Ticket to Ride (Europe): First Thoughts

I picked up Ticket to Ride with the idea that I needed a simple game that could act as a gateway for more complex eurogames. This, combined with Settlers of Catan, will make a great foundation for Powergrid, which I am very much looking forward to.

Ticket to Ride is a simple game that plays in a way that is almost immediately intuitive. Players have a finite number of train pieces, and attempt to build routes between major cities on a map (in the vanilla version, the United States/Canada, in mine, Europe). Coloured train cards are collected and used to build the specifically coloured routes. This means that short routes tend to be quite easy to build, and long ones can be quite difficult. This difficulty is mitigated somewhat by the resource gathering mechanic, where a player is given the choice to draw from either a known bank of cards, or an unknown pile of cards. Once a player has enough train cards of the required colour to build the complete route, they can do so and score points. After a player has built enough routes to have 2 or fewer trains left, everyone gets one more turn. The player with the most points wins.

Complexity and a level of strategy are added to the game by giving each player a number of destination tickets they have to complete. Completion of a ticket by the end of the game awards the player bonus points, but a failure to do so subtracts points. Players have to gauge whether or not they can complete these specific routes, and gamble on their ability to do so. The player who manages to string the most routes together in a single line is given the express route bonus of ten points. Successful players will strike a balance between short tickets, long tickets, and the express route.

Ticket to Ride: Europe offers some changes to the original version of the game. For instance, players are given separate destination tickets for short routes (a small route worth fewer points) and a single long route (a more ambitious route worth more points). Given this added challenge, players are also given train station pieces. This is a mechanic that acts as a means of using an opponent's route as part of your own for the purposes of completing your destination tickets. This will, however, cost the player an increasing number of train cards. The players who don't use them will get bonus points at the end of the game. Finally, Europe introduces different types of route. In addition to the standard routes, there are now ferries (as represented by a mandatory minimum wildcard expenditure), and tunnels (which have a variable number of cars). These add an element of risk and planning to laying down routes.

On the whole, the game is brilliant in that it allows for a very customizable degree of strategy, while stripping away a good deal of the complexity. Short downtime between turns keeps players invested and concentrating, but still allows for planning and forethought. The central bank mechanic, in addition to the map-spanning routes prepare players for more complex eurogames (ie Powergrid). This game comes strongly recommended in most  gaming circles, and I firmly agree with them. Ticket to Ride is an incredible  gateway game that retains a great deal of replay value, and offers a very player-specific level of difficulty. It takes no more than 5 minutes to learn, and can be fun for just about anyone. This one is a must-buy for any would-be boardgamer.