Grande Trilho Ocidental: Nova Zelândia

The board itself is gorgeous with all the wool tokens and sheep meeples, and I love how the runholder theme ties into the deck-building decisions. Setup took a bit longer than I expected, but once we got playing the turns flowed smoothly and the strategic depth is fantastic.

The new deck management mechanic adds a fresh layer of strategy to the familiar trail gameplay. Setting up my runholder’s path across the New Zealand map feels both nostalgic and exciting. I’ve already played three times in one week.

I was worried the sheep trading mechanic would feel tacked on, but it actually adds a nice layer of strategic depth without slowing things down too much. The only downside is the rulebook could have used a few more examples for the new contracts.