The Sunday lunch dishes have been cleared away and my family sits in their assigned seats at the dining room table. Once again, Donovan’s soft familiar voice singing, “Try and Catch the Wind” floats through the room. The box is opened, the board unfolded, and the dice is rolled to determine who goes first. We are preparing to play Ticket to Ride USA, a board game created by Days of Wonder. My family just can’t seem to get enough of this game. It’s a weekly ritual.
Each player receives a small plastic bag with 45 train cars and five destination tickets. From the five tickets, they decide which three to keep. During their turn players draw two cards which match color coded tracks on the board. Once you collect enough cards to match the track between two cities, you can place your train on those tracks. It usually takes several turns to build the route on each destination ticket, all of which are kept secret from the rest of the players. Challenges arise when destinations overlap and your train is blocked by another player’s train. That’s when the whining begins!
Every Sunday each family member uses the same color of train cars. Like I said, this is a weekly ritual! I will refer to each player by color to protect their identity. As in most families, each player’s personality influences the way they perform. Player Blue is the rule stickler, always at the ready to consult the rule book. Player Red complains whenever she is blocked and suggests we need to change the rules. Player Red also apologizes profusely whenever she blocks anyone, but I wonder if she really means it. Player Yellow usually keeps more destination tickets than she is capable of completing, and loses more often than anyone else. Player Black takes the most risks, and they usually pan out in his favor! His performance amazes everyone because he is always consulting his cell phone and looking as if he’s not engaged in the game.
The game ends when one player’s train stock is reduced to two cars, signaling one final round for all players. Player Blue is kind of sneaky. He can look like he has a lot of train cars left and then place them all at once on a six space track. It’s a virtual train wreck for the other players who might not be expecting the game to end. To no one’s suprise, Player Black is usually prepared for the finish, and comes out on top, or at least second. Player Red sighs and says, “I love this game, even if I don’t win.” Meanwhile, Player Yellow grumbles and writes down the winner’s score in our Ticket to Ride Hall of Fame notebook.
During the game, points are scored for train cars as they are placed between cities on the board. Additional tickets can be drawn throughout the game. Since we use the 1910 Expansion, we play the mega game. The mega game awards bonus points for the most number of trips (tickets) completed. Player Black holds the family record for completing 16 trips in one game! The average number of trips for the rest of us is 7. The winner is not known until point values of completed trips are revealed at the end of the game. Incomplete trips are subtracted from a player’s final score.
If you play this game, Game Knight can help you improve. Click on Ticket to Ride then go to strategies. Read how you can decide which tickets to keep, when to place your trains, and how to constantly watch what your opponents are doing so you can block them before they block you.
After losing for many weeks in a row, Player Yellow threatened to quit last Sunday. She was so distraught about losing that she didn’t even score her points at the end of the game! What a sore loser! Like I said, personalities are brought to bear with this game. But one thing Yellow knows is that she will never win if she quits. Yellow is always hopeful. Soon a new player will be moving to Orlando. Player Green will really take our game off the rails!
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This sounds like it could be a lot of fun…Player Blue.
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