Days of Wonder | Ticket to Ride Europe Board Game | Ages 8+ | For 2 to 5 players | Average Playtime 30-60 Minutes
Days of Wonder | Ticket to Ride Europe Board Game | Ages 8+ | For 2 to 5 players | Average Playtime 30-60 Minutes
| Dimensions: | 29.85 x 29.85 x 7.62 cm; 1.25 Kilograms |
| Model: | DO7202 |
| Material: | Cardboard |
| Colour: | Blue |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Age: | 8 – 15 years |
| Assembly: | No |
| Dimensions: | 29.85 x 29.85 x 7.62 cm; 1.25 Kilograms |
| Material: | Cardboard |
| Quantity: | 1 |
We enjoy playing this. It isn’t the easiest game to pick up and we don’t play all the rules. There’s definitely a bit of strategy involved as well luck which can lead to some frustrating moves!
This is a really nice game that is not too difficult to learn, and a lot of fun to play.
The production quality of some of the items isn’t great however. The colours on the cards, which should match up with the colours on the board, are laughably different. Once we worked this out it’s not too much of a big deal.
I first tried the original edition online and love both that and this versio
Hours of fun playing this game with the kids. It also gives a geography lesson without them knowing it aswell as strategy. Just a really good game for all ages from around 10.
Brought this for our Daughter-in-law as part of her Christmas present. She loved it.
Well it’s almost the best games ever, there’s a few big hitters out there, but Ticket to Ride is very much up there with the best of them.
Easy to learn.
OK, the mission cards are the same each time, but the more times you play the better your strategy should get…right?
Great fun for friends and family. If none of you have played before the first game might take a while to get going but once you do the rounds of gameplay flow nicely.
A fun game and no need to own or have previously played any of the other Ticket to Ride games
Good to have a game that is flexible enough to be played by just two people or a group. Interesting enough to satisfy teenagers and adults. The rules are relatively quick to learn, and there is a good combination of luck and skill so you can enjoy getting better at the game but enjoy it from the outset. Nice to do a bit of armchair travel and check out your geography!
Really enjoyed playing this game with my family. Easy to pick up but the joy is in the complexity of the hand you are dealt in terms of the objectives.
Great game. Easy enough to learn. Great to play. Every game is differe
I saw this game and thought trains urgh but it’s nothing to do with trains and it’s actually a fun game.
Played this so many times now and because there are so many possibilities you don’t have a clue what your opponent is doing. My teenage daughter even loved it which is pretty amazing since normally she couldn’t possibly tear herself away from her phone.
Highly recommend it.
There’s also lots of expansions with not only new maps, but even enhanced gameplay, rules and pieces, meaning this game can keep on giving for decades.
I cannot recommend this game enough. Seriously. Just buy it xx
We did have an issue with one rule on the sea tunnels but this was due to a misunderstanding on my part when explaining the rules
The game is quite easy for new players to pick up as each turn is quite simple (draw a card, claim a route, place a station…) and the depth comes with deciding one which routes to go for and do you make a decision to abandon routes you have drawn, in favour of higher value ones based on your draws and others players actions.
It’s a game I enjoy and would definitely recommend.
This game did not disappoint. Took a little longer than suggested to explain , we ended up with one player being the ‘games master’ and explaining buts as we went along – but we did start playing after a boozy easter sunday lunch!
Quite a quick game to play which we all loved – especially me ! After a few hairy moments where I thought I would loose it all – and some much needed help from my younger sister – I came out victorious! So will now need to keep up this winning streak ( I loose every round of Imposter- so this crown I will be keeping!lol)
Buy it!
We started with the beginners version which usually lasts around 15-30 minutes. We really enjoyed that so moved onto this version. It is a lot of fun. The only issue for us is it can take us close to 2 hours to finish a game. We play 3 player games, and one player is an 8 year old. I assume that contributes to the time to play. We often discuss strategy to help him, which will extend our play time. We have played 3 games of it so far, and each one was around 2 hours long. We have a lot of fun though, just have to make sure we have the time before we start.
Really easy to pick up, especially coming from the beginner version, as a lot of those rules transfer over. My main recommendation though, if you are a visual learner, is to look the game up on Youtube. There are lots of how to play guides on there, and I found it much easier to pick it all up, than just reading the instructions.
Last year I bought the Nordic edition, as that is recommended for 3 players. A few friends said that the European edition was also good for 3, so gave it a try. It’s superb. Works very well indeed. Slightly different rules, this edition has Train Stations, that you can use to share a route with another player. Really enjoyed playing this all over the xmas period with my wife and father. The rules are never too complex, it’s easy to understand. There’s an element of luck in what cards you are dealt, but also skill and thought, working out routes to keep or ditch and how you can complete them to get a good score. I love the fact that nobody really knows who’s winning until you count the scores at the end. So there’s no nasty competitiveness, like you get in games like Monopoly, which when one person is winning everyone else just suffers. Love this game. Highly recommend.
