Game: Mexican Train

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EndersGame — 2008-08-27T04:18:59+00:00

All the doubles in a Double Twelve set

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EndersGame — 2008-08-27T04:16:46+00:00

Four Mexican trains (Cardinal edition)

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EndersGame — 2008-08-27T04:10:26+00:00

The Cardinal Mexican Train Station for the start of the game

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EndersGame — 2008-08-27T04:09:19+00:00

Mexican Train by Cardinal (bottom)

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EndersGame — 2008-08-27T04:08:52+00:00

Mexican Train by Cardinal (top)

Thread: Re: A few rules questions

trioker — 2008-08-10T15:18:04+00:00

I have learnt the rules of the game from "The Great book of dominoes games" from Jennifer A.Kelley, and I understood them the same as RonsterO, except for one point:

ronster0 wrote:

3) When you play a double you must cap it (not sideway but inline with the rest of your dominoes). If you cannot cap it you must put up your train and next person MUST cap it. If not, they put up their train. This happens until it is capped.

For us, the player who plays a double must play again, but is not forced to do so against the double. If he chooses to play elsewhere, then the next player is has to play against the double. We use this rule quite often.

Thread: Hey! That's my train! (Mexican Train, a review)

Woelf — 2008-07-25T22:33:42+00:00

Mexican Train is a domino game. The rules were first published in 1994 by Cardinal, but have since been published by a number of others including Puremco and Fundex, often with slight tweaks to the rules and with various cosmetic changes to their components. During the game, players take turns playing their dominos with the goal of being the first to run out each round, and at the end of the game the player with the lowest overall score is the winner.

Rules
The rules will vary somewhat depending on which version you play, but most still follow the same core mechanics. The rules posted in the files section here at BGG differ somewhat from the rules as they were originally taught to me, so for the purposes of this section I will cover both.

Setup is fairly straightforward. The “hub” is placed in the center of the table so everyone has access to it, all of the dominos are placed facedown, and each player chooses a different token or marker. Each player then takes a predetermined number of dominos, which varies from ten to fifteen depending on the number of players and the version being used, and places them on the table in front of them. Again, depending on which version of the rules you are using, they are placed facedown (or on edge) and hidden from the other players, or they are placed face up and openly visible to all other players. The latter appears to be more commonly accepted, but the former is what was used every time I’ve played.

The center tile is determined in any one of three different ways: The easiest is to find and pull out the highest as-yet-unused double and place that in the center hub. In most versions, this means you’ll be starting with a double-twelve. For obvious reasons, if this method is used you have to do it before players draw their own dominos. The second method is to first determine (after drawing) if any player has the highest unused double in their starting hand; if someone does, they place it in the center hub and that player gets to go first. If no one has it, players take turns drawing one additional domino at a time until someone does find the correct double. This method has the advantage of quickly solving the question of who gets to go first each round, but can also drastically lengthen the time it takes to complete each round because players will often be staring with significantly more dominos than usual. With the third method, you simply determine which player has the highest double in their hand, and then you use that as the center tile. This method has the advantage of being much quicker than drawing to the highest-unused double, but can make bookkeeping more difficult because you will not be able to quickly determine which round it is by looking at what is in the center of the table (this can be a good thing though, because it makes it much easier to reduce the overall number of rounds).

Once the center tile is determined, players can immediately begin constructing their “starting trains”, by arranging their dominos in a single line so the values on the ends of each domino matches the values shown on adjacent dominos. Any that cannot added to the line are kept separate as “extras”. The same process applies whether you are playing with open or closed hands.

Each turn, a player places a single domino. When a domino is added to a train, its value must be matched to the current open end of that train. The double domino in the center hub determines the starting value, so all trains must begin with that; the first one placed should be fit into one of the outside slots on the hub, so subsequent dominos will radiate outward from the center. Normally players can only place their dominos in one of two locations; on their own train, or on the communal “Mexican train”. Normally the Mexican train is attached to the hub like the player trains, but in the interests of saving space it can also be kept off to the side and/or compacted so only the current open end is visible.

