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Ticket to Ride, or how to play the game GJ is bringing at Thankgiving
posted by GJ on November 19, 2007 @ 3:00PM
Above, you can see the board that makes up the game, Ticket to Ride. Take note of the the following: - colorful train pieces dotting the board.
- colorful train paths dotting the board (they tend to be flat and outlined in black)
- not-so-colorful wild spaces dotting the board (they are grey and outlined in black)
- colorful pegs on the perimeter of the board.
- colorful cards at the edge of one side of the board. (no longer shown in the new image, thanks google)
- the board happens to be a map of the continental US.
OK, I'm going to attempt to explain the rules, so you can begin formulating your strategies and still get severely beaten by me anyway. Hahahahaha. Ok, seriously, it's easy to play, but watch out for the WARNING in the middle of the rules. It tends to confused people, so take a sip of strong coffee before trying to digest it. Goal of the game: Lay down your train routes to connect destinations you received during the game on your "Destination Tickets." Track laid has the following point scale: - 1 car = 1 point
- 2 cars = 2 points
- 3 cars = 4 points
- 4 cars = 7 points
- 5 cars = 10 points
- 6 cars = 15 points
You also score points for the face value of Destination Tickets you fulfill. You lose points for the face value of Destination Tickets that you fail to complete. One more way to score: you get 10 bonus points for building the longest train, fully connected at the end of the game. See--pretty easy so far. Let's describe the game parts: 1. Board: map of the continental US, with major cities in the US and Canada marked as stations. Each station is connected to at least two other stations by way of train paths, which are colored red, white, yellow, blue, green, purple, black, orange, or grey. These route paths are where you will lay your... 2. Train cars: these are the playing pieces of the game. You, as a player, are issued 45 cars of a particular color, be it black, blue, red, green, or yellow. ***WARNING*** YOUR PLAYER COLOR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COLOR OF THE TRAIN ROUTE PATHS ON THE BOARD. NEVER MIND THAT THE SAME COLORS ARE USED. THIS IS THE ONLY DUMB PART OF THE GAME. DON"T BE CONFUSED BY THIS DUMB DECISION BY THE GAME DESIGNER. :) ***WARNING*** 3. Scoring pegs: You get a scoring peg to place on the perimeter of the board. As you build routes and score points, you increment your score using this peg, moving it up on the 0-100 scoreboard by however many points the route you made was worth. Surprise--your peg matches the color of your train pieces. 4. Destination Tickets: These describe a route between two stations that you should build if you happen to hold that particular card. Short routes are worth a few points, longer routes can be worth 20+ points. They are a double edged sword, though--fail to make the route, and you lose that many points at the end of the game. 5. Train Cards: These come in colors to match most of the board pieces: red, white, yellow, blue, green, purple, black, orange, or wild. You need to use these cards to build your routes on the board--for example, you wish to build a five car route between point A and B that is colored red. So, you then need a combination of 5 red and/or wild cards (in any mix) to build that route. Now, here's how to play the game: At the start of the game, you receive four Train cards, and three Destination Tickets. Review the Destination Tickets, for you may return one of the three at the outset of the game if you so choose. Generally, look at the board to see if the routes can easily be chained together, or will scatter your trains to the four winds. Discard any oddball routes that don't fit with your strategy--especially the low value type. Remember, you'll play no more than 45 train cars during the game, maybe less. Next, five Train cards are placed face-up at the edge of the board, while the rest of that deck is facedown next to them. The remaining Destination ticket cards are also located here, facedown. Play then goes clockwise starting with the most experienced player. On your turn, do one of three things: - Pick up Train cards. You may take two cards, either from the face up cards or the blind draw deck (facedown pile). If the first card you take from the faceup array is a wild, you may not take a second card. Not surpisingly, you may not pickup a faceup wild as your second card. However, wilds found in the blind deck are your little secret. :) Why pick train cards? You need them in order to do this:
- Build a route. Using your best judgement after consulting your Destination Tickets, or if you have figured out where your opponent is going, build a route by trading in a set of cards that match in color to the path on the board you wish to fill. For colored spaces, you must play either wilds or color cards that match. For grey spaces, use any one color (and/or wilds) to build that route. You need one card for every space in the route. Once you trade in the cards to the Train discard pile, place your train cars on that route and move your scoring peg up the appropriate number of points.
- Alternatively, you could choose to draw three new Destination Tickets. Of the three you pull, you must keep at least one of them. Why do this? Simply put, to gain more points. Playes often do this if they've finished their original destinations and have lots of train cars left, or if they have a big rail network already and think that they can find a destination that already lies within their completed network. Of course, you may find that you get three cards that are utterly unplayable--in that case, take the lowest point value card as your loss.
That's it! The game ends when one player is reduced to 0, 1 or 2 trains. When that happens, everyone gets one more turn, and the game ends. So...watch the other player's train pile closely, and plan accordingly. Many a winning game has slipped away because the killer destination was left short by one last route. So...sound cool? Questions? Fire away!
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