Ticket to Ride #boardgameclub

Our latest game to arrive in our Blogger Board Game is Ticketto Ride: Europe. Its created by brand Days of Wonder who have produced a series of Ticket to Ride games. The cross-country train adventure allows players to collect cards of various types of train cars and that allows them to gain extra railway routes connecting cites in the various locations. Alongside TtR Europe there is the original, USA, Nordic, Germany, Asia, India, Heart of Africa, & Rail to Sails and more! You can easily start with any of these depending on which location you prefer. Ticket to Ride Europe is the second game in the set and covers from Edinburgh to Berlin to Constantinople! In fact, you can head all over Europe and visit the great cities of Europe at the turn of the century.

Included in the box is a board map of the European Train Routes, 225 Coloured Train Cars, 158 Illustrated Cards, 15 Stations, 5 Wooden Scoring Makers & a rules booklet. The game is based for 2-5 players and aimed at 8yrs plus. The average game time tends to be between 30-60 minutes.

We originally tried playing the full rules with my children – the youngest being 7 and some of their friends. We had to intervene though with the younger children and simplify the rules a little here. Despite this the kids enjoyed playing it and managed a good 30-40 minute game. I think had it gone on for much longer they would have wearied of it a little. There are really only four actions in each turn – Draw, claim a route, draw a destination or build a train station. I suspect it was the strategy that confused the youngest members!

This is in complete contrast of when we took it down to the Scouts! While the rules took some explaining to a group of 14year olds they picked up the game completely within in about two attempts and had an amazing time. The games would go on with them for over an hour after the first couple as they learnt different strategy’s and it was great to see how much fun they got out of a board game. It has been requested at our next indoor meeting!

Personally, I think Ride to Europe is a fabulous board game for people to own and I can’t wait to get the Nordic and African versions. I think though these we might however play this among other selves or try it out with the Scouts! It’s also a great way to teach people geography! Some of our friends who played were very baffled by the older city names!