Ticket to Ride - Tips & Strategies

In Practice
– Do not lay down trains early
– Only Draw “2” blind from the deck

Why?
Staying off the board conceals which routes you have, this is especially important in the American version with a small amount of high point routes. While you may lose a few important tracks you will be able to claim more, longer routes and build around others. If a person “blocks” you then your hand will be large enough to simply build around them. Essentially the idea is “walk softly but carry a big stick”

The bots have different playstyles which you can use as your advantage. Ie. Vanderbot Jr. draws card form the blind deck quite a while before he bombards the map with long connectinos.
Some of the other bots start playing what they have and then fills up their hands untill they have enough to put down.
My favorite, and the one I’ve scored well above 200 points and got above 12 tickets, is Jane Stanbot.

Draw as many cards as you can before you make you first move. It may seem like a long time, but in the end it is helpful just to lay down route after route.

To keep peace in our family, we have a house rule when we play the tabletop version that you can’t block other player’s paths to block others. There are also online players that invite folks to play as long as they don’t aggressively block. If your goal is to beat the bots, this kind of courtesy shouldn’t apply at all. Block away! The bots don’t have feelings. It took me a few games to get out of the habit of being nice. The bots don’t seem to aggressively block…they are set to pursue their own goals only. So that gives real players a strategic advantage.