Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a 1992 classic that blends railroad building with a straightforward card draft. Each round begins with every player playing one card from their hand face‑down; when revealed, the 66 city cards display a name and a numeric value from 2 to 7 – the farther west the city, the higher the number. Only played cards score; cards left in hand are worthless. The card's value is multiplied by the number of rail lines touching that city. In addition to city cards, there are Double‑Turn cards, which let a player lay two track pieces in each of the round's two track phases, and Branch Line cards, which start a new branch from any city already connected. Each branch costs $1 and a player may hold only one at a time, forced to use it the next round. Players may lay track of any colour as long as it connects to the existing network; there is no ownership of lines. The first player to connect their first railroad to any city earns $2, and cities marked with coloured squares grant a $4 bonus if the matching colour railroad enters. The game ends when all track pieces are placed or no player can make a legal move. Scoring has two parts: 1 point per dollar earned and the city‑card points (card value × number of different rail lines touching it). Ties are broken by who holds the most 7‑value cards. The game runs about 70 minutes, has a low complexity (weight 2.2), and supports 2‑5 players, making it perfect for fans of light strategy, constant interaction, and the romance of Old West railroads.