Tips & Strategy

Practical planning ideas for a first game of Wildcatters.

• Build where other companies can help meet the four-rig threshold, but plan how you will benefit when the oilfield is discovered.
• A refinery can turn opponents’ deliveries into shares. Choose its location with the train and tanker network in mind.
• Watch both sides of an Area card: its worker and share bonus funds your turn, while oil drops help final points and turn order.
• Transport is a negotiation through the board state. A train or tanker you own can earn shares when rivals use it, while a full refinery may force them to reroute.
• Keep enough of your own shares for bids and transport fees. A loan supplies ten shares, but you must return 25 own-color shares per loan at game end; each missing share costs a point.
• Continental oil majorities reward planning across several deliveries; a Corporation’s oil can change those totals in two- and three-player games.