Dear Sinners and Saints,
During my last blog I took a look at quite possibly my favorite video game of all time. This week, we will take a look at a game I absolutely love, and you will too. I promise you. Right now. Now I'm not a liar and I don't plan on ever becoming one, so let's a take a look at what we're dealing with. This week's review is all about the fabulous award winning train game "Ticket to Ride"
Background
Ticket to Ride is a rail management game created by Days of Wonder. They aren't the biggest hitter in the table top world, but their Ticket to Ride franchise has expanded and given them a loud voice in the world of gaming. In addition the regular Ticket to ride game, there is a Nordic, Europe, and Marklin version of the base game with their own map (or maps) and additional rules. This doesn't include the 4 map packs available for Ticket to Ride, the 1910 expansion for the base game, the 1912 expansion to Ticket to Ride Europe, and the Alvin and Dexter Monster packs. This is a very successful game, and you're about to see why.
The first thing to mention is that Ticket won the Spiel des Jahres in 2004, an accomplishment that basically equates to winning gold, silver AND bronze in the table top Olympics for that year. It's a mark of excellent and guarantee on quality, and you can always count on it to separate the "WOW!" from the "meh...". Ever since, it's won board game awards in Japan, the US, Spain, and France, and those are just the countries listed on the front of the box!. It's an international sensation that keeps growing, but enough of my shameless plugging away at it's success.
Components
Here's what you're looking at when you open the box:
- Five handfuls of tiny plastic trains (in Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, and Black), with a matching round wooden marker.
- The board (Surprise!)
- Two small stacks of cards.
That's it. That's all you need. It doesn't get any more complex than that. Set up is simple and takes five minutes, which is perfect as it take exactly that long to explain the rules!
Place the board on the table, and put each player's round marker at "Zero". Separate the "Destination" and "Train" Decks, shuffle, and deal out three Destination cards and four Train cards to each player face down. Each player collect all their matching train, picks how many of the destinations you wish to keep (you can discard one destination if you think you can't make it) and that's it. Place the Train deck down and flip over the top 5 cards in a row. That's the set up. It took me longer to write this than setting up takes! Yet once again, I'm fan boying and must move on.
The Game
The object of the game is simple; Complete your destinations. The board is a map of America, with various towns and cities marked and rails of different colors and lengths running between them. On your turn you have three options, and can only perform one of these options:
1) Draw up to two train cards - These help you place your train on the board (we'll get to that), and it's what you'll be doing the most. You have 5 face up cards to choose from, or you can take the top card of the deck. You can take ANY combination thereof. The only exception is if you take a face up (multi-colored) wild card, it has to be the ONLY card you craw this turn. Otherwise, you can take two.
2) Lay track (That always sounds dirty in my head) - Your second option is to discard the colored train cards in your hand to place your train down between two cities. You can only lay down one track on your turn and you must lay down the full length between the cities. Ex, discarding 4 red train cards to connect El Paso and Dallas. Grey tracks are wild, but all the cards discarded must still be the same color. You then place your train cars on this space, and it's claimed. You score the indicated number of points.
3) Getting more destinations - If you've completed your destination or are feeling a little heavier in the pants than your opponents, you can draw 3 more designation cards and keep one, two, or all three. It is not advised that you do this often, and I'll get into that.
As we looked at earlier, your destination cards are asking you to connect cities, such as Boston and Miami, or Montreal and Vancouver. The longer the distance, the bigger the points at the end of the game. Be warned though, for if you don't complete your destination, those points are subtracted from your score at the end of the game. Only take on what you can handle, as you have other people vying for the same routes as you and that crucial rail may soon be gobbled up.
As you lay cars, you'll gain points based on how long a track you just laid down. Set down one car? Get one point. Two cars? Two points. However, if you set down 4 cars, you get a nice score of 7 points. If you claim a track of 6 cards, you get a whopping 15 points. Beyond this, the player at the end of the game with the longest, unbroken chain of cards gains the "Longest route" card and a 10 point buffer. I have seen this buffer decide the winner many times. It's not a bonus to simply shrug off.
Seem complicated? It's not. You'll understand and test the rules within the first 5 minutes of the game, and the biggest threat is the chance of other people getting those tracks before you, and you moving in faster. There is nothing better than laying that last piece of track to finish you final destination so you can turn your attention to building the longest track, and there is nothing more devastating than seeing that crucial bit of track be claimed by someone else, only to calculate an expensive detour you now need. The game is simply exhilarating from start to finish, and each game is a treat.
End game starts when someone ends the turn with fewer than 3 trains left in their stock. Other players get one more turn, and then you tally the totals. You should already be keeping track of your scores for the routes you claimed, so just add up the destination tickets (subtract where needed) and add the longest route to declare the winner.
Art/Esthetic
The art in Ticket to Ride is stunning. There's a simplicity in it that is beautiful in an of itself. The board looks like a gorgeous, hand drawn map (Minus the track markers), the lettering is beautiful, and even the game pieces are cute little train cards. Each color of train card is depicted with a different train car on it, from locomotives to coal cars to the caboose, and it's ALL stunning. The box art is no less magnificent as well, and this holds true for every expansion and map pack released
The game pieces are high quality. Light plastic for the trains, but sturdy and we have yet to have any accidents with them, and the markers are solid wood. No issues there. The downside here are the cards. They are tiny. Slightly less than half the size of a playing card tiny. They take up very little room, but dear lord they are a nightmare to work with. This was, however, solved with the 1910 expansion, though you do need to toss out an extra $25 for it.
The Bad
Every good must have a bad. Certainly nothing is perfect, no matter how amazing it it. Here are mine
1) Limitation - Did I mention how frustrating it is when someone takes your track? Yes? Let me rephrase... KEEP YOUR FILTHY PAWS OFF MY RAILS! Every track someone steals is a problem in recalculating. You now need to take at least 2-3 tracks instead of 1, and each one costs at least 1 turn to claim and all those turns hoping to get the cards you need to claim it. It can set you back many turns since you can only perform a single action and claim a single track any turn. This has led to no small amount of frustration.
2) As I mentioned above, the card size is too small. Yes, the 1910 expansion does come with a whole new set of full sized train cards, but the expansion costs $25 and if you want to get it, you've already likely played the game enough that you've gotten used to the cards by now. It's simply a matter of frustration sometimes to squint at the card because you forgot your glasses and you're reading from a card smaller than your subway ticket stub.
Final thoughts
You know my final thoughts you bloody glorious people you. You don't need to read this section, but you will, and I love you for it. The game is brilliant. Simply brilliant. It's the poster child for Table Top gateway games, and it's the most excellent way to get your friends to sit down with a glass of wine and just have a bloody brilliant time. Try this game. Now, right bloody now. You will not be disappointed I guarantee you.
Thank you once again my Sinners and Saints in indulging me in my little blog time. Once more, please let me know what you think and what you'd like to see and I'll see if I can accommodate.