Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Wildcatters is a tactical and strategic board game set during the booming business of the 19th century oil industry! The players are oil barons who develop oil fields; bid for oil rights; and build rigs, oil tankers, trains, and refineries.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Auction/Bidding
Bid against other players to determine who receives an item, action, or priority.
Network and Route Building
Create connected routes that improve reach, delivery, control, or scoring.
Pick Up and Deliver
Collect goods at one location and transport them to another for rewards.
Stock Holding
Acquire shares whose value depends on companies, assets, or player actions.
Read the full game description
Wildcatters is a tactical and strategic board game set during the booming business of the 19th century oil industry! The players are oil barons who develop oil fields; bid for oil rights; and build rigs, oil tankers, trains, and refineries. Your goal is to deliver more oil barrels to the continents than the other players while also collecting more shares and money than them. The game lasts seven rounds with four players, and the game set-up is the same for each player, with three rigs, two trains, one tanker and one refinery being placed on the board. The game board features a world map divided into eight areas where you can find oil. Players choose an open area card and get money to build rigs, tankers, trains and refineries, after which they can buy oil actions. The players work together in an oilfield to find oil at a lower cost. The players transport oil together to the refineries, using trains and tankers from other players to deliver oil to the refineries – and all with one purpose: deliver more oil than the other players by the end of the game.