Ticket to Ride Rules Summary

I love Ticket to Ride. I own every edition and every expansion. It's one of the best gaming series ever created and never seems to get old. But in speaking with Brett the other day at Comic Store West I expressed my frustration at the rules variations of each version of TTR. In one version you draw three destination tickets, in the other four. In one version you can only draw a single locomotive, in another you can draw the locomotive and another card. All in all there are about a dozen or so of these core rules that vary slightly from version to version. The rules differences are so slight that I have a hard time keeping track of which rules go with which version of the game. Even though I've played literally hundreds of games of TTR I find myself looking in the rules every time I start a new game so I can make sure I have have the rules completely right. No more, thanks to this handy rules cheat sheet.

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/35570/bare-bones-differences-reference?&error=captcha

It's not for newbies but for old pros like me that just want a quick reference on the rules of a particular version it is perfect. I'm printing off, like, eight of these bad boys and sticking one into every edition of TTR I own! SWEET! I hope they update it for the new map packs soon!

Ticket to Ride Legendary Asia: Gaming Notes

The other day, I picked up Ticket to Ride Asia. I couldn't wait to play it so I rushed home and ripped it open. Since only my wife was around to play with, we decided to play the map we could play - Legendary Asia (the other map requires partners to play).

I loved the game! The two new game mechanics are great. The first requires you to discard train cars (for two points) when you build through certain areas. The other changes how bonus points are awarded at the end of the match. Instead of counting how many trains are lined up in a "Longest Route," you add up the cities that are connected even if your route branches off.

Well, as it turns out, my wife won by this method. We were within four points at the end of the game. We counted up our cities and she had ONE MORE than me! So even though she failed to complete one of her tickets she still won.

Look for a rematch in the near future for sure!

Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride Available at Target!

I was walking through Target the other day and my jaw just about hit the ground when I saw that Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan were both on sale in their toy section! I don't know how widely available this distribution is, when they started selling them, or how long they'll be on sale there but I was quite shocked to see them. Until recently it seemed that major retailers were ignoring the widespread demand for these popular games.

A quick internet search revealed that Wal-Mart is carrying Ticket to Ride (online, at least) and Toys R' Us has a wide selection of Catan and TTR games as well as other popular "geek" games such as Puerto Rico (once again online... not sure about the brick and mortar stores).

I'm pleased for the gaming publishers Mayfair and Rio Grande because their products are getting exposure to a much wider audience. This can be nothing but good for the gaming community as a whole as our hobbies continue to get more mainstream attention. I guess the only people that might be upset by this move are gaming stores that up until now have had been an almost exclusive outlet for these types of games.

First Impression: Ticket to Ride Map Collection Volume 2: India

As a huge fan of Ticket to Ride, I'm anticipating the second map pack, India. Unfortunately, I'm going to feel kinda ripped off paying $30.00 for this because it includes Switzerland which I already own. Why couldn't Alan R. Moon just release India on its own or put another unique map with it? Sure, Switzerland is out of print but for fans that already own a copy it kinda stinks to have to buy it again just to get the new map.

India itself will have some unique rules such as bonuses for a "grand tour of India" and waypoints between final destinations between the tickets. I see lots of TTR in my near future!

First Impression: Ticket to Ride Map Collection Volume 1: Asia

I've got to tell you that I'm SUPER PUMPED for the Ticket to Ride Map Collection Volume 1: Asia! As someone who has every single TtR game and expansion, I've very pleased every time a new one is released.

First of all, it's got two different maps on a double-sided board. Sweet! According to the Days of Wonder website, the first map will feature Team Asia for 4 or 6 players. First, this is awesome because it is the first TtR game to feature the six player option! This is also interesting because this appears to be a map that requires partner play. Notice it is "4 or 6 players," not, "4 to 6 players!" I wonder how the team option will work?

The second map will feature Legendary Asia for 2-5 players who must navigate their ways through the Himalayan passes. This map is one of the winners of the Days of Wonder TtR contest, François Valentyne. It seems that this map is of a more traditional TtR standard rules.

The whole setup will costs $30.00 which isn't bad considering what you're getting. The game comes with nine additional train cars for each of the five colors of trains. I'd say that indicates that for one of the maps you'll play with more than the standard starting number of train cars. The six card holders are also curious... could they be for the overturned cards that you can draw from? Interesting... The Map Pack is an expansion, meaning you will need to have a copy of a TtR game to play this (just for the trains, however).

How cool will it be to use those Alvin and Dexter monster pieces on an Asian map? Think Godzilla attacks Japan...

Ticket to Ride Map Collection Volume 1: Asia

There will be another TtR Map Pack released shortly featuring India. That expansion will feature the other winning map by Ian Vincent.

Ticket to Ride: Alvin and Dexter Review

Sam and I recently played the Alvin and Dexter expansion pack for the Ticket to Ride board games. My initial impression is that this is a fairly innocuous expansion that can be added to your game without a major impact. This expansion is usable with any Ticket to Ride game which is nice.

The basic gameplay is this: In addition to your normal turn you can move two monsters around the board. They can block you from building into a city and can affect scoring at the end of the game.

First, the actual design of the monster pieces is a bit suspect. They are a little more than topple-prone. They have tiny bases (by necessity since they need to fit into a city) and both monster figures are oddly leaned forward.

The affects on game play in a two player game were minimal. Really Sam and I only moved the monsters three times in our game. I believe there would be much more action with Alvin and Dexter in a four or five player game.

Players may want to consider strategy changes using Alvin and Dexter. Suddenly locomotives (wilds) become much more valuable since that's the only way to move the monsters. Many shorter routes may be more desirable than one large route to avoid having a big point route halved. Also, it may be a good idea to build a little beyond your destination to avoid making your destination city an obvious target.

Some alternate rules for this expansion:

Instead of simply halving a ticket when the monster ends in one of the destination cities on that ticket, why not cut all tickets in half that must pass through that city? This would promote players making alternate routes to avoid this outcome.

Perhaps you could assign specific powers to each of the monsters... perhaps Alvin can move further but Dexter can remove trains from the board.

Instead of locomotives, have the cost of moving the monsters scale like a train station in TTR: Europe - the first time is one card, the second two of the same type, the third, three, and so on.

Overall, this expansion is pretty "vanilla," - especially when you consider the concept of adding monsters to a train game. The rules are surprisingly sparse but the concept offers a lot of potential for home brewing some rules. At the end of the day, this expansion costs a mere $13.00 so how can a Ticket to Ride fan say no?

1LR Review: 13 out of 20 - It's a Glancing Hit!