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Tips & Strategies (27)

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5
Check Out My Favorites
Rated 25 Games
34 of 36 gamers found this helpful
“Open tickets for everyone”

If you have already memorized all routes (long and short ones) and looking for something new – try this house rule:

at the start of the game after everyone chooses which tickets are they going to play with, place 2-5 more (depending on the number of players) tickets face up next to the map. These are tickets for everyone. So, if you’re the one who finishes it first – it’s yours.

This way everyone starts to compete with each other because no one wants for someone else to get those tickets without a fair fight.

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10
Watchtower
Movie Lover
Book Lover
I play blue
19 of 20 gamers found this helpful
“Grab at Least one Long Route...”

Try to claim a long route like Palermo to Smyrna. It will get you 15 points for six cars. Whereas two four car routes requires eight of your train cars and will net just 14 points (7+7). The six car route is worth more than most of the tickets, and tickets require at least two routes connecting three cities. While this may seem obvious, look at the scoring table. Longer routes are much more valuable than shorter ones.

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5
Gave My First Grade
21 of 23 gamers found this helpful
“Prioritze your build”

There are two routes that I always try to claim first(of course when my tickets are in this area:
Kharkov-Rostov
Berlin-Wien
Those two are build with green cards and if you want to have them build them first. Especially in a 4 or 5 player game. Going through alternative routes will be way more expensive and will slow you considerably.

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10
Watchtower
Movie Lover
Book Lover
I play blue
19 of 21 gamers found this helpful
“Tunnels...”

The rule of the how to play the tunnel routes is clearly spelled out in the game’s concise rule book. But for new or younger players, we simply require one “wild” card (locomotive) plus the cards required to complete the route. I find it much simpler than drawing three cards from the deck and requiring up to three additional cards to complete a player’s tunneled route. This rule still requires a player to work a bit harder and spend a valuable wild card, but it removes the “luck of the draw” that can cost a player up to three additional cards.

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6
I'm a Gamin' Fiend!
I Walk the Talk!
16 of 18 gamers found this helpful
“Lots of shorter routes”

I find it beneficial to try for lots of shorter/medium routes instead of focusing on long routes. The long routes score high, but can take longer to finish. By the end of the game a lot of short and medium routes can add up to many more points than a few longer ones.

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2
Shadow Elves - Summoner Wars
16 of 18 gamers found this helpful
“Afraid of the tunnels? Don't use them. ”

This is the only version of Ticket to Ride that I own. It hits the table about 4 times a year when we are home for the holidays. Because the majority of players are not heavy gamers, we play it like regular Ticket to Ride most of the time. Some might see this as a travesty, but since the table is having fun, I’m not complaining.

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6
Advanced Grader
Gamer - Level 4
“Simplifying TtR:Europe for beginners”

I have found that there are two ways to simplify the game for first time players:

* Do not allow discarding and drawing of route tickets. While it makes it more random whether players have complementary or non-complementary routes, it removes an experienced player’s advantage of knowing whether a combination is achievable or not.

* Removing the special rules for tunnels and simply playing tunnels as normal routes.

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3
Advanced Grader
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester
Amateur Reviewer
17 of 20 gamers found this helpful
“Don't be Afraid of Those Tickets Cards”

If you are new to the game, don’t be afraid to get more ticket cards as the game progresses. While there is always a chance for backfire, you will often find that at least one route is already completed or only needs a leg or two. Worst case scenario you may have to spend a station house and most of the time this still gains you a couple of points.

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6
Arrowhead
Knight-errant
Time Well Spent - Games
20 of 24 gamers found this helpful
“Build 3 "Ends"”

My favorite strategy when playing Ticket to Ride is to plan my routes so that they line up, but with a triangle shape. So, if I”m trying to connect England to Spain, I’ll connect Spain to Russia and then to England. This gets me a much longer single route (possibly netting 10 points) and gives me lots of work-arounds. Plus, when you build in England, then Spain, then Russia as your first three builds, people don’t know where you are going, and some start to panic right at the beginning. Its a lot of fun 🙂

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9
Sweden
Bard
19 of 23 gamers found this helpful
“Reducing the Impact of Stations”

We have found that Stations makes it too easy to get to all desired destinations even if the other players have already occupied the possible routes to the destination. You can easily place trains where the others are not scuffling and then simply place a Station to get access to the last routes. We therefore often skip playing with Stations altogether, but the compromise that works for all of us is to reduce the number of Stations that you start the game with according to the number of players, using the following format:
2-3 Players = 1 Station per player
4 Players = 3 Station per player
5 Players = 3 Station per player

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4
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester
Critic - Level 2
Gamer - Level 3
22 of 27 gamers found this helpful
“Memorize long routes and block them”

This is kind of a dirty trick but let’s face it, there aren’t that many long route cards and after a few games you probably will have seen them all. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which distant areas of the map your opponents possess. Once you do, you can build up tracks to block their paths between cities forcing them to take a longer route around or to use one of their stations.

