2027Duane Wulf
- Videos
- 2
- Creators
- 2
Reviews and unboxings
1 - 5 players60 - 120 min
Union Stockyards
2023Duane Wulf
- Videos
- 23
- Creators
- 17
Mainly reviews. Union Stockyards is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 10 reviews, 5 how-to-play guides, 3 recorded sessions, 3 unboxings, and 2 other videos.
2 - 5 players
45 - 90 min
Medium weight: Teach it in one sitting
From BoardGameGeek
Union Stockyards is a mid-weight economic euro game with unique features: A supply/demand driven market that is central to game play, not a sidebar. Low randomness -- market changes due to player decisions. A worker-placement game where your workers may go on strike. Extensively-researched historical theme about one of the great industrial wonders of U.S. Gilded Age. Opening in 1865, the Union Stockyards became Chicago's largest industry and one of the city's top tourist attractions with a half million visitors annually in the early 1900's. From the Civil War through the 1920's, more meat was processed here than anywhere in the world. During its height, 40,000 mostly immigrant workers labored in “the busiest square mile on earth”, where over one million livestock passed monthly, supplying 80% of all U.S. meat. There were over 2,300 livestock pens and 130 miles of railroad within the “yards”. You play one the “Big Five” meat packers, developing technologies to use every part of the animal while battling labor unions and manipulating the market to your advantage. Union Stockyards is played over six years (rounds), each beginning with an historical event affecting game conditions or adding an additional action. You select your actions through worker placement; however, if you don't pay your workers enough, they may go on “strike”. You earn cash based on your profit margins when you slaughter cattle, hogs, or sheep. Your profit margin is your meat value minus the livestock cost. The livestock cost is the same for all players, but your meat values will differ due to your engine-building decisions of constructing buildings, establishing branch houses in eastern cities, and improving your brand reputation. At the end of each year, livestock costs (cattle, hogs, sheep) will be adjusted up or down depending on the demand that you created. Sometimes you may choose to slaughter certain livestock just to manipulate the market in your favor. Whichever packer accumulates the most wealth wins the game.
Watch first
Which Union Stockyards video should I watch?
Union Stockyards has 23 videos from 17 creators: 10 reviews, 5 how-to-play guides, 3 playthroughs, 3 unboxings and 2 other videos. They date from 2022 to September 2024.
To learn the rules, start with "Union Stockyards - Learn While Playing!" by Getting Games, which runs 51 min. For a quicker teach, "Union Stockyards - 4p - The Rules by Heavy Cardboard" runs 15 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Union Stockyards Review - The Meatman Brings All The Cows To The Yard..." by BoardGameCo. 8 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Union Stockyards - 4p Teach, Play-through, & Roundtable Discussion by Heavy Cardboard" by Heavy Cardboard, one of 3 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Union Stockyards: Westward Expansion, also by Duane Wulf, or The Castles of Burgundy, Shogun no Katana and Targi, which share several of its mechanics.
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About Union Stockyards
From BoardGameGeek:
Union Stockyards is a mid-weight economic euro game with unique features: A supply/demand driven market that is central to game play, not a sidebar. Low randomness -- market changes due to player decisions. A worker-placement game where your workers may go on strike. Extensively-researched historical theme about one of the great industrial wonders of U.S. Gilded Age. Opening in 1865, the Union Stockyards became Chicago's largest industry and one of the city's top tourist attractions with a half million visitors annually in the early 1900's. From the Civil War through the 1920's, more meat was processed here than anywhere in the world. During its height, 40,000 mostly immigrant workers labored in “the busiest square mile on earth”, where over one million livestock passed monthly, supplying 80% of all U.S. meat. There were over 2,300 livestock pens and 130 miles of railroad within the “yards”. You play one the “Big Five” meat packers, developing technologies to use every part of the animal while battling labor unions and manipulating the market to your advantage. Union Stockyards is played over six years (rounds), each beginning with an historical event affecting game conditions or adding an additional action. You select your actions through worker placement; however, if you don't pay your workers enough, they may go on “strike”. You earn cash based on your profit margins when you slaughter cattle, hogs, or sheep. Your profit margin is your meat value minus the livestock cost. The livestock cost is the same for all players, but your meat values will differ due to your engine-building decisions of constructing buildings, establishing branch houses in eastern cities, and improving your brand reputation. At the end of each year, livestock costs (cattle, hogs, sheep) will be adjusted up or down depending on the demand that you created. Sometimes you may choose to slaughter certain livestock just to manipulate the market in your favor. Whichever packer accumulates the most wealth wins the game.
Designer
Duane Wulf
Artist
Andrew Bosley
Publisher
Solid Rock Games
Mechanics