One of the most annoying parts about playing a new board game is the time it takes to learn the rules. Some games are so complicated that it feels like you need to sit through an entire course just to understand the basic rules of the game. With Ticket To Ride, you’ll be off on your adventure in less than 15 minutes. This game is the perfect mix of simplicity and fun, forcing you to weave and wind as you build your railway routes across North America.
Connecting The Endpoints
When the game starts, each player begins with four train car cards and three Destination Ticket cards. The game board shows a vast map of the United States and southern Canada, and your Destination Ticket cards show you which two cities on the map you have to connect. Keep it to yourself, however, as it’s your job to secretly build your route without alerting the other players to your goal.
Every turn you get three options: either you draw two railway car cards, draw three Destination Ticket cards, or play one of your cards to claim a route and earn points. Claiming routes is a super fun part of the game as you get to victoriously place your colorful little train cars along the route. As you claim more and more routes, the game board begins to fill up with a bright web of red, yellow, and blue train cards that weave their way across North America.
Winning The Game
In order to win the game, you have to earn the most points by successfully connecting your secret Destination Ticket cities. You can also earn a magnificent ten-point bonus if you succeed in building the longest continuously connected set of routes. By building longer routes and connecting cities from across the country, you can earn enough points to blow the competition out of the water.
The fun of the game comes from navigating risk and fear. Do you add more cards to your hand to give yourself a better shot at winning? Or do you nab the route you need in order to keep it from falling into the hands of your rival? Whether you win or lose, you have to marvel at the intricacy of the custom-molded train cars and beautifully illustrated cards.
Ticket To Ride Spinoffs
Ticket to Ride was released in 2004, followed shortly after by six spinoff board games as well as a few card and electronic games. If North America isn’t your jam, you can play Ticket to Ride across a sprawling map of Europe, Germany, Poland, or even the Nordic countries. Certain expansions even allow you to play with new map collections including The Heart of Africa or the Old West.
While Ticket to Ride comes with a pretty large game board, Ticket To Ride: Rails and Sails ups the ante by including a giant double-sided board that features both land and water routes. If you’re interested in playing Ticket to Ride with younger players, the First Journey version of the game features a smaller board and shorter game time that’s suitable for ages 6 and up.
Get Your Ticket To Ride And Start The Fun
Ticket to Ride is the perfect game for new players who are looking for something simple and entertaining. Gameplay is suitable for 2-5 players ages 8 and up, so it’s an excellent board game for family game night or a lazy Sunday morning. And although its simplicity is one of its greatest features, you’ll find that this board game is plenty interesting enough to keep you engaged throughout the entire 30-60 minutes of game time.
If you’re a locomotive junkie or you’re simply looking for a new board game to add to the mix, you’ll love the imaginative world of Ticket to Ride. With circuitous routes traversing a beautifully illustrated game board, Ticket to Ride is just as much an adventure for your eyes as it is for your mind. Hop on board and enjoy the ride with this entertaining and creative board game that will be sure to make “conductor” your newest dream job!
