, which works fine for me, but is something to keep in mind if you want to play this with a family of more than four.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Settlers of America - Trails to Rails Jan 01, 2011
By VickiKay
I ordered this game for my husband for Christmas due to his high interest in trains. We also enjoy Settlers of Catan so I thought this would be a match made in heaven.
It was.
It took us playing a game and arguing over the rules before everything fell into place. (I also went online to double check some of the areas of disagreement) But, each game since has allowed us a greater understanding of strategies to win.
Be warned - this game has a lot of pieces (some quite small) and the board is very large. My husband loves the fact he can build rails; he just wishes the game train would fit better on the game tracks.
Delivery was very quick and everything was packed well (also ordered replacement cards for Settlers and for Cities and Knights). Would order again from this company.
See all 21 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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