ticket to ride

Ticket to Ride: New York Review

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The original Ticket to Ride is my all-time favourite board game. I really enjoy that game’s balance of accessibility and strategic depth. Over the course of play, there’s a lot of interesting decisions to make, from determining which colour cards to draw, to knowing when to place your trains on the board, to finding alternate paths to your destination when a jerk has blocked your path. In spite of my love for that first game, I haven’t really ventured much beyond it. I have the 1910 Expansion, and I’ve played Ticket to Ride: Europe a few times, but that’s it. Based on what I’ve seen of the other standalone games and expansions, there wasn’t enough new or unique there for me to venture beyond my comfort zone.

Enter Ticket to Ride: New York. The latest entry in the series is also the smallest. With a playing field that only covers the south side of Manhattan, this iteration of the game is meant to deliver the thrills of the original in a package that can be played in about 15 minutes. I love the idea of having a quick version of Ticket to Ride to play, but does anything get lost in the distillation process?

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Board Game Talk: 3 Awesome Board Games for Newcomers

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If you’re just getting into board gaming or are looking for the perfect entry-level game for your friends to enjoy, here are a few recommendations!


Buy King of Tokyo Now From Amazon.com

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Introducing Board Games to Non-Gamers

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One of my favourite things to do as it pertains to board games is to introduce newcomers to the hobby. With the way the scene has grown in terms of gameplay innovation and variety, I feel like everyone can enjoy what board games are today on some level. From coworkers, to kids, to those who read this website, to even my mom, it’s been cool to be a part of someone discovering how fun modern games can be.

Based on my experiences as a “board game guru” and as a former non-gamer, I’ve picked up a thing or two on how to introduce board games in the best light. I’m not promising that this will help you turn a non-gamer into a super fan, but it can help bridge the gap.

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Board Gaming on Mobile Devices

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Carcassonne

I fell out of love with mobile gaming ages ago. What once was a platform full of potential has degraded into a free-to-play money grab for the likes of Farmville, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans. For those of you that like those kinds of games, that’s great. However, the types of games and the business models that drive them no longer appeal to my gaming sensibilities. At this point, my final vestige of mobile gaming comes from digital adaptations of analog board games.

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The Numbers Game

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Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition TrainsTicket to Ride was my introduction to the genre of German-style board games, which you may also know as designer board games or Eurogames. There are a number of factors that differentiate Eurogames from traditional western games like Monopoly or Risk, such as the general lack of player elimination and an emphasis on strategy over luck. In particular, the thing that differentiates Eurogames to me is the concept of resource management. For instance, in Ticket to Ride, you’re tasked with managing your tickets, route cards and the unclaimed routes on the board in a way that gets you the most points. Some of my favourite games of this style besides the aforementioned include Power Grid, Last Will and Tokaido.

In general, I’ve grown pretty fond of this style of game. I like the fact that these games generally keep everyone involved throughout and how interesting it can be to manage your resources within the confines of each game’s economic system. When those economic systems are paired up with a great theme that makes sense with the actions you’re performing, the results can be spectacular. On the other hand, when the theme isn’t there and the core mechanics aren’t enjoyable enough on their own, these games devolve into the chore of managing spreadsheets.

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The Board Game Night Playlist: Intro to Board Games

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Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition BoardWelcome to the Board Game Night Playlist! In what will hopefully grow into an ongoing series, I put together a playlist of games that you could use for your next board game night. Ideally, each playlist is created with the thought that all of the games on the list could be played within an evening of gaming. Also, I’d like for each playlist to contain some sort of thread that ties them together. For instance, I want to make playlists that are tuned for specific player counts, themes, gameplay mechanics or other logical through lines to make the most out of your next session.

This first playlist was inspired by a board game night we had with Mat and his now-fiancée Liza. Neither of them had played board games in years, with most of their experience coming from playing mainstream hits like Monopoly or Scrabble. What set of games could we pull together that were equal parts fun and accessible? Our picks out to be excellent choices, as we had a great night and inspired Mat and Liza to seek out more great board game experiences for themselves. This first playlist is the exact lineup of games we played that fateful night. If you’re hosting a board game night with newcomers, or are new to the medium yourself, try out this introductory playlist!

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Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition Impressions

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Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition

To celebrate the landmark release of Ticket to Ride in 2004, Days of Wonder has put out a special 10th anniversary edition of the classic board game. This premium package includes all of the content from the USA 1910 Expansion, larger cards, a double-sized board and new custom trains for each colour. It also comes with a premium price tag, as we got ours for about $80 before tax. For context, you can get the same amount of content by buying the original game for $40, the expansion for $16 and still have $24 left in your pocket.

Despite owning the original and the expansion, Steff and I have been waiting for the right time to upgrade. Thanks to a gift card that Steff received for her birthday, we now have this mammoth-sized game sitting on our shelf. Is it worth upgrading from coach to a first class ticket?

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Ticket to Ride on iPhone Review

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I’ve been buying board games on iOS since the launch of the app store. However, my collection of board games consists of mainstream titles like Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. Now that I’ve expanded my horizons when it comes to physical board games, it’s about time that I revamp my iOS collection as well. First on my new list is Ticket to Ride; a personal favourite of mine.

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Ticket to Ride USA 1910 Expansion Review

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photo 1(5)Over the past few months, Ticket to Ride has almost become a mainstay at Steff and I’s tabletop nights. I think it’s masterfully done, though if I were to knock it for anything, it’s for the fact that the 30 destination tickets wears a bit thin after playing the game a number of times. They also leave certain swaths of the map largely untouched because they don’t directly map to destination tickets.

With 39 new destination cards, The Ticket to Ride USA 1910 Expansion is a direct answer to this dilemma. However, the expansion comes with a total of 181 cards. What the heck are the rest used for?

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How many board games is too many?

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Board Game ShelfHow many is too many? It depends on your definition of too many. With video games, I’m very particular about what that exactly means. At this point, I’ll make shelf space for any great ones I’m currently playing or have played before, but my tolerance for keeping mediocre titles or ones that I’ll realistically never play has dropped dramatically. Since October, I’ve traded in about 40 games that I felt were worth more as trade bait than as artifacts in my collection. As I continue to invest into my new board game hobby, this question is beginning to become a factor in my buying process.

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