Ticket to Ride: Europe

# 4 on my "Top Ten Games of All Time (2006 ed.)" list

 I had a lot of high praise for Ticket to Ride in my initial review. I stated that I thought it would win game of the year, and that it had a high probability of breaking into my top ten games. Both of those predictions came through, and Ticket to Ride stands as my most-played game in 2004. It is THE gateway game for me to use and works just as well with a group of “gamers”. I was pleased as punch to hear that Alan Moon was working on variations to the game and was excited to play the first in this lineup - Ticket to Ride: Europe (Days of Wonder, 2005 - Alan Moon).

I knew that some changes had been made but expected game play to remain mostly the same. Was I ever surprised! Even though only a few changes have been made to the game, coupled with the new map, they’ve produced a game that is just as good as the original game, yet seemingly more strategic. This is good, because I didn’t want to play what would have simply been an alternate map (although that still would have been interesting) - but TtR Europe feels like an entirely different game - with the same mechanics.

The basic game play of Ticket to Ride is the same (see my interview here http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/29132 for details.) I’ll discuss the differences in this version...
1.) Components: Days of Wonder certainly listens to their customer base. There were many complaints about the small train cards in the first edition. I never had a problem with them, but the people who wanted larger cards should be pleased - the train cards in this game are full-sized cards, with white borders and of excellent quality. The board looks really nice, just as the one in the original edition (although I see that the ridiculous complaints about city placement are popping up on the internet. For crying out loud folks, it’s a GAME!). The train cards also have little symbols on them that match little symbols on the tracks, allowing colorblind people to play. Three new station pieces are added in each color and are made of plastic just like the trains, adding some more décor to the board. I needn’t go on about component quality; all I need say is that this is a Days of Wonder typical game.

2.) Rules: The rulebook is written very nicely. If this is your first time playing any Ticket to Ride game, you’d never know it. Veteran TtR players are notified which sections are new to them. I will say that I think this game is a bit more complicated to teach to new players - I would prefer to show them the original game instead. Still, however, I’ve taught TtR Europe to several new players, and all of them caught on quickly.

3.) Tickets: Another complaint about the original TtR game was player’s luck when drawing tickets. Again, I never saw this as a problem, but I did like how this luck was handled in the Europe game. Tickets are divided into two piles at the beginning of the game: Long tickets (six of them - with blue backgrounds), and short tickets. Each player is randomly given one long ticket and three short tickets, and must keep at least two of them. Long tickets are worth twenty or twenty-one points, while short tickets are worth six to twelve points. Players can only get a long ticket at the beginning of the game; the rest are discarded, and only the short ticket stack is used throughout the game. I really enjoy this method; and everyone who’s played the game agreed that this levels the playing field from the beginning of the game, although it by no means certifies exactly what a player will do.

4.) Tunnels: Several tracks between cities have a dark outline around them, denoting the fact that they are a tunnel. Tunnels add a bit of randomness to the game, in that a player can never be too sure how long a tunnel might be. Whenever a player is going to place track between two cities with a tunnel, they must place the colored train cards they are using (i.e. four green cards), and then reveal the top three cards of the deck. If any of these revealed cards match the color of the train cards being played (or are wild), the player must play an additional card to match each revealed card. If they cannot, they must take back their cards and their turn ends. Tunnels add a layer of excitement to the game that I really enjoyed. Yes, it adds a bit of luck to the game, but it’s luck that the player can control, to a degree. Do you really want to build that two-yellow tunnel route? Well, if you have three yellow cards, you know that you have a good chance; four yellow cards all but guarantee it, and five yellow cards seal the deal. Players who are risky may chance it when they only have the minimum train cards needed, but they risk losing their turn, revealing their cards, and showing the other players where they intend to play.

5.) Ferries: Some of the neutral gray routes between cities have locomotive icons on one or more of their spaces. This means that a player must play a wild (locomotive) card for each of these icons or cannot complete the route. This doesn’t seem like a big change, but it does put a premium on locomotive cards. Between tunnels and ferries, I saw a lot more locomotive cards being drawn from the face up cards on the table. When playing TtR with experienced players, we’ve discovered that it’s usually best to leave locomotive cards lying on the table, as getting only one card instead of two can be detrimental. Not so in TtR Europe - players are rapidly scooping up the locomotive cards. Resets occurred a lot less frequently in our games.

6.) Routes: The board is a lot more crowded than the American one. In a five-player game, players will constantly be blocking each other’s routes, and the game can indeed get a lot nastier. No longer will claiming long routes only be a viable strategy; players must complete tickets to win. There are no five-card routes on the table, only two six-card routes, and one whopping eight-card route (but it’s also a tunnel!) Even if a player gets all the points from the three biggest routes, they still need to complete tickets to win the game - something that makes the game better (although I did like the build-long-random-routes-all-over-the-board-and-annoy-other-... strategy every once in a while.)

7.) Train Stations: Since the board is so cluttered, and since player’s routes will be blocked quite frequently, each player has three train stations that they can build on their turn. The first train station costs a single train card, the second costs two train cards of the same color, and the third costs three train cards of the same color. When building a train station, a player can place it on any city on the board (preventing any future train stations from being played in that city). When the final scoring occurs, players may utilize each station to use one (and only one) route belonging to another player for the purpose of completing their tickets. The stations actually fit over the trains, so a player can place the station on top of the route they are “borrowing”. This allows a player to keep from getting boxed in, and they can usually complete an important ticket if they wait to play their stations. All this does come at a catch, however - each unplaced station is worth four points to the player at the end of the game. Several times now, I’ve seen a player place a station, and then connect their route a different way - not needing the station after all - but losing those four crucial points. A player must only play a station when they absolutely must - but in a three or five player game, when the board is most crowded - playing a station at the right city can be a lifesaver.

8.) Fun Factor: If you asked me whether Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe was better, I couldn’t tell you; they are both incredibly fun in their own way. TtR Europe offers more strategic options, especially with the stations, and is probably a slightly well-tuned game. At the same time, I find that the original TtR has a nice simplicity, and I (as an American) found the US map a bit more intuitive. But these are all minor points; both games are extremely fun!

Whenever I have folks over to my house, who’ve never played board games before, I’ll probably still prefer to show them the original Ticket to Ride. People who want something a little deeper, or a change of pace will get introduced to the Europe version. Not only have Days of Wonder components improved in this version (something we thought was impossible!) but the game play has also deepened, without losing any of that fast, smooth game play that was in the original. Watching an opponent spend two extra trains to build a tunnel, cutting off two opponents when placing a route, managing to save all three stations until the end of the game, completing my long ticket, and many other enjoyable experiences place this game at the top of my list. Ticket to Ride Europe may be a derivative of the first game, but it’s certainly good enough to stand on its own ground; and owners of the first game can be assured that they are getting their money’s worth when purchasing this version. When choosing an hour or less game that accommodates up to five people (with a two-person game playing equally as well), there are almost no other games I would prefer over this one. Alan Moon has struck gold with this series; and if TtR Europe is any indication, each game will continually get better!

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"