Ticket to ride is considered a modern classic and it earns that title. This game is really successful with various different versions available with maps from all over the world. I recommend it for any game collection because it appeals a large audience. Playing this reminds me of board games I played when I was a kid, it’s one all ages will enjoy. The game is easy to play and looks fantastic on the table. I love the the components, the map is gorgeous and the trains are so fun to use. With all that in mind I consider this a great for a family game night and you will be able to play it over and over again. Ticket to Ride is for players 2 to 5, ages 8 and up and takes about 30 to 60 minutes to play.

The goal of the game is to score the most points.  Points are scored by claiming routes, completing continuous paths and by having the longest path.  Points can be lost of a destination ticket isn’t completed.

Components:

• 1 Board map of North American train routes 
• 5 Sets of Colored Train Cars 
• 144 Illustrated cards
• 5 Wooden Scoring Markers 
• 1 Rules booklet 

Place the board in the centre of the table. Each player will get one colour of trains along with its matching score marker. Each player places their score marker on the start of the scoring track that runs along the boards border. Shuffle the train cards and deal each player 4 cards to start. Place the remaining deck of cards face down near the board and turn over the top five face up above the deck. 

Place the longest path card next to the board.  

Shuffle the Destination Ticket cards and deal 3 cards to each player. Each player will decide what the want to keep. They must keep at least two but can keep all three if they choose. Any cards returned are placed on the bottom of the deck and that deck is also placed next to the board. The Destination Tickets will be kept secret until the end of the game.

On each players turn they have option to do one of three actions.

1. Draw train cards – A player can draw 2 train cards on their turn.  They can either take from the face up cards or from draw from the deck.  If they pick from the face up cards, a replacement card will be drawn. Multicoloured trains are a wild card and can part of any set of cards when claiming a route. Since the multicoloured cards are so valuable, if a player takes one from the face up pile it will count as picking up two cards. However, if a multicoloured card is drawn from the deck the player is lucky and it counts as one.  If ever 3 of the five face up cards are multicoloured train all five cards are discarded and new ones are drawn.  Players can have as many cards as they’d like in their hand.
2. Claim a route – A player can claim a route by playing a set of train cards that match the colour and length of the route.  The player will place their trains on the board covering the route.  Once the route is claimed move the scoring marker based on the scoring table.  The colours of the train cards match the routes between cities.  Once the route is claimed the cards used are discarded.  Any gray route can be claimed by using any coloured set. A player can only claim one route per turn from city to city and during the game cannot claim both routes between two double routed cities. In a 2 or 3 player game only one of the double routes can be used.
3. Draw Destination tickets – The player can draw three destination tickets and must keep at least one.

The game ends when one players gets down to 2 or less trains at the end of his turn, each player gets one more turn, including that player. Once the game is done the score is calculated.

Scoring Routes:

Once a route is claimed it is scored by moving the score tracker using the info below:

• 1 train -1 point
• 2 trains – 2 points
• 3 trains – 4 points
• 4 trains – 7 points
• 5 trains – 10 points
• 6 trains – 15 points

At the end of the game you will calculate the destination tickets. Completed routes connecting the two cities will score a player the points on the card and incomplete routes will lose players the points on the card.

Lastly the player who has the longest continuous path of routes will gain an additional 10 points to his score. The path needs to be one continuous colour and can pass through a location more than once, but can only use each train once.

Once everything is totalled the highest score will win.

Ticket to Ride is a timeless game that is well worth the purchase. The biggest issue with purchasing is deciding which version to get. This is one game that will be around for a while.