The game is very well-presented. The colourful board and cards seem of good quality. There are many plastic rail cars and station pieces included and all fit neatly in the box, without the need to sort a selection in additional bags or containers. Therefore the set up for a new game takes very little time. Our children, the youngest at 7, love the game and constantly want to play it with us – I would like to but I often have to plan ahead as it is not a quick casual game.
My teens are fussy blighters and finding a board game they all want to play isn’t easy. Two of them have dyslexia, so I didn’t want to choose anything with too much writing, or any requirement for spelling, or anything too wordy. I also didn’t want to choose anything too long (we never seem to get to the end of monopoly…) or too short (it is nice to spend more than ten minutes together occasionally!). I saw what looked like a great game but it required a co-operative approach and mine are not always the best at co-operating. Read up about this one, thought it would be about the right length, figured they could do with learning a little European geography, and bought it. Wow it has exceeded my wildest expectations – they LOVE it! Going through all the rules first time around was painful (plus some we didn’t realise we’d got wrong until the end of our first game), but once we started play they were hooked from the get-go, and it got pretty exciting/tense very fast. First game may take a bit longer, but after that it’s about two hours from start to finish. They want to play over and over again: you can’t ask for more than that.
This game took a turn or two to learn, especially with some of the city names being different spelling from what my kids were used to, but after the first game, they were quick to pick it up. I like that there are different strategies involved in gaining points so that even the youngest can choose a fun goal to attain (usually building the longest track on the board), and there is a bit of strategy for the older, more competitive players. It’s a good game for the whole family. In each turn you may either pick up cards for building tracks, use your cards to build the track, or receive track-building challenges. Once the moves are established, the pace picks up. It is not a very short game though, about 45-60min, depending on how new of a player you are, just right for a game night in our house. It requires a little set-up, but the clean-up is fairly quick. This one is chosen often from the shelves, but we have never played the “same” game twice. Other top games we enjoy are quacks of quedlinburg and carcasonne.
I decided this was a definite purchase after I first saw how much fun was had playing this game whilst watching “Wil Wheatons Tabletop” on YouTube.
A big board game that looked fun, with some thought and tactics required but not overly complicated. And a game that didn’t drag on forever and never finish…cough…Monopoly…cough!
From reading other reviews and opinions, I decided on the “Europe” version rather than the original USA version. I wasn’t disappointed. Living in the U.K. made this an easier choice as well, being more familiar with the European countries.
The first run through was a bit slow, mainly due to learning the rules of the game. But now most games take around 30-45 minutes. Long enough to have substance and keep people interested but not too long to get bored.
Some people that I have played with aren’t used to this longer format having only played faster paced, tradition board games. As such they try to rush through. So most importantly, please go slow and keep well on top of points being scored as on a few occasions we lost track and had to do a re-count. This can be annoying and time consuming but is a flaw of the players and not the game.
It would have been nice if the train pieces were made from heavier wood or metal rather than the current plastic. I get that this would bump up the price quite a bit, so I do understand why this is not the case.
However, on a few occasions we did knock the board a few times sending pieces flying. This could have easily and cheaply been fixed by making recessed spaces on the board where you place you counters.
Apart from that, this will make a great addition to any board game collection and is a great jumping on point for introducing others to more in depth games such as Catan or Alhambra. And leading them away from the bores that are Monopoly and Cluedo!
The game is simple enough to be picked up quickly and include younger players. We’ve had a 10 year old play with adults without a problem and it didn’t slow gameplay or require us to “go easy” on her. That being said, there is sufficient depth to the game to allow for various strategies to engage more adept board-gamers.
I’ve played with the minimum of 2 players (including myself), right the way up to the maximum of 5 and the game does feel varied by having different numbers of players which gives another level to the game. The game actually adapts the rules very slightly for higher/lower numbers, I feel in an attempt to lessen the impact of this – and I think they’ve got the balance right.
Note that there are different versions. I’ve only played Europe. As I understand it, the original USA is slightly simpler. I thought it was just a different map/matter of preference when I chose, and am glad I have the more evolved game.
There are expansion packs available, so it doesn’t feel like a game that going to run out of steam any time soon. No pun intended.
