Western Legends

Western Legends is a cowboy-themed game where players, within the confines of the rules, have a huge amount of freedom: Be a sheriff, and arrest outlaws. Be an outlaw, and rob banks. Gamble responsibly. Gamble irresponsibly. There’s a lot of options in what is often called a ‘sandbox’ game in that there’s no predefined objective you need to fulfil. But there are if course many small objectives to pursue… and each thing you achieve will hopefully provide you with legendary points: like a precursor to Fame Academy, everyone’s ultimate goal is to create the mythology about their own character, by being a kind of badass.

The board shows the valley of some remote old west backwater, and before play commences every picks a character to play. You might be a famous outlaw such as Jesse James, for instance, or frontiersman Kit Carson. Whomever you choose defines both your starting gear (eg a weapon) and location (the bar!) and a special ability that applies only to you – as well as framing your direction in the game itself.

Each turn you have three actions to spend. Actions might be as simple as movement: move your character to adjacent areas (up to 2 spaces away), or further if you have an animal to ride. Certain locations have actions you can take there: gamble at the bar for cash, deposit money at the bank for points, get supplies from the store. The  supplies are in-game aids to help you build your legend. If you’re on foot, you might get a horse. If you’ve a measly six-gun, you might buy a rifle. There’s good honest work available too: mining or cattle-herding both bring much-deserved payment, or bringing outlaws to justice for reward money.

But of course the old west is an oft-lawless place, so you might spend actions on more nefarious activities, like robbing the bank – or another player – or taking cattle from one ranch and selling it to another. You dastardly dog! No matter what you do, however, you’ll be playing cards. Western Legends has a standard deck of cards but appends them with playable special actions on each card. These cards are used for playing poker, fighting duels, or robbing players, so a key component of the game is a vein of gambling/doublethink/luck that runs through various things you get up to on the board.

All these deeds may mean you stray the wrong side of the law – or not. Players can choose how to proceed (you might start lawful but fall from grace) and everyone’s legality, or lack of, is kept track of on the board itself. The badder you are, the more wanted you are, and the more legendary points you gain at the end of each round depending on your position on the Wanted Track. Conversely, the do-gooders amongst you will be on the Marshall Track instead: you also earn legendary points, but only at the end of the game, instead earning money. That might make it seem like going Outlaw is the more sensible option, and maybe it is – but outlaws tend to be a target in the way Marshalls are not.

As soon as someone reaches a pre-agreed target of legendary points, the end game is triggered and there’s one final round of play.