Ticket to Ride Europe

Build a network of trains across early 20th-century Europe

Publisher: Days of Wonder Price: £38.99 (approx. $50) Number of players: 2–5 Ages: 8+ Typical game time: 30–60 mins

In Ticket to Ride Europe the aim of the game for players is to collect and play train cards in order to place your pieces on the board, with the goal to connect cities on your ticket cards. For filling out these train cards you then get all-important points, which decide the winner at the end of the game.

The board and instruction manual may look complex, bordering on bewildering at first, but don’t worry, you’ll quickly get your bearings — figuratively and literally — as the gameplay is very straightforward. Taking turns to play your train cards and connect your cities to make complete routes throughout Europe, this is a fast-paced game to play and welcomes players of different generations to play each other, as luck of the draw can often play as big a part as the strategic playing of cards.

There are some twists in play, such as higher costs for placing pieces on tunnels and the requirement for special locomotives to use ferries, as well as trading in some of your points to use other players’ routes to connect your own, but otherwise the gameplay is quite simple. Not only that, but playing the game also educates all players on the cities and train routes of early 20th-century Europe, especially opening up a world of discovery in Eastern Europe and

Russia. While you can play with just two players, we recommend at least four players are involved for the best experience.