Train Heist jumps track for a full retail release next year

Sean McDonald’s crowdfunded co-operative rail robbery title Train Heist is to finally get a wide release next year.

Train Heist raised Can$34,722 (that’s more than £20,000) – over twice its initial target – on Kickstarter back in 2015 and landed in the hands of backers later that year.

The 45- to 60-minute title sees two to four players take on the role of cowboys attempting to stop a corrupt sheriff and his band of thieves from stealing all of the gold from townspeople – by robbing evil rich folk themselves in a Western Robin Hood fashion.

It includes adorable wooden cowboy and horse pieces, which can be ridden in an attempt to catch the train as it speeds around the game board’s central track. Inside the train, represented by a separate board, players move around the train, looting passengers and dodging the antagonists before jumping back on their horses and returning the cash. If one of the towns fails to pay the sheriff, a hangman track advances towards a game-losing demise, with a set limit of loot instead winning the match.

Additional event cards add complexities, such as changing ythe train’s speed or switching tracks, while Wanted cards provide special abilities and obstacles along the route can knock players off the train’s roof.

Cryptozoic will publish Train Heist in a ”widespread retail release”, an announcement from the firm said, adding that the game should hit retailers in early 2017 – with a specific date to be confirmed.