If a player cannot play on either of those, they have to draw an additional domino. If that matches a viable location, they can immediately play it and then their turn ends. If it cannot be played, the player takes it into their hand and then places a marker on their own train. When a player’s train has been marked, other players may play their dominos there instead of on their own trains or on the Mexican train. On the player’s next turn (or a subsequent turn) if they are able to play a domino on their own train again, they remove the marker.

If a player places a double (on their own train, on the Mexican train, or on any opponent’s train) they place it perpendicular to the train, and then they immediately get to place a second domino. Some versions allow that second domino to be played in any legal location, but in the version I was taught it could only be played on that double. If that player cannot (or does not) “satisfy” the double by placing a matching domino, the burden falls to the next player or subsequent players until someone is able to satisfy it. This is one of the few ways you can directly interfere with the plans of players, because it can force them to break up their starting train’s arrangement.

Players continue taking turns until someone has placed all of his or her remaining dominos. When a player is down to just one, they are required to announce it by making train noises, by loudly clicking their last domino on the table, by calling “uno!” (oops, wrong game), or by using any other pre-determined method. If they fail to do so and some other player catches them, the offender must immediately pick up an additional domino.

Once a player does go out completely, all other players reveal their remaining dominos and add up the values (by counting the dots). A scorekeeper records each player’s point total individually.

The next round then begins using the same process as the first. If you started by finding (or drawing for) the double-twelve, the next round uses the double-eleven, followed by the double-ten, and so on down to the double-blank for a total of thirteen rounds. If players want a shorter or longer game, the number of rounds can be varied as necessary.

Components
The components will vary somewhat based on the version you have, but most have the same three primary components: a set of dominos (double-12 is most common), a center “hub” piece, and a number of small markers.

The hub is usually plastic or wood, and looks somewhat like the spokes of a bicycle tire. In the middle will be a slot or depression for the current round’s center domino, and around the outside will be eight or more slots for the individual player trains and the Mexican train. In most versions the hub is a simple flat disc with the slots cut out, but there is at least one version available that includes a large three-dimensional hub with buttons that will produce various sound effects. A hub really isn’t needed at all to play the game, because the dominos can just as simply be placed around the center domino – the hub just makes it a little easier to organize.

The markers are usually small plastic bits made to look like locomotives, and they come in a wide variety of different colors depending on the version of the game. These could easily be replaced with coins, glass beads, or any number of other objects to serve as markers, although the tiny locomotives do add to the theme somewhat.

Gameplay
The actual gameplay of Mexican Train is very much a mixed bag.

It’s a predominately luck-based game because the initial draw is generally the largest determining factor in who wins a given round, and there are few actual decisions to be made. Each turn you have the choice of playing on your own train, on the Mexican train, or an opponent’s train (if available), but generally that choice is made for you. If one of your extra dominos matches the open end of the Mexican train or an opponent’s train, play that one to get rid of it; if it doesn’t, play the next piece of your starting train instead. If there is an unsatisfied double on the table, you have no choice but to play there.

What little strategy there is largely comes into play when you have a double in your hand. If you see an opponent has all of their remaining dominos strung together without any loose extras, you can play a double that will force them to break up that train in order to satisfy it, or at the very least force them to pick up another domino. If you are playing with open hands there can also be a little bit of strategy when placing dominos on an opponent’s train; if you can place something that they can’t match, they’ll be forced to leave their marker out (unless they get a lucky draw or another player helps them out in the meantime).

Because there is so little decision-making required, analysis paralysis is non-existent in this game. That means individual turns go by very quickly even for first-time players, and entire rounds can theoretically be completed in as little as five to ten minutes depending on the number of people involved.

The problem, however, is that the almost complete lack of decision-making and strategy means that after a few turns people will stop paying attention to the game and will starting paying much more attention to socializing with each other. That’s fantastic if you’re using this game simply as an excuse to get the family or a group of friends together for a nice long chat about anything an everything, but if you have zero interest in the conversation and/or it’s game night and this was intended to be just a quick filler, it can quickly become excruciating.

