Ticket to Ride is a game that is widely regarded as having saved the tabletop gaming industry and has sold over 3 million copies since being released in 2004. Lennon McGuirk dives into why everyone and their mother should play it.
Ticket to Ride is a game that can be enjoyed by all ages. It is not too competitive but still offers more of a tactical challenge than most other entry-level board games. It’s a quick enough game, taking only thirty minutes to an hour depending on the number of players, which can range from two to five.
The objective of the game is quite simple, place down railroads and claim points for completing certain routes. The only caveat is that other players can also block routes that you were planning on taking. At the start of the game, players receive some train cards and routes to make as well as a bag of train cars to claim routes with. The game then proceeds in a turn-about way until someone has placed down all of their train cars and points are tallied up.
Points are not only awarded for completing routes but also for how many train cars have been placed down and who has the longest continuous rail line. Meaning that just because someone has completed all of their routes doesn’t mean other players are out of the game just yet!
it is not uncommon to lose to first-timers
Every time I introduce a new player to the game it only takes them a turn or two to fully grasp how the game works and it is balanced extremely well, it is not uncommon to lose to first-timers.
Anyone who enjoys casual planning games will absolutely adore Ticket to Ride’s easy setup and go nature. The only downside of the board game is that it has a relatively large map. This is where the video game versions come in handy.
Ticket to Ride has versions on all consoles as well as Steam, IOS, and the Google Play Store. The game is ported with love and runs much better than other money-grabbing ports such as Monopoly. If after a while you find yourself getting a bit bored of the main game (which you won’t), fear not as there are expansions such as the 1910 expansion which adds more cards to the game as well as other versions such as Ticket to Ride: Europe, which adds entirely new functionality to the map such as ports and underground railroads.
Even those who have not touched a board game in years can find some form of enjoyment from this surprisingly engaging game
Ticket to Ride is a game for all and something that everyone should play once. Even those who have not touched a board game in years can find some form of enjoyment from this surprisingly engaging game. It's simple rules, multiple expansions and spin-offs mean that it’s a game that never gets old, all while not getting overly complicated for the sake of it either. So now that you’ve finished reading this, go buy a copy and have a blast.