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1870 – Somewhere deep in Texas, the rearing of Longhorn cattle from northern Mexico is booming. It has now become a major source of income for the Texan farmers, while at the same time attracting cattle thieves of all kinds.
In Longhorn, the players assume the roles of two particularly feared outlaws: Eagle Perkins and Jessie Artist Byrd. The aim of the game is simple: to steal cattle (and a few gold nuggets, if possible) to see who can amass the most money by the end of the game — or who can get his opponent arrested by the sheriff!
The game is set up by shuffling the 9 locations and setting them up in a 3x3 grid, selecting 9 tokens randomly and assigning one to each location (if the sheriff token is in play, it must be placed on Nugget Hill), and finally randomly distributing the coloured longhorn cattle meeples to each location, with the number required being shown on each location. The start player then chooses a location with 4 cattle and places the player piece in it.
The game ends in one of three ways:
- If a player takes the sheriff token, they lose immediately
- If a player takes all 9 cattle of any one colour, they win immediately (if they did both in the same turn, they lose)
- If no legal move can be made, the players score; gold nugget tokens are worth their face value and each colour of longhorn is worth $100 for each cow of the same colour still on the board. For example, if the Perkins player has 4 black cattle and 5 are left on the board, each of his 4 black longhorns are worth $500. If there are no black cattle (because the Byrd player has them, or through drought) then they are worth nothing. The player with the highet total wins.
On a players turn, they choose a colour of longhorn present in their location and steal all of that colour. For each longhorn stolen, the player moves the player piece that many spaces and then flips it, to signify that it is now the other player's turn.
If a location is cleared of longhorn cattle, the player who took the last longhorn must take the token present and activate it. Some are positive and some are negative. Once a space is cleared, it can not be moved to in a future turn, though it can be moved through.
Longboard Review!
- Easy to learn and play
- Relaxing, not brain-burning
- Interactive with opportunities to disrupt opponents
- Aesthetically pleasing with thematic components
- Multiple viable strategies via objectives
- Objective cards can feel unbalanced or underwhelming
- It's possible to win without completing objectives, which can reduce tension
- Might not be ideal for larger game-night crowds looking for heavier games
- Building and shaping long surfboards to maximize points via sponsorships and objectives
- Surfing/beach setting with longboards and sponsorships
- Light, thematic flavor centered on surfing culture and competition
- Lost Cities
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — Draw cards to supply and then use them to build surfboards; manage available cards to advance boards
- card drafting / hand management — Draw cards to supply and then use them to build surfboards; manage available cards to advance boards
- Card swapping / take from others — You can swap or steal cards by giving opponents higher-valued cards to take their card
- Compound Scoring — Public objective cards provide points; shaping boards and sponsorship stickers influence scoring
- Endgame trigger by board shaping / deck depletion — The game ends when a certain number of boards are shaped or the draw deck runs out
- Overpay to take a card — You can pay more than the value of a card to take it from another player
- Sequential placement with increasing values — When placing cards on a board, you must start with a low number and can only add cards of equal or higher value
- Sticker-based scoring and penalties — Sponsorship stickers contribute points; unshaped boards reduce points
- Variable/objective scoring — Public objective cards provide points; shaping boards and sponsorship stickers influence scoring
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- longboard not short board
- Lost Cities is a super super classic
- this is a great game after work
References (from this video)
- Fast playtime (under 30 minutes)
- Multiple viable scoring paths (boards, length, stickers)
- Engaging player interaction through card stealing and counterplay
- Clear end scoring with strategic depth
- Some variability from card draws and steals
- Initial rule learning curve
- Endgame can feel abrupt depending on player count
- Building longboards by composing cards to form boards, with scoring based on boards and stickers
- Beach environment / surf shop vibe
- Rule-focused overview with strategic critique
- Lost City
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action economy — On a turn, a player takes two actions, which can be used in any combination or duplicated
- Board creation / extension — Start new boards or extend existing boards by placing cards from your supply; cards placed must be the same color
- board progression — As you build, each card must be equal to or greater than the previous card beneath it; cards overlap to show values
- Card swapping / stealing — You can swap a card from another player's supply, but you must give them cards totaling a higher value and then use the new card to start or extend a board
- Color rules / wilds — Cards placed on boards must match color; multicolored cards are wild and can be used for any board
- Compound Scoring — Scores are determined by boards, the number of stickers, the longest board, and objective cards
- Deck draw / supply management — Draw cards to increase your supply and plan builds
- deck manipulation — Draw cards to increase your supply and plan builds
- end game bonuses — End the game when a player meets end conditions based on number of shaped boards and seven-card boards, with variations by player count
- endgame conditions — End the game when a player meets end conditions based on number of shaped boards and seven-card boards, with variations by player count
- Objective Cards — Four random objective cards set end-scoring goals
- scoring — Scores are determined by boards, the number of stickers, the longest board, and objective cards
- Starting a board with constraints — When starting a new board, you cannot start with a wild; boards can be multiple of the same color
- Variable Set-up: Board — When starting a new board, you cannot start with a wild; boards can be multiple of the same color
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- now this is a great and fun strategic car game that has a definite feel of a kitzia game
- it reminds me a little bit of Lost City but this one plays up to four players instead of the two
- cards are played upwards partially overlapping the earlier cards and showing off each card's shown value
- the game is pretty good and can be played quickly lots of choices to make