Next, you have to consider which specific routes on the board you need to claim and how likely it is that another player will block you. Firstly, you have to think about how hard it is to complete your ticket again on entirely different routes. However, the decision to go for the Mandala bonuses is very interesting because it is an extremely competitive board, where everyone is bound to get blocked somewhere. I especially like the India map because it makes you think about building circles with your trains, which is something that you wouldn’t see any purpose in thinking about in Ticket to Ride. I like the India map slightly more than the Europe map, but I like the Switzerland map a little less than the Europe one. This is an expansion for Ticket to Ride after all, so there is no surprise that I like this expansion. In this case, the player must pay two additional orange cards because a locomotive and orange card were revealed and match the color used to claim the tunnel route. Because it is a tunnel route, the top three cards of the deck are revealed, and the player must pay an additional card of the matching color for each revealed card that matches the color the player used. In the photo, the player tries to claim the tunnel route from Wassen to Chur by paying four orange cards and a locomotive. These routes are depicted by a funky outline. Another important rule on this map is that players may take multiple face-up locomotives on their turn, but locomotives are only playable on the tunnel routes. Players have multiple options as to where to build to get to any specific country. Another new type of ticket asks players to connect a certain city to any of the countries. Some tickets require players to connect a certain country to any other country and score points for one connection. Its notable feature is the routes that connect a city to a country, depicted by its flag. IIRC we have too many people usually.The Switzerland map can only be played with two to three players. (Also we have Switzerland but haven't played it. The discarding plastic trains mechanic helps speed up the game and makes it feel more like a race, which is exciting. (Disclaimer: I don't play with the Terrain cards, feels better without 'em.)ġ: Legendary Asia - Kinda my favorite just because there's nothing that annoys me, and all the twists are simple good ones. It doesn't feel like the fairest version, but it always makes me smile. And, the mandala mechanic adds more choices, and acts as a catch-up possibility.Ģ: Africa - The board is cleverly organized into color-themed areas here, which makes this map hilariously memorably challenging. It's obviously luck based, but so is the real game, this helps you appreciate the randomness.ģ: India - Since it's all mostly small segments, and so intricate, it always feels like there are a lot of choices. I should buy the 1910 stuff.Ĥ: New York - I love fast board games, and this is a good one. Still, playing across the USA feels so right. But I think tunnels are a terrible mechanic.ĥ: USA - Just doesn't feel balanced: the long horizontal cards are so powerful, and the 6-long segments are so powerful. Also, TTR should be shorter, not longer.ħ: World (Rails and Sails) - Slightly preferred over Great Lakes, only because going around the World is cool and novel.Ħ: Europe - It's a good big map that feels fresh every time, and stations are a good friendly twist. The tickets are not balanced well without the money rules though.Ĩ: Great Lakes (Rails and Sails) - Pretty fun, but doesn't feel very interactive. Losing money hurts, but gaining money doesn't feel that great. Doesn't look like the map would work without the new mechanics, either.ĩ: Netherlands - An interesting concept that isn't that fun in practice, IMO. We should try it again without the stocks, maybe.ġ0: United Kingdom - Way too much work, and longer fiddly turns that felt out of place.
Also, tunnels are bad.ġ1: Pennsylvania - A lot of work, and the stocks game undermines the Ticket to Ride game, in my opinion. We should try it again without that rule. Disappointed they didn't try harder to explain the rankings, so here's mine of what I played, quickly:ġ2: Team Asia - We found it extremely frustrating that you weren't allowed to talk to your teammate.