Travel the World in Style with ‘Ticket to Ride’

Live your country (and world) traveling dreams by building your own railroads and raking in the points with Ticket to Ride.

There are board games out there for every interest, including trains. Ticket to Ride is a strategy board game of laying track, selling tickets, and having the best train line in the land. Even if you’re not really a ‘train person,’ this is an almost surprisingly fun game which has sold a train-car load of copies since.

Ticket to Ride

First published in 2004 and designed by Alan R. Moon, Ticket to Ride is a competitive turn-based strategy game. Players take turns playing and claiming train routes across the board. And it has been described as a gateway game.

By that, they mean that Ticket to Ride is easy enough and fast enough to learn as well as enjoyable enough, that it has almost universal appeal, and can draw people into the board gaming hobby. Of the game, Moon said, “The rules are simple enough to write on a train ticket.” Further, Chris Heindenriecht of Gameology described it as one of “those games striking a balance between simplicity and depth, making them perfect for beginners and seasoned gamers alike.”

As of 2024, Ticket to Ride has sold more than a whopping eighteen million copies worldwide. It has been released in more than twenty languages, and between versions for various countries, cities, and anniversaries, there are tons of variations of Ticket to Ride out there. It has won 2005’s International Gamers Award for strategy multiplayer, Games Magazine top 100 for family strategy games in 2006 and 2007, and been nominated for and won an almost uncountable number of gaming awards in the US and internationally over the years. Ticket to Ride is beloved.

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How to Play

There are a few versions of Ticket to Ride, each with minor differences in rules, but the general setup and basics are by and large the same across.

To begin, each player takes a predetermined number of colored train pieces and the matching scoring marker. Then players are dealt train car cards- usually four, but in some versions it can be as few as two or as many as eight- as well as their destination ticket cards. These show a route between specified destinations.

To play, each player must chose from one of the following three options:

• Draw two railway car cards
• Draw destination ticket cards
• Play one of the previously collected railway car cards to claim a route on the board and place the corresponding number of train pieces on the claimed route

The game ends when one of the players has a number of colored train pieces below three trains.

Players tally up their points which are earned for routes, tickets, longest road, and most completed tickets. The player with the most points wins.

There are minor differences in rules between game versions—some have slightly different end-game goals, while others have you draw more or fewer cards. But in general, the rules are mostly consistent.

Different Versions of Ticket to Ride

There are x versions of Ticket to Ride including:

• Original, depicting the 1910 United States
• Europe
• Märklin
• Nordin Countries
• Germany
• Rails and Sails, using ship pieces that are smaller than the usual train pieces
• Northern Lights
• 10th Anniversary Edition
• 15th Anniversary Edition
• First Journey America, the First Journey games were junior versions of Ticket to Ride and made for younger players
• First Journey Europe
• First Journey Ghost Train
• New York
• London
• Amsterdam
• San Francisco
• Berlin
• Paris
• Map Collections Volume 1: Asia
• Map Collections Volume 2: India & Switzerland
• Map Collections Volume 3: The Heart of Africa
• Map Collections Volume 4: Nederland
• Map Collections Volume 5: United Kingdom & Pennsylvania
• Map Collections: Volume 6: France & Old West
• Map Collections Volume 6 1/2: Poland
• Map Collections Volume 7: Japan & Italy
• Map Collections Volume 8: Iberia & South Korea
• Stay At Home, released during Covid, instead of traveling the world on trains, this version had players travel between household locations
• Ticket to Ride: The Card Game
• Ticket to Ride: Track Switcher, a single player brain-teaser puzzle set with a Ticket to Ride theme

There is also an online version, a computer game, an XBox live release, and mobile games for tablets and phones.

How Long Does Ticket to Ride Take to Play?

Games aren’t terribly complex, and usually take two to five players between thirty and sixty minutes to complete.

What is the Objective of Ticket to Ride?

The aim of Ticket to Ride is to score the highest number of points by claiming routes and putting trains down between various cities on the map.

Are Catan and Ticket to Ride the Same?

There are definitely some similarities between the two games. For example the longest road goal exists in both games. But overall, Catan is a longer game with more strategy, while Ticket to Ride is a little easier and a little faster to play.

How Can I Play?

If you want to learn more or play Ticket to Ride for yourself, you can probably ask your nearest board game friend. They almost assuredly have at least one version on their game shelf. Or, you can check out the Days of Wonder official website, here.

Happy adventuring!

She/Her/They/Them | Writer, Cosplayer, Podcaster, Tapletop RPGer, Opossum Enthusiast, Mediocre Ukulele Player, & Coffee Addict. To find Meaghan elsewhere on the internet, check out her LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/habie_cosplays
Any emails regarding articles or potential game or accessory spotlights can be sent to [email protected].

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