Is Colt Express good for kids? Age and difficulty

How do you set up Colt Express?

Checked against the Ludonaute English rules for Colt Express (2016). Page numbers are the printed numbers; the cover is page 1 and most PDF sheets hold two printed pages, but the first sheet holds only the cover and the last only page 12.

1. Take the locomotive and 1 train car for each player. Line them up in a row in the middle of the table with the locomotive at one end. The car farthest from the locomotive is the caboose (page 2).
2. With 2 players you play the 2 bandits per player rules. Use 3 cars (page 10). The rules don't say whether the locomotive is one of them, and page 6 says it counts as a car.
3. Set aside 1 purse worth $250 for each player. Then put loot tokens into each car as shown on the floor of the car. Take purses at random and put them face down so nobody sees the value (page 3).
4. Put the Marshal figure and a strongbox inside the locomotive (page 3).
5. Put the 13 Neutral Bullet cards in a pile next to the locomotive (page 3).
6. Each player picks a character. Each takes that character's sheet, 1 set-aside $250 purse (face down on the sheet), 10 Action cards (shuffled face down as a deck) and 6 Bullet cards (in order of bullet count, as the cylinder pile) (page 3).
7. Set aside Ghost, Doc and Belle. Randomly assign 1 of the other character cards to each, and each player chooses a team of bandits (page 10 is unclear here). Each player takes 1 copy of each different Action card from each of their two bandits' decks, sets aside 1 Marshal card and the leftovers, and shuffles the 11 cards left as one deck (page 10).
8. For your first game, draw 5 of the 7 Round cards marked 2 to 4 players at random, shuffle them and put them face down as the Round deck (page 2).
9. For your first game, draw 5 of the 7 Round cards marked 5 to 6 players at random, shuffle them and put them face down as the Round deck (page 2).
10. Pick one bandit figure at random. Its player is the First Player for round 1. Starting with the First Player and going clockwise, each player puts their bandit in the caboose or the car next to it. Nobody starts on a roof (pages 2 and 6).
11. Each player secretly holds 1 bandit figure in each hand. Everyone shows at once. Put the left-hand figures inside the caboose and the others inside the car next to it (page 10).

How do you teach Colt Express to kids?

The box says 10 and up. We suggest 9 and up with an adult helping, and 10 and up on their own. The rulebook describes bandits mercilessly robbing the passengers, and shooting someone means giving them a useless Bullet card (pages 1 and 6).

Say this

1. You are a bandit on a train. The goal is to end with the most money.
2. There are 5 rounds. In each round, first we plan, then we act. While planning, we take turns putting cards in one shared pile. Nobody can change the pile.
3. When the planning is over, we flip the pile and do every card in order, starting with the top one. Other players' cards can wreck your plan.
4. Your cards are Move, Change Floor, Shoot, Punch, Rob and Marshal. Rob takes loot without looking at its value.
5. The Marshal chases you out of his car and onto the roof, and you get a Bullet card when he does.
6. After round 5 we add up our loot. The best shooter gets $1000 extra.

The rulebook says that after page 7 you know all the rules for a first game. The character powers, events, 2 bandits per player and the Expert variant come after that (pages 7 to 11). It has no other beginner variant, so the ideas below are house rules.

First-game simplifications

• Official variant For the first game, use the basic rules and the standard Round cards only, with no character powers and no events (pages 2 and 7).
• House rule Let a grown-up say aloud what each card in the pile does as it is flipped in the Stealin' phase.
• House rule Let a grown-up help kids pick their cards in the first round, then let them plan on their own.

Watch-outs for kids ages 9 to 10

• On your turn you must either play one card on the pile, or draw 3 cards instead (page 4).
• Every action in the pile is mandatory. If you can do it, you must (page 5).
• When a bandit and the Marshal end up in the same car, that bandit jumps to the roof and takes a Neutral Bullet card (page 7).
• You can't rob from the roof if the loot is inside the car, and the other way round (page 7).
• You can't shoot someone in your own space. Inside a car you can only shoot into a next-door car. On a roof you can shoot any bandit you can see along the roof (page 6).
• You can't look at the value of loot you take or punch off someone (page 7).
• After a round, shuffle all your cards together, including any Bullet cards you were given (page 5).

Back for another game?

• There are 5 rounds. Each has Schemin' (play or draw 3 into a shared pile for as many turns as the Round card shows) and Stealin' (play the pile out in order) (pages 4 and 5).
• The Round card sets the turn type: standard (face up), tunnel (face down), speeding up (two turns in a row) and switching (turns go counter-clockwise) (page 5).
• Start of a round: draw 6 cards. Leftover cards go back on top of your deck at the end of Schemin' (page 4).
• Move: inside to the next car, or on a roof 1 to 3 cars along. Change Floor: inside to roof, or roof to inside (page 6).
• Shoot: give a Bullet card from your cylinder to another bandit's deck. Punch: they drop one loot token and get pushed to the same floor of an adjacent car. Rob: take one loot from your space (pages 6 and 7).
• Marshal: move him to the inside of an adjacent car. Any bandit in his car, or who he moves in on, jumps to the roof and takes a Neutral Bullet card (page 7).
• After the Stealin' phase, the player to the left of the First Player becomes First Player (page 5).
• After round 5: the most money wins. The Gunslinger prize is $1000 for the most bullets shot. A tie goes to the tied player who received the fewest Bullet cards, and after that you share the win (page 5).

How do you score Colt Express?

After round 5, add up the loot on your sheet (page 5). A purse is worth $250 to $500 and you can look at your own, so add up the purses yourself and type the total in dollars. Each jewel is worth $500 and each strongbox $1000 (page 2). The Gunslinger prize is $1000 for the player or players who shot the most bullets, meaning the fewest Bullet cards of their own colour left in their cylinder (page 5). The richest player wins. If you tie, the tied player who received the fewest Bullet cards wins, and if that ties too you share the win (page 5). The total shows in dollars. With 2 bandits each, add up the loot of both bandits, and don't count shots between your own bandits for the Gunslinger prize (pages 10 and 11).