Ticket to Ride

The basic idea of the game is build train routes connecting various cities across the USA to collect more points than your opponents. To complete a route requires a number of coloured Truck Cards of a certain colour. Long routes are worth more points than short routes but require some hard saving of Truck Cards. Points are awarded for completing a route between cities, completing a Ticket (a longer route made up of smaller routes), and by having the longest sequential route on the map at the end.

The components of the game are of superb quality. The large game board is made of tough cardboard and displays a map of the USA with the major cities and rail routes marked between. The train trucks are made of good plastic and are very colourful. The trucks combined with the map make for a very appealing game to look at. The cards that come with the game are also of good quality and are laminated for durability - trust me, they'll get a lot of use. :)

The rules are just four, beautifully illustrated, pages long and extremely easy to understand. The basic game strategies are also easy to pick up, with more advanced strategies available for the more competitive amongst us. There's quite a good mix of different strategies in this game, and each game may require you to choose a different strategy from your last. You must also remain fairly flexible with your strategies too, because you never know what your so called friends might do to ruin your plans.

Game play is very tight, and I found that game scores can run very close – making for an exciting game, all the way down to the finish.

There's a definite cut-throat side to this game as it's often wise (if you're competitive) to delibrately block opponents routes regardless of your own objectives, but this cut-throat side only adds to the overall FUN of the game.

I'll list the reasons why I think Ticket To Ride is a great game, and you'll see why I'm not fond of so called 'family games' like Monopoly and Risk:

- No one gets eliminated. This is a BIG plus for a family board game.

- Even if you lose the game, more often than not, you've completed at least some of the Tickets you hold and therefore have SUCCEEDED at something. A nice feature for a family game; keeps everyone happy. :)

- A tip for free, don't count player scores until the end. This keeps everyone guessing right until the end about who is actually going to win.

- Player turns are very short. Each turn consists of just one action: picking up more truck cards, laying a route between two cities, or picking up more tickets (think missions in Risk). This means you never have to wait long for your next turn. :)

- The game works equally well with 2 - 5 players.

There is a European version of this game with some additional rules which add more balance to the game (less hot spots on the map!). I prefer the European version even though I win more on the USA version. Maybe that's just because I'm from Europe, or that the extra rules give a closer game.

The best thing I can say about Ticket To Ride is that everyone who has played it with me has wanted to play it again and buy it for all of their family and friends.

The only real thing I can add to silentkid's review is:

- There are no dice. The 'I rolled a four, which means I've lost' scenario doesn't happen.

I played it once, then bought it. My sisters played it once, and bought themselves copies. My old folks played it once and bought it for three of their friends for Christmas presents.

Buy this game, then once you realise that games don't have to be boring, track down more "Spiel des Jahres".