Ticket to Ride Board Game

People who like trains, or who just want a game that is easy to learn, are bound to enjoy the Ticket to Ride board game. This game, which is manufactured by Days of Wonder, allows players to build railway routes through different locales using plastic train cars and a board that represents a map of the area.

Train games are popular.

The original version of Ticket to Ride features a map of North America. There is also a Europe version of the game, and there are several expansion sets, including:

• Europe in 1912
• USA in 1910
• Nordic Countries
• Switzerland

Anywhere from two to five players can enjoy a game of Ticket to Ride. Gameplay takes between 20 minutes and one hour, depending on the decisions players make and the pace at which they do so.

The first step is sorting the plastic train cars by color and separating the card deck into train car cards and destination cards. Once this is done, it’s time to begin setup.

1. Give one set of train car cards to each player, along with its matching score marker. Have everyone place his or her score marker on the start space in the bottom left corner of the board.
2. Deal each player four train car cards. Put the rest face down on the table. Flip over the top five cards and lay them out so everyone can see.
3. Deal each player three destination cards. He or she can keep all three or discard one at this time.

Locomotive cards are wild in Ticket to Ride

The object of this game is to get points by making train routes. Each route has a predetermined length and color that is printed on the board. For example, the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on the original North America version is made up of two gray rectangles. This means a player can make this route using two gray train car cards. It’s not possible to make it using cards of another color or using a different number of cards. Note that the color of the route is unrelated to the color of a player’s plastic train cars. The yellow player can make a gray route, etc.

During his or her turn, the player can do one of three things:

1. Draw two train car cards, either both from the deck or one from the set of face up cards and one from the deck. Note that if a player draws a locomotive card -- which can be used for any color -- from the face up cards, he or she doesn’t get to draw a face down card.
2. Secure a route by playing the required cards and placing his or her train cars on the board in the designated spot.
3. Draw three destination cards, keeping one or more of them.

There is no card limit. Players can have as many cards as they like. Play passes clockwise around the table.

The purpose of creating routes on the board is to score points. Points are assigned to them as follows:

• One car = one point
• Two cars = two points
• Three cars = four points
• Five cars = 10 points
• Six cars = 15 points

Players get additional points for fulfilling the routes described on their destination cards. There is also a 10 point reward for building the longest string of connected routes. Players lose points if they have unfulfilled destination cards left in their hands at the end of the game.

Strategy comes into play in this game since the number of routes is not infinite. A player cannot play his or her trains on a route that has already been claimed by another player. Each player has to decide if using a turn to collect more cards, i.e. more potential points, is better than playing a less valuable route right away to lay claim to it.

The Ticket to Ride board game ends when a player gets down to two or fewer trains at the end of his or her turn. Then each player gets one more chance to go before tabulating scores. In the event of a tie, whoever has the most fulfilled destination cards wins.

The Ticket to Ride board game is not hard to find. It is widely available at retailers such as Toys R Us, Walmart and Target as well as specialty game stores.

• Board Game Gift Ideas
• Card Games for Kids
• Scrabble Words with Q

• Play Multiplayer Uno Online
• Play the Game of Life Online
• Pictionary Ideas
• Characters of the Board Game Clue
• Bingo Game Board Template

• Family Board Games
• Play Board Games Online
• Most Popular Board Games
• Award Winning Board Games