Particularly painful is when someone is so busy spewing the latest gossip about that it takes them several minutes before they stop and say, “Oh, is it my turn again? I guess I’d better play something then! *giggle*”

The first time or two that happens it’s not really a big deal, but now repeat that upwards of a dozen times per round and then multiply that by the number of rounds. Unless every single person at the table is fully vested in the conversation, what started out as a moderately enjoyable game rapidly devolves into an exercise in restraint, as you are forced to resist the ever-building urge to vault over the table and throttle the offending person (or persons!) just to shut them up for a few rounds so you can finish the game.

Conclusion
If you love playing dominos, you will most likely enjoy Mexican Train. Plus, if you already have a nice set of dominos there’s no need to buy a boxed copy of this game. Simply download a copy of the rules (check out the files section here at BGG), find some markers, and you’re good to go.

If you love just spending evenings sitting around chatting with family and friends, but still want something to do at the same time, Mexican Train can be a good choice. It plays very well in the “background”, but you have to be 100% sure that everyone involved is on the same page.

If you’re a gamer with any interest in domino games and you don’t already have a set of your own, a copy of Mexican Train can be a good addition to your collection. If you play the game as intended it can serve as a halfway decent filler, but only if you agree to end it after a few rounds. While a small and focused group could whip through several rounds in a matter of minutes, the level of concentration required to do that seldom lasts long unless there is a great deal of strategic or tactical thinking involved. Playing for four or five rounds or until someone hits a predetermined point limit (100 works well) should be more than enough; any more than that and few players will likely start to become irritable, which could throw a dark cloud over the rest of the night.

Even if you ultimately don’t like this particular set of rules, a boxed set of Mexican Train will still give you a high-quality set of double-twelve dominos that can be readily used with any number of other domino-based game rules, and at the very least you could always use them as “toys” by setting them up in elaborate lines and then knocking them over.

Ratings
Because there are a number of factors that can drastically affect a person’s enjoyment of this game, a single rating is tough to quantify. So, with that in mind, I present a variable rating based on the number of rounds you think you might play. Feel free to choose whichever is most appropriate:

1 to 3 Rounds - Rating: 5.5

This is very light but somewhat fun game that can be used as filler or as a great backdrop to a social family gathering. Easy to teach and easy to play – even young children should be able to pick up the rules quickly.

4-6 Rounds – Rating: 4

This is a mildly entertaining game that has a tiny bit of strategy involved but is primarily luck-based. It tends to get repetitive quickly, and although it’s a decent social game it takes a lot longer to play than it really needs to.

7-9 Rounds – Rating: 3

Ugh. Okay, this is getting to be a bit much. This game started out okay, but now it’s just getting tedious. Everyone needs to shut up for a few minutes so we can finish and go home or switch to a much better game.

10-13 Rounds – Rating: 1.5

ARGGGGHHHH!! I CAN”T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! MAKE IT STOP! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE IT STOP!!!!

More than 13 Rounds – Rating:
No. Just… no. We *finally* finished playing all the way down from double-twelves to double-blanks. There is no way in hell I am playing back “up” again unless you first give back the three and a half hours of my life you just wasted on this “game”. I hate you.

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Final Word
This game used to be a fixture when visiting my in-laws, but over time my wife and I have managed to wean them off of it and onto much better games. On our most recent visit we played Bohnanza and RoboRally with them (woohoo!), while Mexican Train never got so much as a mention. Most of the times we did play this game it lasted for roughly five or six rounds, so I’ve put my own personal rating at 4.

I would raise that up to a solid 5 because of the social aspect and the fact that it can make people really appreciate how much better some games can be, but that bump is completely offset by bitterness over a fateful day about a year ago. We were visiting for the weekend, when two old friends of theirs happened to be passing through the area and stopped over to catch up on old times. A game of Mexican Train was suggested. I countered with Carcassonne (we brought our copy along), but it was deemed “too long and complicated for them”. My wife and I spent the next four hours rolling our eyes at each other and looking sadly at the blue box of meeple-filled goodness sitting just a few feet away, while dominos clicked endlessly against the table and inane gossip filled the air…

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IronMoss — 2008-07-09T05:00:44+00:00

Staring down at the Orange train - on which anyone can play at the moment

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IronMoss — 2008-07-02T12:24:34+00:00

Lonely Green Train backlit by the sunset [Creative Image - cropping and rotation are intentional]

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IronMoss — 2008-07-02T00:03:44+00:00

Clear Train may be played on by any player

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IronMoss — 2008-07-01T23:37:46+00:00

A view of the Train Station Hub from above

Thread: Re: A few rules questions

ronster0 — 2008-06-15T22:25:29+00:00

I was taught this game and have never read the rules, but this is how we play and how I learned it.

1) we all pick a domino from the pile and who ever has the highest number becomes the start player. We then reshuffle the dominoes and pick with them secret.

2) We play the same way. As long as you have a legal play (on the Mexican train or other player) you don't have to open yourself up. If you can't play at all then you must put up the mini train. You can't take it down until you play on your own train.

3) When you play a double you must cap it (not sideway but inline with the rest of your dominoes). If you cannot cap it you must put up your train and next person MUST cap it. If not, they put up their train. This happens until it is capped. Also, we don't allow splits only linear as you have described it.

This is just as we play it and I hope it helps. We find the game very enjoyable with the rules and have spent some fun evenings playing.

Thread: A few rules questions

IronMoss — 2008-06-15T18:40:55+00:00

With the understanding that this game appears like it is prone to have "house rules", we came across a few ambiguities in the rules that I wanted to pulse the general gaming public about.

1) The "set-up" rules state that "players organize their box cars face up" and then the player with the highest double becomes the start player. However, the rules are silent as to whether you are supposed to play the rest of the game with your dominoes as public information for the other players or if you can then hide their values once the game starts.

2) The "other players trains" section of the rules states that "if a player can no longer play on his personal train" they must put their mini train up to denote that anyone can play on that train . . . until the owning player plays on that train again (and the mini train is removed). What happens if your turn comes up and you can't play on your own train, but you can play on the Mexican train or someone else's personal train (because they have their mini-train up)? We've played that as long as you can play, you don't have to put your train up. Thus, your train doesn't go up until you have a turn in which you are unable place any domino. However, once placed, you can't remove your min-train (even if you can make a legal play) until you add to your own train again.

3) With regard to doubles - we've assumed that the trains are strictly linear - i.e., just because you have played doubles (and capped it), does not mean you can go back and play horizontally off the doubles domino (once it's capped, it's "dead" to play on).

Any thoughts folks have are much appreciated.

Thanks.

Thread: Re: Starting Train

TheCat — 2008-05-26T03:25:06+00:00

It also lets you figure out all the permutations before you start playing. If you don't plan ahead, you might find you've developed a short train and left yourself with lots of high point dominoes.

Also, selecting between your various combinations of dominoes is pretty much the only effective decision making in the game - so it's really the only interesting part of the game (imho).

Thread: Re: Train numbers

TheCat — 2008-05-26T03:20:48+00:00

Yes, one per player.

We play with plain old dominoes and use coins to mark open trains. The "little trains" are for aesthetic purposes, they aren't really needed.

Thread: Train numbers

Talisinbear — 2008-05-25T21:18:02+00:00

I am looking at buying this game

How many little trains should I be looking at. Is it one per player ?

thanks

Thread: Re: Starting Train

Rick Mathews — 2008-03-10T02:05:16+00:00

My understanding is that it is meant to speed play in the early turns. It takes a bit of time up front, but it allows all players to be involved at the start (building starting trains), and then allows the early turns to move faster because everyone has an idea about what they are going to do. So it prevents downtime in the early going.

Thread: Starting Train

randomlife — 2008-03-05T05:44:58+00:00

I don't understand the point of arranging your tiles in a "starting train". You never have to stick with the "plan" if you don't want to in later turns. So why even bother?

Thread: Re: Mexican Trainwreck: the game.

daniinnc — 2007-08-20T04:03:27+00:00

I noticed in the comments that many people gave this game a low rating because they were bored after playing 12 rounds of it. The key is not to play 12 rounds.

