The Royal Limited: Chugging Away as a Solo Train Conductor
Take charge of a prestigious train as a conductor to arrange cars and passengers all aboard The Royal Limited.
More fun with train games! I haven’t entered the realm of what might be considered the complex train games, but that’s fine. The Royal Limited is more along the lines of organizing a train and ensuring it’s full of cars and passengers, including a couple of VIP guests with stringent requirements. I was excited to take a tabletop journey… All aboard!
Disclaimer
I received this copy for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Everything presented here are my own opinions, and I should also note that based on this base game, I ordered some expansions. Still, transparency up front!
Game Overview
Game Name: The Royal Limited
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Scott Almes
Artist: Taylor Stone
Publisher: Button Shy
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
The goal is to arrange train cars and board passengers so that no cards are left over by the time the train departs. Cars must be placed in a certain way, and have costs. Meanwhile, passengers and VIP guests activate abilities as they get settled in. It’s all about preparing to depart!
First Play
December 1, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
December 1, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
5 Minutes
High Score
0
Game Area
24" x 14"
Low Score
4
All Aboard the Train!
The neat part of gameplay is how to use each card. It either comes into play as a train car, which might have a cost and requires a different sequence when connecting up.
Or, a card might be a passenger to fill one of the cars. Using every card is the ultimate goal to become the best conductor, and it serves as a very interesting puzzle!
It’s also very neat to trigger train car abilities when a passenger’s ticket is added. Lots and lots of possibilities.
My only struggle was remembering how adjacent cars had to be different colors and numbers. Easy to forget!
Seating VIP Guests
Most of the train’s passengers are the nameless rabble defined by their possession of tickets, but just wait! Each play features a random pair of VIP guests.
They function a little like passengers, yet have very strict requirements. I loved reading the little biographies, too!
Filling the train was even more challenging with these rather picky guests. Pardon me… VIP guests. Ha ha!
The fact that these cards are double-sided is also excellent for adding more variety. They often help determine how to arrange the train cars and which ones to fill up first.
Choo-Choo Games
Well, I had myself a very fun time! It was tricky to line up the right train cars, and I sacrificed a few options here and there. However, M. Sanyal was seated properly!
It was somewhat funny that he was tossed in the luggage car, but who am I to complain? I’m the best conductor!
Alright, that’s an outright lie, yet I feel like there was a missed opportunity with scoring. Somehow, a score of 22 would have been perfect… As in, two-two, or choo-choo!
As it was, my attempts were rather mediocre and I think the train line was contemplating my dismissal. Ha!
Near Perfection
Oh, so close! I was on my way to proving my prowess when my last few moves were just shy of perfection.
J. Hull missed the train, yet his athleticism probably came in handy. I just pictured him running alongside the train, maintaining speed while passengers sipped tea.
This was also about the moment when I realized train cars could be slightly overlapped so it looked like a train. See? I was definitely improving as a conductor trainee!
Actually, J. Hull wrote a strongly worded letter of complaint, so I had to straighten up and do my job better.
Coming Up with Stories at Random Times
In no way is this designed to be a narrative sort of game, but I got a kick out of imagining J. Hull running alongside the train and making my life as a conductor a nightmare! Sometimes, it’s these little stories that can be the most enjoyable. And it often comes from a little bit of flavor text and the right situation that isn’t easy to predict.
I’m continuing to remember what makes solo games so great for me: They’re fun, and not work. Definitely made that seem true with this play! I can often tell how much I’m enjoying the hobby if I can come up with nonsensical stories like this with little prompting. It’s an excellent sign with my lengthy holiday vacation coming up… Wonderful times ahead!
Royally Appointed
A-ha! It might have taken a little longer than I intended, but all of that work paid off when I saw my first full train. Everyone boarded, and it looked positively fantastic!
This wasn’t easy to put together either, particularly since I kept swapping out VIP guests. So many to discover and try to work into the puzzle of arranging the train!
I still had to reverse a couple of moves with the forgotten rule about different train cars being side-by-side.
All in all, though, this was a lot of fun! So much so, that I looked into some expansions to keep everything fresh.
The Drawing Car
Maybe my secret to success was all in the drawing car, which turned out to be the perfect spot for W. Crawford.
Its ability to trigger the effects of an adjacent car was amazing! I had a couple of good options, yet timed this perfectly to ensure I had all of the cards in-hand.
Also note that keeping the train this organized took a bit of an effort, but for normal gameplay, a hastily played train car won’t fall off the tracks. Ha ha!
I can see plenty of other options with the way the cards differ, particularly the VIP guests. Run, J. Hull, run!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Outcome: 4, 4, 2, 0 (1 Win & 3 Losses)
The simple scoring was another nice surprise at the end, and is an easy calculation based on leftover cards or unoccupied train cars. I managed to pull things together to be named a royal conductor just once! There is likely a lot of fun to be found with the base game, yet I should have some expansions arriving soon to ensure that things stay interesting for a long time. Who knew that organizing a train and its passengers could be this much fun?!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
3
+ Pros (Positives)
- Interesting choices are presented within each round and the set of cards that are available to place and use.
- Multi-purpose cards make it challenging to choose whether to place a train car or board a passenger.
- The VIP guests are very different and set the stage for some of the main decisions about the train’s composition.
- Play time moves by quickly with a simple card to rotate to track rounds and understand the time that’s left.
- Scoring is very straightforward and easy, as the goal is to use all of the cards and board the VIP guests by the end.
- Although overlapping cards stretch out a little bit, these are designed to partially overlap to save a little space.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There isn’t a lot of variability within the base game, aside from some slightly different decisions to make.
- It can be a little hard to remember the requirements for adjacent train cars mixed in with the rest of the puzzle.
- Each VIP guest stands out, but the train car artwork can feel a little bland with small details that don’t stand out.
- Arranging all of the cards takes some effort to keep neatly organized with overlapping and tucking.
Victory Conditions
Score 0 Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score exactly 0 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of The Royal Limited? Have you had any interesting outcomes, or possibly funny coincidences with the VIP guests? I always love multi-purpose cards, and this puzzle was quite a fun one! Although the base game might have some limited variability, I’m looking forward to checking out the expansions. Definitely a wonderful little game!
0 Comments