Which version of Ticket to Ride would you guys recommend getting? Someone I talked to said that the Europe version is better because the map is better balanced. True?
Absolutely true. The US map is certainly the more familiar to us rubes in the US, but if you’re looking for actual gameplay rather than “Hey, look, it’s Barstow!”, there’s no contest. Get Ticket to Ride Europe.
-TomHow many people do you plan to play with? Different maps better suite different numbers of players.
I’ve played Europe with 4 people and it was great, but it wouldn’t be so hot for only 2 unless you each played as two players, as it would be too easy to stay out of each others way.
Switzerland is good for two people, but it is an expansion and you will need either Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe in order to use it – both of which are really best with 4 players.
If you go to boardgamegeek.com some people have posted alternate rule sets for fewer players on the bigger maps if you think you might want them.
If you add the the 1910 expansion cards to the standard US game it becomes much more balanced. You’ll still have people nabbing the one train routes just to be a dick but with the better variety of destination cards you won’t have people knowing where you’re heading in three turns. The Europe board is better balanced but if you already have the US game getting the expansion is cheaper and just as fun.
I will probably be playing with 3-5 players and do not have the US game. Thanks for all the input.
I thought this thread was going to be about The Beatles song.
I second the nomination for US plus 1910 expansion later; it’s still the family favourite, and probably the easiest for introducing new players.
Personally I’m fond of Europe, but I’ve never played it with more than three, so don’t know if it scales as well.
Switzerland is fun, but seems prone to one player picking up repeat cross-country tickets to make an unbeatable score. The same thing can happen with east-west routes in US, although less often.
I like Marklin, as there is more competitive route pressure, more variety in how games work out, and I like the passenger mechanic. Europe is better than the base game, but after a while the long routes become repetitive.
My favorite is Europe, I must have played that damn map like 20 times by now, and it’s still reasonably interesting. Station houses also dramatically reduce the frustration that comes from losing one route and having your entire strategy destroyed. I also enjoy germany/marklin.
I’ve played 3 games of Scandinavia/Nordic Countries, and I don’t recommend it. They changed it so you can only use locomotives on specific routes, which means that during all 3 of the games I wasted like 10 turns trying to draw a single color to get a specific route that couldn’t be worked around. Incredibly frustrating and the opposite of fun.
Europe is more of a gamer’s game, but I actually am happier than I own the US version. With the familiar map and no complex rules like station houses to explain, TTR US is very easy to bring out at family gatherings. The 1910 cards are essential though. Adds a lot better routes and you don’t have to use those crappy miniature cards.
My crew and I prefer U.S. It’s got the familiarity, but more importantly, we like the map better than Euro and we’re not the biggest fans of the tunnels/ferries of the Europe version.
Plus, U.S. is a better introduction to the mechanics for any non-gamers you want to teach.
Thanks for all the recommendations here. I’ve had a ton of fun with TTR, introducing it to many people. It’s really a great game because it’s decidedly non-confrontational for the most part, while being extremely competitive at the same time, which is a really hard mix to achieve for a board game. I’ll have to pick up the 1910 Expansion based on the recommendations here, and then maybe one day pick up the Europe version.
Love my U.S. version. We bust it out for newer players or when we just don’t want to think hard enough to really play Arkham or Caylus or whatever. The, ahem, creative geography is a source of constant amusement as well.
I have a deep and abiding love of the Nordic Countries version, but because that only supports up to 3 players I usually end up playing TTR Europe when we do game night (usually 5 of us).
Railroad Tycoon.
Glenn Drover thanks you.
My sarcasm meter is tingling, but it could be a passing truck…
Is Railroad Tycoon actually any good? I see (now) the boardgamegeek rating is surprisingly good, but all the other Eagle Games games have left such a bad taste in my mouth…
How does it stack up difficulty and length of play wise vs. 18xx? I’d love to find something in between Ticket to Ride (which I’m sick of), and 18xx (which is too long for what you get).
My favorite “train” game recently has been Brass…
Railroad Tycoon is the non-brutal, well-produced version of Age of Steam. It’s more complicated than Ticket to Ride (and requires a much, much larger table), but is a genuine game, and not just tie-in nonsense.
Chicago Express (nee Wabash Cannonball) is another fun train game, one that I think might work as a TtR step-up. It’s got a nifty coopetition mechanism.
Nordic Countries is my favorite TTR but that’s because the map is brutal. Try Steam basic game for a step up.
That does sound interesting… Thanks!