My group rarely plays the full length of any game that has repetitive rounds. With Pounce (Nertz) you are supposed to play to 200; we play to 50. With Poison you are supposed to play as many rounds as there are players; we usually stick to 3 rounds. Play Mexican Train until you're tired of it and call a winner. If you do it that way, you'll enjoy it for what it is -- a light diversion while visiting with friends.

Thread: Re: Mexican Trainwreck: the game.

Red Dragon — 2007-05-06T18:25:24+00:00

mdp4828 wrote:
My memory of my one playing is vague (probably supressed) but I seem to recall that one player couldn't even get started, couldn't even play one tile and just sat there for the whole "game".
Yea, I got stuck playing this retarded waste of time recently. A round starts with a double played, and until you can match that number, you're not allowed to play anywhere else. So, if the other players are holding all of that number, which is unlikely but can happen, you spend the whole round drawing tiles which all count against you when someone goes out, and there's absolutely nothing else you can do. I got 153 points that round, out of about 300 for all 13 boring pointless rounds that made up one game. Gawd I hate this 'game'.

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pyr-shep — 2007-02-11T15:47:41+00:00

Start of new round.

Thread: Re: Mexican Trainwreck: the game.

ed95005 — 2006-07-01T21:49:02+00:00

I almost got sucked into a game of this a few weeks ago. Thank god I left.

Thread: Re: Mexican Trainwreck: the game.

mdp4828 — 2006-03-29T19:44:55+00:00

My memory of my one playing is vague (probably supressed) but I seem to recall that one player couldn't even get started, couldn't even play one tile and just sat there for the whole "game".

Immediately we tried varients (this was before I knew about eurogames so nothing better was waiting in the wings to be pulled out) but none of them worked.

I still have the game. The dominoes are usefull for playing with my niece and nephew when they visit.

Thread: Re: Mexican Trainwreck: the game.

Alexfrog — 2006-03-28T22:09:45+00:00

This game is the worst.

The mexicans should claim discrimination, based on their name being associated with such a terrible game.

Thread: Mexican Trainwreck: the game.

Red Dragon — 2006-03-26T05:52:06+00:00

I played this game with two relatives on a recent visit. I had given them a variety of games for the holidays, and other people had given them other games, to no avail. I had also brought several games with me.

Settlers of Catan, Guillotine, 10 Days in Africa, Bid It, and Dao sat in the closet unopened, and Elasund: First City of Catan, Lucca Citta, and Alhambra sat in my car unopened, as this game hit the table.

The game played out like so:

He took 15 tiles, she took 15 tiles, I took 15 tiles. The person with the highest double not previously used as a starter played it. We lined up our tiles in the order we could play them. He played a tile, she played a tile, I played a tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he had to draw, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she had to draw, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I had to draw, I played my only possible tile, he played his only possible tile, she played her only possible tile, I played my only possible tile, he had to draw and couldn't play, she played her only possible tile, I had to draw and couldn't play, he had to draw and couldn't play, she played her only possible tile and went out, we added up points.

We pretty much repeated that 11 more times, with minor variations. I won by about 150 to 225 to 230 (low score wins). When she started setting it up for another game, I 'went to bed', 3 hours earlier than I usually do.

Thread: Session Report

steveoliverc — 2005-01-05T14:49:41+00:00

In my on-going quest to learn as many child-friend games as possible, in advance of the upcoming after school game club, I sat down after work today with my daughter (nine years old) to learn Mexican Train. We played with a set of double-six dominoes.

We set the Mexican Train on the center of the table, and laid in the double-six domino to open the train station. “All aboard!”

We drew our seven tiles apiece, and my daughter went first. She immediately laid out six tiles and I knew I was in for quite a challenge. Then I went, and laid out just two. Then she couldn’t play, so she had to draw a tile and place the marker on her train. (We call the marker the Conductor, and say “Tickets, please!” when placing it.) Then my turn, I was able to start the Mexican train. Then she played on her train. Then I was stuck, so placed my Conductor marker, and drew a tile. Then she dominoed and my score was 0 to 15 in her favor with the lowest score being the winner. But we had six more rounds to go.

