Game Review: Ticket to Ride

As mentioned in my first post, Ticket to Ride was my first re-intrduction to tabletop games.  As a child and teen, I had learned to play a number of games, but I would not say that I was a master of any.  I played my fair share of Monopoly, especially with my cousin Heidi, but one of the faults with Monopoly was its undeterminate length of gameplay.  You never knew how long it was going to take and playing one game for upwards of three hours was never my idea of fun.

Ticket to Ride was created by Alan R. Moon in 2004 and is a wonderfully drawn railway themed game.  It is a German-style board game, which means that usually players are in the game until the end (no one gets kicked out or dies) and Ticket to Ride follows this pattern of play.

There are two types of cards in Ticket to Ride:

1. Destination Route Cards

Route Ticket from Sault Ste. Marie - Nashville.  It has a value of 8 points if the player can complete the route.

2. Train Car Cards

Train car cards come in 8 colours (red, blue, white, green, pink*, yellow, black, and orange) and there is a wild card train that can be used as any colour train when played.

Game Pieces

Players move around the scoring portion of the game board using a small cylinder shaped block and place mini-train pieces of their colour (blue, black, red, green, and yellow) on the routes they claim.

Game Play

In the game, players take three route tickets at the beginning of the game and try to complete these route tickets by collecting the smaller routes along the way of the larger route.  For example, along the way from Sault Ste. Marie - Nashville, players would likely complete Toronto to Pittsburgh which requires to trains of the same colour to be played.  Other routes in the game require a specific colour.  Players collect train car cards of certain colours to complete sets.  Once the set is complete players can use a turn to play the set and place their trains on the route on the board.  Sometimes a player needs to use a wild card along with their set to complete the route.  Players continue to try and complete routes, taking more route destination cards if they have completed their own routes and feel they can compete more.  The games ends when one person has zero, one, or two trains remaining.

Time

This is the first thing that I liked about Ticket to Ride.  As a parent, it is essential that there be a plan. If there is no plan, supper ends up being at 8:00 pm and the kids don't get to bed until 9:00 pm or later and then the next day is absolutely crazy because they are super tired and very cranky and no one wants that.  But, I can put out Ticket to ride after dinner at 6:30 pm and I know it will be over by 8:00 pm.  There is a defined amount of time that the game will take based on how the game is designed.  As a parent, this means playing a game can be planned.  We can have conclusion.  We do not need the game to be left "just so" in order to continue the next day.  We can clean the game up when we are done, brush our teeth, and get ready for bed.

Geography

This is a great game for getting kids to learn a bit about geography.  They get a better understanding of the layout of the country of the United States.  As Canadians, my kids are upset there are not more Canadian cities, but who knows, maybe a special edition Canadian Ticket to Ride will come out one day.

Ease of Play

This game allows younger kids to play tabletop games.  Kiera, my seven year old is easily able to play.  She still has some learning to do in terms of strategy, but she can certainly engage in the game with her older sisters, mom, and I.

The ease of play also makes this a great intro game to the world of tabletop gaming.  It is not so easy that the game becomes boring nor is it so difficult that the game becomes frustrating.

Strategy

The game strategy can range from friendly to cut throat.  If players play a "I'm just going to collect my cards" type of game (which is normally the case at our game table) the game is quite friendly.  There are times when a player takes a part of someone else's route in trying to collect their own, but it  is not with hostility towards the other player.  In other games, there can be strategic decisions to take a route that is not necessarily needed by a player in an attempt to block another player.  This can certainly cause bad feelings.

Scoring

As mentioned earlier, this game allows players to play to the end (no one gets kicked out or dies) and some scoring is done during the game (players collect from 1 - 15 points for completing a route between two adjacent cities), but scoring also happens at the end of the game when players add up all of their completed Destination Route Cards and score points for those.  If the route is not completed, it counts as negative points.  As one final reward, the player with the longest continuous train get s a bonus 10 points.  The scoring (math) is very easy and allows younger players to work on their addition skills.

Re-playability

Ticket to Ride is the type of game that can become a family favourite and the old "go-to" game.  The game is fun enough that players will not mind going back to it.  There are numerous other versions of the game (see below for a list) and expansions for the game (see below for a list) that the game can be played for years to come.

Summary

For the reasons given above, I believe Ticket to Ride is a game worth purchasing.  It is a gateway game that will get players involved in tabletop gaming.  It is not so intense that players can't have a conversation while the game is happening, it is a social experience and not a competition experience.

Purchase on Amazon

Games

Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride: Europe

Stand alone game that features European geography and some different elements during game play.

Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries

Stand alone game that features Nordic Countries.

Expansions

Ticket to Ride: 1910 Expansion

Expansion for the original Ticket to Ride.

Ticket to Ride: Europa 1912 Expansion

This is an expansion for the Ticket to Ride: Europe game.