Ticket To Ride Europe Board Game Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Mel Randle
I love a board game, so being asked to play and review Ticket To Ride Europe, by Days Of Wonder, was right up my street! As a home educator with a particular interest in geography and the world, it was even more appealing that it has an educational element to it introducing major European cities, their location and what they were called at the turn of the 20th century. The object of the game is to ‘claim’ train lines, build paths between destinations and ultimately build up the most points.
The game is packaged really well in an attractive sturdy box. This is a plus for me straight away as it looks like it will take a long time (if ever) for the corners of the box to collapse or rip (I’ve lost count of the number of board game boxes I have that are held together by cellotape!) The board itself and the playing cards all get a 5* rating from me for quality which I think should be taken into consideration when looking at the price. There are lots of components to the game – 240 plastic trains and 150+ cards, so although not conducive to those wanting to live a plastic free life, you are certainly getting your money’s worth!
If I was in a shop looking at board games, the box gives all the key information I would need to make an informed choice – Players 2-5, Age 8+, Game time 30-60 minutes and it also states ‘elegant simple, can be learned in 5 minutes’. But is this information actually accurate? Let me break it down….
Players 2-5 – this is categorically true as there are only enough playing pieces for up to 5 players. Everybody receives a scoring marker and 45 trains in their chosen colour – blue, red,green, yellow or black. We have played as a four and as a two and the number of players didn’t have any detriment to the game. More players make it a little more challenging as there will be less ‘train routes’ to ‘claim’ and the game would take a little longer the more people there are. My daughter (9) preferred it when it was just the two of us because she didn’t have to wait as long for her turn. Anyone with children knows that keeping their concentration during a board game is the biggest challenge!
Age 8+ – I completely agree with this. This is really a game of strategy and I think even a year ago I would have struggled to play this with my daughter. The children need to understand the object of the game, keep their cards hidden from other players and most importantly NOT knock the board!
Game time 30-60 minutes – Bear with it and this is accurate! Our first game took us over 2 hours!! (I will cover the reasons why below) but successive games with 2 players have taken 45 minutes. I would imagine more players will extend the time, and the obvious variation is how long each person takes to decide their move.
Quote ‘elegant simple, can be learned in 5 minutes’ – This is the one element I take issue with but I don’t want to turn in into a negative that takes away how great this game is. I think, however, that statement needs to be put into context. Elegant – yes. Simple – when you know how. ‘Can be learned in 5 minute’ – probably not! Ticket To Ride is a series of games so were you familiar with the other games then you would probably understand this one quicker. And maybe if someone in your group had played the game before they could have shared their knowledge to teach others. But our first game was with four people (3 adults, 1 child) who had never heard of it before. There is an eight page instruction leaflet that we tried to work through whilst beginning the game and it just seemed overwhelming. Once I knew how to play, the instructions are very well written and very easy to understand. The first game took us over two hours and I think it’s fair to say for the first hour we were the blind leading the blind! Ultimately, my 9 year old lost concentration towards the end and the final half hour was like clawing our way to the top of a mountain. My advise would be to look at and familiarise yourself with the game first before embarking on your first game, especially with children!
So, in summary, despite my slight negative about the initial learning, I cannot stress how much we love this game. It really is simple, a great game of strategy and a game that can be enjoyed by all of the family. My 9 year old wants to play again and again, so that in itself is a win for me! We are very excited to get our hands on some of the other games in the series.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £44.99
Available to buy from Amazon here