‘The chase on horseback… violent and dashing… Indeed, of all American wild sports, this is the wildest. Once among the buffalo, the hunter… dashes forward in utter recklessness and self-abandonment. He thinks of nothing, cares for nothing but the game; his mind is stimulated to the highest pitch, yet intensely concentrated on one object... and when his wounded enemy leaps in vain fury upon him, his heart thrills with a feeling like the fierce delight of the battlefield.’ Francis Parkman 1846

Welcome to ‘The Way of the Buffalo’, a game that represents the proper pursuit of all honourable and fearless Lakota: hunting bison on the great plains of North America in the early 19th Century.

Forget those annoying blue coats and even the kudos to be gained stealing the Pawnee’s ponies, the true test of a man is to bring down a ptehcaka – a buffalo - at close range with a bow and claim your place as Waktekteka, the great hunter.

This is not a one-sided fight and a grumpy buffalo is a real risk to a warrior and his pony.

The game uses a ‘rolling road’ mechanism where the buffalo models stay still on the table and everything else - hunters, fallen buffalo, areas of prairie dog holes (where many a pony breaks a leg) – move relative to the herd. Contact with a buffalo can be… messy.

All participants play as a pony mounted Lakota warrior, and though a buffalo player is helpful, the herd moves (not always straight ahead…) on autopilot.

Players get a handful of cards (the game uses normal playing cards) to influence dice rolls for shooting and wounding the buffalo and dodging the horns of a grumpy bull.

The hunters score points for each buffalo killed with bonuses for killing the ‘boss’ buffalo and especially the sacred white buffalo.