Great Western Trail: New Zealand
103 questions players ask about Great Western Trail: New Zealand. Pick one for the answer. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-11-02.
Setup
- In what order do you set up the job market and the random Wellington tiles?
- How do you fill the bonus tile market at setup, and when are more tiles added?
- How are the four bonus card sets chosen at setup?
- Do players start the game with objective cards?
- Which disc goes on the pathfinder track at the start of the game?
- Do you pay the cost of the disc you clear onto the pathfinder track during setup?
- Where does your runholder start on your first turn?
- How many rockfall and flood tiles are there, and does the hand colour matter?
- Are there 16 or 18 Romney sheep cards?
Turn Structure and Movement
- Do you draw up to your hand limit (Phase C) on your final turn, and why not?
- Can you play bonus or deck-building cards during Phase C?
- Can you keep moving after reaching Wellington?
- Does the terrain under a building space limit where you can build?
- Do the +1 and +2 step tiles move you up the pathfinder (bird) track?
- If a card replaces the building you are standing on, can you use both the old and the new building?
- What is a risk action on a building space?
- Is the 7-bird building space misprinted without a risk action?
- Which action rewards can you refuse?
Deck-Building and Bonus Cards
- Where does a deck-building or bonus card go after you play it?
- If your draw deck is empty and you play a card that draws a replacement, is the played card reshuffled?
- When during your turn can you play deck-building and bonus cards?
- Can you play more than one deck-building or bonus card in a turn?
- Can you combine several bonus or deck-building cards to stack their effects?
- Can you play a deck-building or bonus card just to draw, forfeiting its effect?
- Can you play deck-building or bonus cards on another player's turn?
- What does the A>B marking on a bonus card mean?
- Which cards does Bonus Card Set 4 put on top of your deck?
Wellington, Income and Delivery
- At Wellington, do you discard your whole hand or only the sheep you revealed?
- Can you use an exchange token or draw cards after revealing sheep for income or shearing?
- Must you deliver after income, even if only the 0-value post is reachable?
- Can you pay a disc space's clearing cost with the money you just earned?
- What if the Foresight tile you choose has no free space to go to?
- How do you place a disc on a large harbour's trading post?
- Can you deliver to a large harbour where only another player has a storehouse?
- Must you deliver to a foreign trading post just because you have a storehouse there?
- What do the numbers on the sea routes board mean?
Workers, Sheep and Buildings
- Do you have to hire the cheapest worker in the job market?
- Can you pay gold instead of pounds to hire workers, and does a joker keep costing gold?
- Do the printed workers on your player board count as workers?
- What happens to your worker when you take a harbourmaster tile?
- How do shepherds work when buying sheep: can you split them or buy the same type twice?
- What can you do with a shepherd you do not use to buy sheep?
- Does buying a Suffolk sheep give an exchange token?
- Where does the sheep from the shepherd row's pay-4 bonus go, and can you take it from outside the market?
- Do Romney sheep rewards come from the sheep market?
Shearing and Wool
- Can you use all your shearers to draw and discard instead of shearing?
- Can one shearer shear several sheep of the same type?
- Do you need shearers to use private building 3a or 7a's shear action?
- On neutral building E's shear action, can you alternate draw-and-discard and shearing?
- Must you place a disc on a wool trading post after shearing?
- Does permanent wool count for every shearing action?
- Do you need a Dorset Horn to claim the local wool trading post 9?
Ships, Harbours and Trading Posts
- Can you place a storehouse or disc on a harbour with ship movement, and does it end the move?
- What does the ship-with-arrow icon on the last small harbour of each sea route mean?
- Do your storehouses have to be placed in a fixed order?
- Can you upgrade two harbours with Neutral Building G's two sail actions?
- Do you pay gold for the bonus card you get from upgrading a harbour?
Objectives, Exchange Tokens and Gold
- Can you use two exchange tokens for the gold even if you have no Shropshire to trash?
- Can you use an exchange token in the middle of drawing cards in Phase C?
- When an exchange token draws cards, can you play a new card before discarding?
- Do exchange tokens leave the game when you spend them?
- Do you gain gold every time your certificate marker moves?
- Can you spend gold on a cheaper card than your gold marker allows?
- Do the icons on the gold track do anything when the marker reaches them?
- Can you buy the standard Sheepdog, Ferry, Romney or Kotare cards with gold?
- When do you get an objective card's immediate effect, and can you play it early?
End of the Game
Solo Play (Sarah)
- Does Sarah gain the benefits or victory points from bonus tiles she takes?
- How does Sarah choose a bonus tile when several are cheapest, and can she take the token row?
- What does Sarah do when she cannot buy the sheep she wants?
- What does Sarah hire if her preferred worker type is not in the job market?
- How does Sarah break a tie among the cheapest workers when hiring?
- Which route does Sarah take towards Wellington?
- When Sarah must build on the next empty non-risk space and two forks tie, which does she use?
- How do Sarah's cards 4, 12, 13 and 17 work when she lacks the needed workers?
- Does Sarah's ship position matter, and does she leave a worker on a medium port?