The Components are of a high quality and the artwork is very colourful and suited to the theme well.
Pony Express is an amusing little race game based on the Wild West. The idea is to be the first to deliver mail to Sacramento. Most of the squares on the board have a little symbol which when landed on during movement have an action (Gaining action cards, gain gold, fight Indians, visit the saloon or train station). If you land on the same square as one other player you have a duel or if there are multiple players you have a gamble. The basic mechanic is rolling a set of poker dice (blind) and bluffing or not about what hand you have which will then determine your movement. Someone near you can call your bluff but if they get it wrong they are sent to jail (lay down their playing piece), if they get it right they get to move the hand you claimed.
Duel's involve placing a marker on the board and then your playing pieces on opposite corners of the board. You then, marble style, flick dice at your opponents piece, you have three shots each if you knock out your opponent they must pay you half their gold or if you hit an innocent bystander you go to jail.
If you have to fight the Indians it is a similar mechanic to the duel, except that for each Indian you knock down you get 1 gold and for everyone left standing you have to move back one square.
Finally when you reach the Sacramento you have 3 mailboxes, you start on the first and then each subsequent turn you move onto the next. If you make it to the last mailbox before anyone else reaches Sacramento you win the game otherwise you have a duel to the death or someone is arrested for shooting an innocent.
This is great fun and I look forward to playing this again, it is a good start or end of session game.
