Train by train (game)

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step by step
Typical game situation with five players shortly before the end of the game
Typical game situation with five players shortly before the end of the game
Game data
author Alan R. Moon
publishing company Days of Wonder ,
Edge Entertainment ,
Lautapelit.fi
Publishing year 2004
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 5
Duration 60-90 minutes
Age from 8 years

Awards

Step by step Europe

Ticket to Ride is a board game by British game designer Alan R. Moon , which is about the use of railways in the United States. The English edition appeared under the name Ticket to Ride . In 2004 it received the world's most important award for board games, the Game of the Year Critic Award .

Alan R. Moon was honored with the game of the year for the second time after Elfenland in 1998 . In 1999, his game Union Pacific , also a game with a railroad background, was nominated for Game of the Year . Step by step takes - not only visually - unmistakably borrowings from Union Pacific , whose board also represents a map of North America .

Game description

Different locations and routes made up of 1 to 6 fields of one color, which always connect two locations, are drawn on the game board. The object of the game is to create a railway network from small plastic wagons and to get the most points in the process. One way to get points is to use routes. In order to use a route, a player must play as many car cards of the same color as the route has spaces in order to then place one of his wagons on each of these spaces. The points a player gets depends on the length of the route, with longer stretches earning a higher score. (For example, a route made up of 1 field is worth 1 point, but a route made up of 6 fields is worth 15 points.) The other way to get points is by completing objective cards . Two locations are shown on destination maps, which have to be connected by your own railway network. At the beginning of the game, each player receives 3 of these target cards and chooses at least 2 target cards to keep. In addition, a player can draw 3 new objective cards during the game, of which he must keep at least one. Each player keeps his objective cards secret until the end of the game and is not allowed to return them during the course of the game. For each completed goal card, the player receives the number of points indicated on this card at the end of the game, which depends on the distance between the two locations. For each goal card that was not fulfilled, the player gets this number of points deducted. One difficulty is that routes used by other players are no longer available to the player and therefore often detours have to be “driven” to fulfill target cards or target cards can no longer be completed at all.

It is the turn of the players one after the other. When it is a player’s turn, they must do exactly one of the following:

  • Take car cards, whereby two car cards are drawn from the draw pile or taken from the 5 car cards that are face up
  • use a route
  • draw new target cards

Each player starts with 45 wagons. As soon as a player has only 2 or fewer wagons left at the end of his turn, each player has exactly one more turn. In addition, at the end of the game there are 10 bonus points for the player with the longest continuous route.

There are also various special rules and new game elements in the different variants of Ticket to Ride. In addition, the variants differ in various details (e.g. the number of target cards that a player must draw and keep or the bonuses at the end of the game). Two examples of new play elements are the ferries and tunnels introduced for the first time in Ticket to Ride Europe . When using ferries, locomotive cards must be played for the fields marked with a locomotive (belong to the wagon cards), which otherwise count as jokers for any color. Tunnels make for more chance. To use tunnel sections, the top 3 cards of the draw pile for car cards are turned up and the player must play an additional car card of this color for each card of his color that is turned up. If he cannot or does not want to do this, he suspends the round.

Variants and extensions

Over the years, different versions, extensions and promotional articles have appeared. The following tables provide an overview.

Standalone games and specific extensions

Surname Publishing year Number of players game schedule particularities Extensions
step by step 2004 2-5 United States In 2014 an anniversary edition was published with an extra-large program and individually designed wagons in metal cans. This edition also includes the extensions "USA 1910" and "Mystery Train". Mystery Train (2004 / free)

USA 1910 (2006)

Step by step Europe 2005 2-5 Europe Tunnels, ferries and train stations Europe 1912 (2009)

Orient Express (2015 / free)

Ticket to Ride Märklin 2006 2-5 Germany Passengers
Step by step Scandinavia 2007 2-3 Scandinavia Tunnels, ferries.

initially only available in Scandinavia, since 2008 also in Germany

Ticket to Ride Germany 2012 2-5 Germany Same game plan as Märklin, but with different destination cards, different car cards and without passengers Germany 1902 (2015)
Ticket to Ride World Tour 2016 2-5 World map / The Great Lakes Ships, ports. The world map is “round”, so the ship routes connect Asia / Australia with America from the right edge of the board to the left.

Map Collections

As of 2011, 8 map collections have been published so far (as of 2019). These are game plans with their own target cards and, if necessary, new material (e.g. landscape cards, track tiles or express trains), but without car cards, wagons and counting stones. Therefore one of the basic games (USA, Europe or Germany) is always required to play.

