HIT THE TRAIL
Alexander Pfister is no stranger to success, having won the Kennerspiel des Jahres consecutively in 2015 and 2016. His latest game, Great Western Trail, looks certain to continue the desi gner’s critical acclaim. He reflects on an extraordinary couple of years
Interview by Matt Jarvis
Where did the inspiration for Great Western Trail come from?
I was always interested in the US economics of the 19th century. I studied economics and read books about this age.
I want people to have fun with my games, so I usually start with an interesting core mechanic. The core mechanic in Great Western Trail is the buildings, which all players build on the same route.
The cattle theme was not there at first, but it was set in the US at this period of time. First, it was also about oil and gold mining, but running cattle really made the most sense. Now I could not think of a better theme where you travel along the same path several times.