We like to play a variety of board games. Sometimes those games can take 15 minutes and sometimes they take 2 hours. Ticket to Ride is one of our favorite games to play but it is on the longer side. Along came Yardmaster from Crash Games. You are sorting trains, in the train yard. This little card game is not only easy to learn and quite fun but it also will only take 20 minutes to finish. We can pull this game out while waiting for our meal to arrive in restaurants or just squeeze in a game before bedtime.
As you can see from the gallery above, there are some simple rules involved. The only one that did not seem to click with most people is the exchange token rule. We found it easier to describe it as "the ability to turn two of your cargo cards that matches the exchange token in front of you into one wild cargo card." People would also forget the bonus cards are free actions because they are so used to being limited to only 2 actions per turn.
I really like the components of this game. The cards have bold colors and the exchange tokens are solid thick wood. For a fairly simple card game, I think it is top notch quality. No qualms here.
Overall, I think it is a very enjoyable game. The matching color or number is reminiscent to Uno, but the collecting color cards to achieve your goal reminds me of Ticket to Ride. Plus there is the whole train theme going on. The ability to turn the cards that you don't need into a wild is a great mechanic that helps you plan for your move at least 1 turn ahead. Additionally, those bonus cards can make somebody think out their turn to try to maximize their actions. The caboose expansion also gives you an extra incentive to get a certain color or number so you can finish your train faster.
Our family enjoys playing this game. Since you can pick this game up for less than $20, give it a go and see who can dominate the train yard!