Ticket to Ride - Tips & Strategies

I find that drawing a small stack of cards (like 28ish) before laying down a single train works supprisingly well. I know most people are going to say but then I give someone the chance to block me, but at least in the US map it is pretty difficult to totally block off someone and once you have your entire route in your hand it is pretty hard to stop you.

If you use this strategy try to refrain from drawing the shown cards. Remember the more you draw from the deck the more wilds you will get and the less information your opponent will have if you think he is going to try and block you.

Also if you do decide to use this strategy try to get high point routes the best possible route is one from east to west like New York to Portland so you can get those high point yellow, orange, and pink routes.

What’s a linchpin? It’s the most important route in your plan. After deciding which destinations you want to connect together, you’ll probably find that there’s one spot where you NEED a particular route in order to avoid a huge detour around the map.

Now, most people tend to get route after route in order, slowly building their strip of trains as they go, but it’s more important to figure out where the ‘hot spots’ on the board are, and grab them early!

For example, the connection between New Orleans and Houston is a very popular one, so I’d grab it early. Another important route is Las Vegas, which only has two routes connecting to it. Finally, be sure not to get cut out of Alaska.

The loudest groans I have heard while playing Ticket to Ride don’t come from someone taking a needed route, or drawing a bad set of tickets. Instead, these follow after drawing new tickets, spending the time to analyze one’s hand of cards and the board, and deciding on a plan. A turn or two later, the player realizes they don’t have enough trains left to complete the routes they need.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Make sure to include the number of available trains you have left when planning your final routes. Also keep in mind the alternative routes’ length (if any) in case someone grabs the most direct link you were planning on using.

Running out of trains early may not cause you to lose, but it will sour your gaming experience.

Every T2R board has Key Cities. These are cities that either serve as a major hub or crossroads geographically, or that appear a little more often than others on that game’s Destination Tickets (the two are usually related).

Choose your opening routes to allow yourself to cross thru 3-5 of those Key Cities and finish a long, continuous path (helping win the Bonus Pts, too, if your game is using that card/rule). Then, if you’ve “played your cards right” (snicker), you’ll be in a position, with plenty of time/turns left, to draw aLOT more Destination Tickets (maybe baffling your opponents).

It is very likely that with each draw you will have already completed at least one of those routes = free points! Even if you have to “swallow” a loss of points once/twice, you’ll more than make up the difference in longer, already connected, routes!

Figuring out what the Key Cities on each map isn’t difficult, just takes some observation and repeated play. And, HEY! That’s what we’re all here for, right?

It is usually a good idea to build up a very large hand before laying down trains, but how do you know when to play? Just consider these things:
1) Is a route ‘key’? How long will a detour take you?
2) Is the route colored or wild? If possible, wait to play on wild (grey) roots, claim routes that are confined to one color first.
3) Are there cards you need face up in the draw area? If there are, take them, they are more likely to be taken by other players than the route you might otherwise play on.

Of course, each of these things has to be taken one case at a time, but generally they are sound.