Ticket to Ride (+ Legendary Asia) First Impressions
You know what, it’s about time I played Ticket to Ride.
With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in 3 minutes, while providing players with intense strategic and tactical decisions every turn. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route.
I’ve actually played the iOS version of this a lot so playing the real game was nice.
The board is pretty, the trains are all right and I’m not a fan of those half-size cards but they work. It’s repetitive though right? I mean, it is very similar each turn.
It’s not a game I would be desperate to play again as I do find it more frustrating than I do fun. That’s a bad Urgh/Ha balance.
Ticket to Ride Team Asia Review
I’ve also played Ticket to Ride Legendary Asia Team Game and it was a bit better and more fun.
In 3 or fewer players having the first player who takes a route blocks that route out even if it’s a double or triple and it’s very restrictive.
Playing 6 players with 3 teams of 2 removed that restriction and made the game much more open. You play with shared cards but can’t communicate with your team member which cards you want to use for which routes. Ha!
I was an amateur paired with a pro and all I did was make him angry with my choices. Not fun for either of us on this team.
Summary
Obviously, they’re good, but not my kind of game.
Of these style games, Royals and Ethnos do the same thing but a bit better. Putting the card drawing mechanism into a more fun area control game works really well. It’s pretty much the same thing, just a more interesting scheme and less frustrating gameplay.
I also prefer the smaller versions of the game. Ticket to Ride New York more than Ticket to Ride London and not just because the game is shorter, but because they’re more fun to me.
Jesta ThaRogue
