A wonderful game to introduce anyone into the realm of Euro-gaming. This is a classic “gateway” game for newbies to board games or for people who think of board games as Monopoly, Backgammon, Cluedo, Risk! etc.
This is the original version of the Ticket to Ride series of board games by Alan R Moon. The board shows a map of the USA.
The game is based on a set collection mechanism where you collect train cards to try to build routes to connect between cities. You score points when you complete a route from one city to another. The longer the route, the more points you get.
There are also destination tickets in which the “mission” is to link the two cities on the destination ticket together. You score points at the end of the game for each completed destination ticket. But be careful, you also lose points if you cannot complete a ticket.
This game won the Spiel des Jahres award for best game in 2004, and kicked off a series of Ticket to Ride variants like Ticket to Ride Europe and Ticket to Ride Marklin.
I still enjoy the original the most and so does my family and friends who have spent many hours playing this. There is an expansion for Ticket to Ride called ‘Ticket to Ride: USA 1910’ which adds more options to the game to make it more interesting.
You may also like to check out my other review for Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries.