Willy

Ok, hokey title I know, its difficult to find something to say about this fantastic game that hasn’t been said before. I have found that it is the hallmark of an enderaing game when it can received widespread mass market distribution (not to say that other great games are required to achieve this level of success to be great).

The beauty of Ticket to Ride is its simplicity. Players receive route cards that are city destinations linking cities in Canada and the USA. For players to complete these routes they must collect a series of colour coded train cars that correspond to various route colours. Once these cards are collected in matching sets they can be used to purchase train cards which are used to link city sections that will get players closer to completing their chosen route cards.

RULES & PLAY
As stated above, the rules in this game are very simple as players are limited in their turn to one of two actions. Draw card(s) or purchase trains. This game is very easy to teach new players and sets up in only a couple of minutes. I have yet to introduce this game to a new player that isn’t immediately smitten with it. Game play can range from 45 min to 1 hour.

COMPONENTS
The artwork on the board and cards is very nice and leaves players with a distinctly nostaligic feeling reminiscent of the early 20th century. The plastic train pieces are nice and fit the board spaces well. My only gripe is the ridiculous cards size. These cards are very small and detract from the professional presentation of the rest of the game.

SUMMARY
Like I indicated before, it is difficult to say something about this game that hasn’t been said before. The game is excellent and has proven its tried and true mechanics for over a decade having sold over 2 million copies world wide. If you are sitting on the fence on this game, have no fear, this game is excellent.