We cleared off the tracks and placed the five-five tile into the station. We drew, and I went first. I won’t do the play by play except to say that I played a double and had a tile to play on it, but the next time she played a double and didn’t have a tile. That forced her to draw, place her Conductor, and then I had to play onto her double but couldn’t, so I also had to draw a tile and place my Conductor on my train. Ouch!

Here’s the round-by-round:

6/6: Me 15, her 0
5/5: 0, 19 (I won on the first play! A lucky draw of the bones.)
4/4: 22, 0
3/3: 0, 41 (ouch! High score of the game, and I won AGAIN on the first play! Pure luck.)
2/2: 7, 0 (up to this point, whoever started first won the round!)
1/1: 21, 0 and now it’s 65 for me and 60 for her, so almost a tie.

Last round, playing the double-blank domino, and we both need to domino (go out) before the other. But she pulls it off and ends up beating me by nine points. Way to go, kid!

We both like this game a lot! It plays very quickly, and after seven rounds we felt like we had wrapped up an enjoyable game. Altogether it took about half an hour, or maybe a little less. We’ll definitely share this game with the other students at the upcoming game club.

Thread: Re:Rule Question: How many Mexican Trains?

quixotequest — 2004-09-04T00:24:54+00:00

NickB (#50071),

Yes the "get rid as many as you can" is a variation we tried out to see if it could speed up play. It was not in our original rules. And we don't force anyone to unload their opening draw into a train. The variation worked but does not guarantee a winner to the player with the longest starting train. Occasionally someone will domino on first draw, but rarely. (Really exciting when it happens, see limit rule below.) And someone with a long personal starting train does not usually win, as one has few bones with which to play on other trains or the Mexican train. But in general the variation does speed up the game.

We've also tried, rather than the conventional "lowest score wins" approach to letting the winner accumulate all the losers points. Actually this rarely changes the winner but does shake up the usual second or third place winner.

Also to speed things up, a person losing with a lot of bones can take a flat 100 point limit. If they add their pips and it exceeds 100, though, they must take the higher score.

We've played a few variations about "hanging" a train which freezes play. The way we originally played has any "hung" tile (unfilled double) freezing play till filled. We only play that rule as applying to the Mexican train.

Can you tell that we like a faster paced Mexican Train game??

Thread: Re:Rule Question: How many Mexican Trains?

NickB — 2004-08-19T21:21:50+00:00

I didn't mean to imply that we play with only 1 train, period. Just one "Mexican" train which you call the "main train." Each player still has his or her own "personal" train, but you can't make as many "Mexican" trains as you have tiles for.

AFAIK the "play as many as you can" at the beginning of your hand is a variation and not in the "original" rules, as a lucky player could domino on his or her first turn.

Nick

Thread: Re:Rule Question: How many Mexican Trains?

quixotequest — 2004-08-19T02:29:50+00:00

We've been playing Mexican Train since the mid-90s, so I don't know how "authentic" our rule is:

There is one "main train" that is started out by the double for the prevailing round number. Each person can also have a train, headed by any tile featuring a number of the dominant hand number. Before the hand commences, each person can unload, if they choose, as many tiles as they can from their hand into their own train. This speeds up the hands, in general, but winning the hand doesn't always favor those who start with a long train of their own.

When a person has to draw a tile from the boneyard, and cannot play, then their train (we use poker chips) becomes open to others to play upon it. A person can only close their train when they again play upon their own train.

The main train can always be played upon by anyone.

Playing with only one central train makes for very long hands.

Thread: Re:Rule Question: How many Mexican Trains?

NickB — 2004-08-13T15:49:07+00:00

We play only 1 mexican train. Starting any number of mexican trains seems like it would be too easy to get rid of all your tiles.

Thread: Rule Question: How many Mexican Trains?

them — 2004-08-12T19:25:42+00:00

We have the Cardinal version which appears to have slightly different rules than the rules linked to in the links section.

That said, do most people play that a player can start any number of Mexican Trains (assuming they have a match for the hub domino), or that there can be only one?