Finally, it’s fairly quick. Maybe half an hour for 2 players and an hour for 5 (depending on how much chatting, drinking, pausing etc.). As each turn is a choice of one of a range of options, it’s much quicker than a game like Catan where you all procedurally take a series of actions per turn. This requirement to choose only one does bring a whole need to judge when to act, as the game finishing follows the fastest player using all/most of their pieces – and that is one of my favourite aspects to the game.
Love the additions, but …
A) Prefer to add new elements in stages rather than all at once as too many rules to remember!
Worked better for us playing it a few times, and gradually including add ins as follwed:
1 Country Concession Cards*
2 Tech Cards
3 Advance Tech Cards
*Really dislike that you don’t need a concession card for England but you do for Wales, Scotland and Ireland – we live in Wales and it seems a bit daft having to get a concession to build there but not England!
B) As in the original version, it gets frustrating being able to do so little in your turn after waiting for the other 4 players, so we allow picking up the Wagon/Engine colour cards and playing in same turn. Therefore our turn procedure for Europe add on is
1 Get 2 colour cards
2 Purchase Concession / Tech card
3 Claim a route
C) We really dislike scoring as go along – firstly because we forget and secondly because it’s more exciting to do it at the end. But some of the Europe rules mean you have to score during play, which was just another thing to remember whilst trying to remember everything else.
D) Would have been more accurate if the Ireland ferry didn’t go from Carmarthen – because it doesn’t in real life! Could do with another station at either Pembroke Dock or Fishguard, especially as Wales has so few stations anyway.
Having said all the above, I’m really glad we got this expansion and it is reasonable value, having Pensylvania on the other side of the board.
The hardest part I have found is learning what the place names are as they are in their native language rather than English. This is no bad thing of course but it means that it is not always obvious where the train should be heading until you find the place without anyone else noticing that you are looking for it specifically. It would be good to have more train carriages to keep the game going for a bit longer as sometimes just a turn or two more could change the outcome quite dramatically! There appear to be sets available to increase the number of players but the extension pack seems to consist of just more journeys rather than more carriages which is what we think would make the game more interesting and less time-limited.
I was initially going to buy Ticket to Ride, however I wanted a game that would play very well with just two players as well as have the ability to expand to more and Ticket to Ride Europe seemed to fit the bill best.
It’s a shame that quite a lot of people who have Monopoly and Risk in the house haven’t heard of Ticket to Ride (Europe) as it’s a similar level of difficulty and is fun to play.
The aim of the game is to gain points buy building train lines to complete routes across Europe. I’ll let other reviewers going into game play more thoroughly.
This is a fun game and other than some of the smaller details (such as stations) is very fast to pick up. I’ve only played it with other adults but it could easily be a family game as it’s no more difficult to learn than a game like Monopoly. There’s something really nice about seeing your train lines travel across Europe and the cards and board are attractive. With two players you’re often not competing for the same line of tracks so if you’re not in the mood for an intensely competitive game this is quite nice. With more players I imagine it would get more competitive.
My dad hasn’t really played a board game since he used to play children’s games with me when I was a child and I introduced him to Ticket to Ride Europe wondering how he’d find it. It took him a game to pick it up and he seemed a bit unsure of it, however a few days later he asked if we could have another game and since then we’ve played it multiple times.
I haven’t played any of the Ticket to Ride series other than Ticket to Ride Europe so can’t compare this to them, however this is a well balanced game that’s fun to play and a good addition to a household’s games.
Not only does this version of the game have the classic gameplay elements which made the original so enjoyable, but it also expands on them by adding new ones as well as the obvious new map, routes, etc.
Ticket to Ride is all about conquest of the national rail systems. Your task is to connect a series of routes between cities marked on a set of “Route Cards” (distributed at the start of the game) by placing “wagons” (train car tokens)along the routes in question. You can only place your wagons along any segment of any route by “purchasing” that route segment with playing cards of varying colours. Each route segment requires a certain number of a certain colour of playing cards, and therefore your goal is to get the right numbers of the right colours of cards in order to place your wagons in the correct places and claim your routes.
For each wagon placed you will receive a number of points. More wagons = more points. When your wagons connect from Point-A to Point-B, you’ve successfully completed your route and earn bonus points for doing so. When any one player has two wagons or fewer remaining in their inventory, the game ends. Any routes you failed to complete will not only forfeit your right to bonus points for that route, it will also subtract those points from your current score.
You must therefore try to achieve as many points as you can and complete as many and/or the longest routes you can before the other players and before the end of the game.
The rules can SEEM finicky to newcomers, but once understood you realise how very simple they are and the game play is exceedingly engrossing often resulting in multiple games on the trot.
Additions in TTRE include even more ways to complete your routes and gain points such as adding train stations, tunnels and ferry routes.
