Lightning Train

I do not usually save the best for last, but that is exactly what happened here. After the epic Dune Imperium, I was genuinely wondering whether Lone Wolf had another card up its sleeve. Then I saw trains combined with bag building — a major fetish of mine — and my interest immediately rose. The artwork and production did not particularly inspire me, and the rulebook confused me quite a bit; honestly, I recommend setting it up first and only then starting to read.

At its core, Lightning Train combines pick up and deliver with bag building. You build your bag, and the order in which its contents appear determines which possibilities open up in front of you. This is not a calm, predictable process: sometimes the bag launches you into turbo turns and everything feels wonderfully aligned, while other times it leaves you drinking raki at the border station with Artemis Matsas.

The important thing is that this uncertainty does not erase the decisions; it makes them more interesting and more tense. The routes are carefully considered and there is catch-up, so the game does not feel as though it abandons you just because you fell behind. Player interaction lies mainly in the pressure of the shared map and in making the best use of whatever the bag gives you, rather than in some cheap trick that merely spoils things for someone else.

In the end, it enchanted me. It is much easier than it first appears, full of good decisions, and its gameplay never stops feeling playful. It is impressive how much pick up and deliver can be elevated when it rests on such a strong mechanism and on design that has been worked through with care. I will be genuinely surprised if anyone can give me a well-supported explanation for why they do not like it.