Thursday, October 29, 2015

Do you have your Ticket?


     Trains. They have a certain special appeal. You get your ticket and the conductor comes along and punches it. You know you're on a trip. And there is something exciting about going on a trip. As a kid, we used to have a train go around our Christmas tree. The different lights shining on the cars as it circled around was mesmerizing. Most amusement parks, including Disney World have a train that will take you around the park. It seems every time we go to an amusement park, my kids are like, "Dad, we need to go on the train." There is just some Je nais se pais ce que quality about trains.

     The makers Days of Wonder have captured that Je nais se pais ce que quality perfectly in Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary Edition. The Board is larger, easier to read. The collector Tin sets of trains are a worthy upgrade with their detail and different designs, from the original make the game just, well, complete.

     Game Objective:  Use all your trains, complete all your destinations and have the most points at the end. There is also a bonus card. If you lay down the longest end to end continuous train, you will get the coveted Longest Train Bonus Card worth an additional ten points.

     Gameplay:  After you lay out the board which lists cities all across the U.S. connected by colored train tracks,  you then must choose from one of five different colored trains, each with their distinct look and detail and grab your associated colored marker. Every player starts out with four train cards which are color coded (white, black, yellow, orange, red, green, blue, pink and have one wild card that represents all trains.) Finally, you pass out three destination tickets. You get to decide which paths you wish to try to complete. You must keep at least two. (Shh! Don't tell people which destination tickets you kept! Keep them face down.)
Once everyone has decided on their destination tickets, you take the remaining train cards and place five out face up. Now we are ready to start!
   

          Take your Turn:  On your turn, you have initially two plays, you can either choose cards that are face up or from the draw pile. Or you can play cards from your hand to start building your train route.  When you draw cards on your turn, you can either draw two of the face up pile, or one Wild card. Or you could elect to pick one face up color train card and one off the pile. Or you could just ask for two  unknown cards from the draw pile. However, if you draw a face up wild card, you can only pick one card on that turn. Wild are special, so you only get one! If you decide to play train cards out of your hand, they have to be the same number and color of the train track. So, for example, you want to lay track from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The tracks connecting are three pink or three yellow. So, you would have to hand over 3 pink or 3 yellow cards depending which track you were looking to lay down. However, if you had two pink and a wild that would work too. When you lay down track, you get points dependent on length. This is where your marker comes in. On the outside of the board, there are numbers and this keeps track of your points which you acquire when laying down track and completing destinations.What if as the game goes on you have reached all your destinations and still have trains. You can use your turn to acquire additional Destination tickets. You draw three and keep at least one. But be mindful, just as you get additional points for completing train routes, you can be deducted points at the end for not completing a route.

    This is the simplest of all the Ticket to Ride games but that is what endears it to so many. My parents and children both love to play this game. If you are one looking for additional strategy and complexity, I would tell you to obtain Ticket to Ride: Europe or the Expansion game Nederland which requires either Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride complete games. They add additional nuances requiring multiple strategies. Look for my reviews on these variations soon!

     I rate this game 4 out of 5 Stars due to the wide audience it captures, the ease of play and nostalgia of trains. So, go full steam ahead and punch your Ticket to Ride!
     
     


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