GameHead Holiday Gift Guide: Day 2
The ultimate train game, explore a dungeon with some terrific quirks, and download a gaming classic. Something for everyone on day 2 of our Holiday Buying Guide 2011.
![]() | Ticket to Ride Release Date 2004 Publisher Days of Wonder (US) Designer Alan R. Moon Players 2 - 5 Brand Ticket to Ride |
Words like 'nice' aren't often used to describe a game positively, but you better believe that's what we're doing here. The idea is nice - build train tracks between major cities across North America. The board itself is nice - it's colorful, welcoming, warm. The cards are nice, depicting colored wagons from days gone by that you use to complete sets and thus routes. The element of secrecy is nice - nobody but you knows for sure what routes you're planning to complete. The gameplay mechanics are nice - build your hand to complete longer routes, put a spoke in the wheels of your opponents by blocking off their best paths to victory, and complete the longest route of all for bonus points. You play this when you're a kid, a teen, at college, as a couple, as parents, as grandparents. You know what that makes this game? Nice. Nice - as in, fantastic.
I love this game, but after about 50 plays it starts to get a little old. I use this game with my family and with the wife and friends, but I'm glad it has so many great expansions to mix it up. Without expansions I would rate it a 3/5, but thankfully there are a ton of them and recently lots of map expansions as well. A solid game with a simple premise and lots of depth.
I only played this game once, but really enjoyed the experience. It was with a mixed gender and mixed experience level group of people. My wife is really excited about buying this for to play at home.
The ultimate train game, explore a dungeon with some terrific quirks, and download a gaming classic. Something for everyone on day 2 of our Holiday Buying Guide 2011.
Just like most games, it's possible to get better at Ticket to Ride with a solid dose of common sense, a ruthless streak, a grasp of math, and all-round strategery. But should you do it?
GameHead is packing up and heading off to PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend. What started out as a gathering of video game fans has grown into a full weekend of gaming, including a ton of tabletop gaming. We have the complete list of the official PAX 2011 tabletop tournaments here. Read more...