Surname Publishing year Number of players game schedule particularities
Map Collection Vol. 1:

Team Asia / Legendary Asia

2011 Team Asia: 4 or 6

Legendary Asia: 2-5

Asia (two different boards) Team Asia: team variant, tunnel

Legendary Asia: ferries, mountain routes

Map Collection Vol. 2:

India / Switzerland

2011 India: 2-4

Switzerland: 2-3

India / Switzerland India: Mandala Bonus, Ferries

Switzerland: tunnel

Switzerland appeared as a separate schedule back in 2007.

Map Collection Vol. 3:

The Heart of Africa

2012 2-5 Africa Landscape maps, ferries
Map Collection Vol. 4:

Nederland

2013 2-5 Netherlands Bridge toll tokens
Map Collection Vol. 5:

United Kingdom / Pennsylvania

2015 UK: 2-4

Pennsylvania: 2-5

UK / Pennsylvania UK: technologies, ferries

Pennsylvania: Shares, Ferries

Map Collection Vol. 6:

France / Old West

2017 France: 2-5

Old West: 2-6

France / West Coast USA France: track construction

Old West: City markers, new routes must be connected to the previous route network

Map Collection Vol. 6½:

Polska

2019 2-4 Poland Connecting neighboring countries

Available in Polish and English only.

Map Collection Vol. 7:

Japan / Italy

2019 2-5 Japan / Italy Japan: express trains, enlarged areas

Italy: ferries, regional bonuses

Cities

So far (as of 2020) 3 Cities variants from Ticket to Ride have appeared. While the normal variants have a playing time of 30 to 60 minutes or more, these games have smaller game plans with only 15 to 17 figures (instead of 45) and a planned playing time of 10 to 15 minutes. Instead of railway wagons, the players have, for example, taxis or buses as figures. These are stand-alone games that do not require any of the basic games.

Surname Publishing year Number of players game schedule Pawns
Ticket to Ride New York 2018 2-4 new York Taxis
Ticket to Ride London 2019 2-4 London Double decker buses
Train to train Amsterdam 2020 2-4 Amsterdam Carts

Stay at home

In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the version " Ticket to Ride - Stay at Home" was published on the Days of Wonder website. The game plan shows the rooms of a single-family house, with the routes connecting the different areas of the house. The game can be played by 2 to 4 players and is primarily designed for families. As a special feature, family routes have been introduced that several players can complete together, whereby the route can then be used by all players involved in completing the route.

This variant is not available in stores. Instead, the game, including instructions, game plan and new target cards, can be downloaded as a PDF document from the official website and printed out. However, as with the Map Collections , car cards, wagons and counting stones from one of the basic games are required.

Other extensions

  • Cube expansion (2008): The car cards are replaced by dice. This expansion can be combined with all basic games.
  • Alvin & Dexter (2011): This expansion contains two monsters that can occupy the cities so that adjacent routes can no longer be claimed. The expansion can be combined with all basic games
  • Halloween Freighter (2012): The set contains wagons loaded with pumpkins and new train stations that replace elements and give the game the Halloween atmosphere.

Other independently playable offshoots

  • Ticket to Ride - The Card Game (2008): Ticket variant of Ticket to Ride without a game board
  • Ticket to Ride - My First Journey (2016/2017): Children's game variant of Ticket to Ride. This version first appeared in the USA in 2016 under the title First Journey with a USA game plan. In 2017 the game appeared with a Europe game plan in German as well as in numerous other languages.

Digital version

In 2005, a computer game adaptation Ticket to Ride appeared for Windows and MacOS , which, in addition to the USA and European versions, included the Switzerland game plan (before it was published as a board game) and later also the extension "USA 1910". This made it possible to play with computer-controlled opponents or online with other players. At that time, a CD with the demo version was enclosed with Zug um Zug Europa , which only contained the USA version and only allowed playing with a maximum of one computer-controlled opponent.

In 2008 a new, revised version appeared. It has been released over time for Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS and Linux and is now sold on Steam , Google Play , the App Store and the Amazon Appstore . Official support for Linux has since been abandoned. The game only includes the USA board by default, with the variants "USA 1910", Europe (including "Europe 1912"), Germany, Scandinavia, Legendary Asia, India, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Pennsylvania and France as DLCs or domestic App purchases are available.

There is also a web version on the Days of Wonder website.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ TICKET TO RIDE Poland Map Collection Volume 6.5, 21130, One Color, One Size: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games. Retrieved August 15, 2020 .