Trails

Trails exists in the shadow of PARKS, and that relationship shapes nearly every conversation about it. Both games come from designer Henry Audubon and publisher Keymaster Games, both feature stunning artwork from the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, and both are about hiking through national parks and collecting resources. Where PARKS offers a fuller, longer experience with more strategic options, Trails condenses the concept into a compact game that plays in 20 to 40 minutes with 2 to 4 players. Released in 2021, it was positioned as a lighter, more portable entry point to the same universe.

Community opinion is split along a clear line. Players who approach Trails on its own terms tend to enjoy it as a pleasant, quick game with beautiful art and accessible rules. Players who come to it from PARKS or from the broader hobby often find it too thin to leave a lasting impression. The game lives in a narrow space between gateway filler and something with enough weight to be satisfying, and whether it lands in that space depends heavily on what a group is looking for.

National Park Artwork and the Setting Sun

Visual presentation is the first thing that captures attention and the last thing that fades from memory. Every trail tile features artwork from the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, depicting stylized views of American national parks. The nighttime versions of these tiles, revealed as the sun token advances along the trail, add another layer of visual appeal. For a game at this price point and weight class, the production quality in the artwork is striking.

A sun mechanic provides the game’s most interesting design element. The trail is a linear path of tiles, and a sun token sits at one end. Each time a player reaches the far end of the trail and turns around, the sun advances one space, flipping a tile from its daytime side to its nighttime side. Nighttime tiles grant more powerful actions, creating an incentive to move quickly and reach the trail end before opponents. But moving fast means skipping resource-gathering opportunities along the way. This tension between speed and collection gives the game its rhythm and its best strategic choices.

Resource gathering is intuitive and immediately accessible. Trail tiles provide colored resource cubes when players land on them, and these resources can be spent at the trailhead or trail end to earn badges (which provide victory points) or to take photographs (which require specific resource combinations and offer higher point values). The loop is simple enough that new players internalize it within a turn or two, and the small number of resources keeps the decisions manageable.

Compact footprint is a real advantage. The entire game fits in a small box, sets up in minutes, and plays on a modest table space. For couples looking for a travel game or a quick weeknight option, the portability is a meaningful selling point. At two players, the game plays its tightest, with resource competition creating more tension than at higher counts where the trail feels more spacious.

A Trail That Ends Too Soon

Strategic depth is where Trails struggles to hold attention. The core loop of moving along a trail, picking up resources, and spending them on badges repeats without much variation. The sun mechanic adds a timing consideration, but the available actions on any given turn are few and the consequences of each choice are immediately visible. Experienced gamers will find that the decisions feel obvious more often than they feel interesting. The game rarely presents a turn where the optimal move isn’t clear.

Inevitable comparison to PARKS creates an expectations problem. Trails was marketed and positioned relative to PARKS, and players who arrive expecting a distilled version of that experience often find something too simplified rather than elegantly streamlined. PARKS offers more strategic paths, more player interaction, and a more complete-feeling experience. Trails captures the theme and the art style but doesn’t replicate the strategic satisfaction. The game works better when evaluated on its own merits rather than as a companion piece.

Player interaction is minimal. Players share the same trail and can occupy the same spaces, so there’s no blocking mechanism to create friction. Competition exists through the shared pool of badges and photographs, but the feeling of playing against opponents is faint. At three or four players, the game spreads out enough that resource competition rarely feels sharp. The experience is closer to parallel play than a contest in most sessions.

Replayability has a low ceiling. The trail tiles rotate positions between games and the badge and photograph cards shuffle, but the strategic experience doesn’t change in meaningful ways from session to session. After several plays, most groups will have seen everything the game has to offer. This is fine for a game at this weight and play time, but it means Trails is unlikely to become a regular fixture in a collection.

Hiking at Your Own Pace

The fundamental question with Trails is what a group expects from a 30-minute game. As a light, attractive, portable option for casual play, it succeeds. The artwork alone justifies keeping it around for non-gaming friends and family. As a game that rewards repeated play and improving strategy, it falls short. The experience doesn’t deepen with familiarity the way the best lightweight games do.

Should You Play Trails?

Couples, families, and groups new to the hobby are the natural audience here, particularly those who are drawn to the nature theme and artwork. It works as a travel game, a date night option, and a gentle introduction to set collection and resource management. Players who own PARKS should consider whether they need a lighter version of a similar experience.

Skip it if your group wants strategic depth from lightweight games, if minimal player interaction is a deal-breaker, or if you already own PARKS and find it fulfills the same niche more completely.

The Verdict on Trails

Trails distills the PARKS experience into a smaller, shorter package that keeps the beautiful national park artwork and nature theme while simplifying the resource-gathering loop into something quicker and more portable. The day-to-night sun mechanic adds a clever timing element, and the compact footprint makes it ideal for couples or travel gaming. Strategic depth is limited, and experienced players will find the decisions too lightweight to sustain interest beyond a handful of sessions. For families and casual groups drawn to the theme and looking for a gentle introduction to set collection, Trails provides a pleasant if modest hike.