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4
Gamer - Level 4
Arrowhead
17 of 21 gamers found this helpful
“It's not just about the tickets.”

Generally, I tend to get a large number of tickets before playing any routes. However, one strategy I also use is to go for the long routes, 6’s and 8’s. If you build on a couple of these, and take a few fewer tickets, but the high point routes can more than make up for the point difference, especially in 4 and 5 player games where tickets can be harder to complete.

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6
Arrowhead
Knight-errant
Time Well Spent - Games
19 of 24 gamers found this helpful
“Pick your tickets early on”

Somewhere within my first 10 turns, usually whenever I can’t use the face-up cards, I draw tickets. I draw lots of tickets, and by drawing them before I have a lot established, I have a better chance to connecting them all in one line. This has the benefit of both getting an extra 10 points if I have the longest route, but also being a very efficient way to use my trains.

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6
Strategist
Amateur Advisor
Tinkerer
22 of 29 gamers found this helpful
“Focus on Four-Connections”

One very effective strategy is to keep only a couple simple routes at the beginning of the game and focus all your energy on building longer connections. Your first priority is to get the 8 and, failing that, one or both of the 6s. Then, just stockpile cards and throw down the occasional 4 to block off an opponent, until you have enough cards to play down all your trains on as many 4-connections as possible.

This will end the game well before most route-hoarders can address their cards and, because each 4 is worth the equivalent of an average small-route, it won’t matter as much that you don’t have many points from completed routes. If you can manage longest road while you’re at it, that’s just icing on the cake!

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2
Rated 5 Games
16 of 21 gamers found this helpful
“House Rule for Wild Cards”

Normally if you take a train card from the row, you cannot then take a wild card. This is because a wild card counts as two draws. However, our house rule is that if your first draw gets replaced from the deck by a wild card, then you automatically receive the wild card as your second card.

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8
BoardGaming.com Beta 2.0 Tester
Went to Gen Con 2012
BoardGaming.com Bronze Supporter
Advanced Reviewer
27 of 37 gamers found this helpful
“Use Your Stations Wisely”

A lot of players will think that keeping their stations is an easy 12 points at the end of the game. While this is somewhat true, your mind set should change a little towards the end of the game as people are filling the board. If you are able to draw new Destination Tickets look for a way you can change the four points of a station in for the eight points of a Ticket. Essentially, doubling your value in one easy move.

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4
Advanced Grader
Gamer - Level 4
16 of 22 gamers found this helpful
“Line them up and be aware”

Try to line the routes up.
Once you have lined them you must stick to it until you have finished them in order to pick new routes.
Another important thing is to observe where are the critical lines on your routes.
Because when your are playing with 3 players or less you must pick them first or this will cost all your strategy. If you´re playing with 4 or more then you have to keep watch those lines who can only pass one train and take them as soon as you can in order to complete your route.
And don´t be afraid to loose your turn to pick up new routes. You may be rewarded with routes that are already accomplished. But be careful! ALWAYS keep an eye on the amount of wagons remaining in your friend´s hand. Don´t pick up new objectives that you won´t be time to accomplish. 😉

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5
Strategist
I'm Completely Obsessed
Rated 50 Games
Knight
22 of 31 gamers found this helpful
“Waste not your wilds”

Unless (a) the game is nearing its close or (b) you really need to win a race for a specific route, do not use your wilds as part of a normal set. Wild cards are powerful for completing a last minute play, for crossing those confounded canals that require them and for insurance when attempting tunnels; have patience and don’t waste them.

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10
Watchtower
Movie Lover
Book Lover
I play blue
23 of 35 gamers found this helpful
“Get a mechanical card shuffler...”

Ticket To Ride, like many games, requires players to collect and group cards of the same color to play and score. So after a game, the cards are likely to be sorted in small groups of the same color. Ticket to ride has LOTS of cards, and shuffling them by hand is work. I purchased an inexpensive, battery operated card shuffler on the table during gaming sessions. In just seconds, the cards are scrambled for the next round of play.
If the games you play involve collecting sets of like cards, a card shuffler will help keep you playing instead of shuffling. I got an inexpensive one on Amazon, and it is on the table whenever the games I am playing involve cards. It works well, and it helps insure random cards draws.

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5
Strategist
I'm Completely Obsessed
Rated 50 Games
Knight
19 of 29 gamers found this helpful
“Colored routes first”

When you are playing your trains, and you don’t have all of the cards you need to complete your route(s) yet, it’s generally a good idea to play on the routes that are confined to a single color first. All too many times you play on that grey route then get stuck drawing the color you just used up.

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