The quality of build for this set is very high. The game board is thick and sturdy, the artwork is vibrant and detailed. The player pieces, which keep track of each player’s score, are wooden and add to the charm and quality. The playing cards are sturdy, of high quality and again the artwork is beautiful and colourful.
The only real let-down is the wagons themselves, and this is really a minor gripe. The wagons are made of moulded plastic and it would be so much nicer if they were wooden as well. However I suspect that, due to the large number of wagons (45 x5 players), this would dramatically increase the cost of this game. If this were something that would bother you it’s good to know that there are wooden third-party, aftermarket options available. Another positive worth noting is that several “extra” wagons of each colour are included…just in case one gets lost!
Finally, there’s even an educational element to each and every version of this game, as it does, in its own way, instil a bit of a minor geography lesson with each and every game played. With the European version, the various cities have their names as spelled in their native tongue…not English. For example, “London” is “London”, but “Rome” is “Roma” and “Athens” is “Athina”.
Highly recommended, highly addictive, and best played with loads of people.
I had purchased the game merely 5 days ago, and my Girlfriend and I had played it non-stop. By the time we took it to our friends’ house, we had come to realise that the game was not only incredibly easy to teach to others; but that it was also quite addictive. Following on basic game turn rotation like Catan, with the mixed element of linking rail lines, the game mechanics are notoriously simple. You draw cards, match the colours of the cards with the routes you want, lay down you trains, and subsequently create train networks. People tactically block off the routes you want, you use stations to by-pass this and the game ends when people get close to running out of trains. So if you’re not into complex mechanics, or just want a simple game that has instant replay value, then this will be for you.
Even playing with 3 new players, the game took no longer than an hour and a half of set up and play time. So the added benefit is that it won’t consume your time if you don’t have it like other games of mine do, like Arkham Horror or Dominant Species. The great thing I noticed is that within a short time, people were making quite complex strategies to win the game, and at no point was the game decided until the last few rounds due to a constant shifting power balance which also makes the game quite tense by the end.
As a comment on quality and durability, the trains are made from good thick plastic in shiny colours and the board and cards are very brightly printed. One addition we liked was that our colour blind friend could play without much difficulty as all of the routes and the train cards are symbol printed. I rarely ever rate durability as full marks (despite my distain of the star system anyway), due to the fact that parts are cardboard and cards will at some point get damaged and deteriorate. Although I will add that if look after your game but still play it regularly, it should last you for many years.
Lastly, mine and others only niggle is the limited long route cards (6) and ticket cards (45). Within a short amount of time, you begin to learn the long routes and the normal routes in the tickets. However, some may argue that this adds a tactical element to the game as you have to be a bit sneaky and clever to complete your routes. Regardless, we wanted more so I have purchased the 1912 expansion for Europe, which has made the overall game more expensive. So with this, the game is not perfect in my eyes, but it’s so much fun and so widely playable to so many audiences it’s very hard to fault it that much.
A great game to play, easy to learn, quick and highly repayable.
R. Evans 2012.
The game itself is beautifully made but you will need some room for the board – kitchen table perhaps.
In the box are little train carriages (40+), destination cards (some short and others long rail routes), player counters (moves along the score board around the outer edge of the board) and train cards (a very large set of cards with different coloured trains on) and a lovely large instruction book in full colour. You also get a web-site address to play on-line.
Game play set up – simple once you have played it once.
Basically each player chooses 2 destination cards (although more can be used). The board is essentially a map of Europe with major cities marked on them. Between each city are spaces to place your carriages.
These spaces are coloured. For example, you might see 2 pink spaces to place carriages from Madrid to Barcelona OR 5 black spaces to get from Madrid to Paris.
To place your carriages along the track you have to collect train cards of that colour. So, in this example, to start your journey from Madrid to Barcelona you need to have collected 2 pink cards for that journey section.
You take it in turns to pick up train cards, collect the right colours or play them in return for placing your carriages. Placing carriages scores points. Highest points wins.
Luck element:
1) You might pick up a lucky card which can represent any colour.
2) You choose from a lucky draw of destination cards – so you might only have a choice of harder routes to make up!
Strategy element:
1) Choosing which destinations cards to use (these are routes you must build up) Choose wrong and if you don’t complete the route you lose points.
2) Games ends when a player has only two carriages left to place – so use carriages wisely.
3) Block routes that you think your opponent is trying to achieve (they will have to go round you or use another method).
4) You can take a short cut by using tracks that go through tunnels or take a ferry – but another twist in game play involves an element of luck.
We played it three times in two days and will take a long time to get board of it.