Tinners’ Trail (Second Edition)

About this board game

Tinners’ Trail (Second Edition) is a 1–5 player board game with a playing time of about 90 minutes, set in 19th-century Cornwall during the height of the tin and copper mining industry.

Represent a mining conglomerate competing for valuable land across Cornwall. Buy plots in auctions, survey them for tin and copper, and manage your work points and money carefully. Once you establish a mine, extract the ore and aim to make a profit—but remember that deeper mines become increasingly expensive to operate.

Developments can help reduce the costs of mining. Ports, train stations, and adits provide useful improvements, but there are only so many available, making their use an important part of your planning.

• Auction plots of land across Cornwall.
• Survey land for tin and copper, then extract the ore.
• Use developments to reduce mining costs.
• Time your sales to take advantage of high market prices.
• Invest money in industries outside Cornwall to gain victory points.

After making money from your mines, invest it in industries beyond Cornwall. The earlier you invest, the better the return, so choosing when to sell and when to commit your funds can shape your path to victory.

This edition of Tinners’ Trail expands the original 2008 design with support for 1–5 players. Resources are set up with tiles rather than die rolls, maintaining variability while reducing randomness, and dual-use cards provide information before an auction or an extra boost afterward. With lead development and expansion designs by David Digby, it challenges you to build an efficient mining operation and avoid being left without two shillings to rub together.