Day 99: Ticket To Ride (Ranking 22 Maps)

Ticket to Ride was the perfect game to become obsessed with during the COVID outbreak- Partly due to the fact that it is still fun even with two players. Where other games tend to fall apart when played with two (Catan, Risk, Codenames) Ticket to Ride holds up. Whilst looking over my rankings of these sets, bear in mind that I played many of these maps with only two players. Some of the maps designed for group play, might have been abandoned by me (and the mrs.) early in our quarantine.

#22 Pennsylvania

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 45

 

I understand that there is a lot of history in the Pennsylvania Railroad line. After all, Pennsylvania has some famous cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Gettysburg, Scranton. And yet I find this map is quite boring. The “twist” of this set is that you collect stock shares from various railroad companies (similar to collecting the Meeples on the Germany map). The stock share bonus points are very complex, and the stock shares simply don’t work with 2 people (even using the special 2-person rules). Perhaps with 4 or 5 players Pennsylvania would be more fun, but adding up all the bonuses at the end would still be quite cumbersome. Don’t let my review of Pennsylvania keep you from purchasing “Map Collection 5” however, because the reverse side is the UK map which appears near the top of my list.

#21 India

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-4

Pieces / Player: 45

India is one of the very few Ticket to Ride maps which was not designed by Alan R. Moon. The India map is crowded and colorful, just like the country itself. The”twist” of this map is that players are rewarded for finding two different paths to complete each route- which are called “Mandalas” (meaning “Circles” in Hindi). The more circles you form, the more your points go up. I appreciate all the symbolism in this map, but I find the gameplay is slow and the Mandala element slows things down even further. Perhaps this is why India (released in 2011) was the final Ticket to Ride map designed by someone other than Alan R. Moon.

#20 London

Type: Express Map

Players: 2-4

Pieces / Player: 17

London is a psychedelic set that celebrates 1960s British culture. It is the second set released in the “Ticket To Ride: Cities” line after New York. Both London and New York feature very small maps, tiny cards, and a small number of plastic pieces per player. In lieu of trains, players use plastic double-decker busses to claim their London routes. The game is quick (maybe a little too quick). Players really don’t have much time to take advantage of the bonus district element of the game. Still, the set is gorgeous and fun.

#19 New York

Type: Express Map

Players: 2-4

Pieces / Player: 15

 

New York is the simplest of all Ticket To Ride games and the quickest. It is also the best map to teach to new players and you can knock out a game in 5-10 minutes. New York is the only Ticket to Ride game without a score track on the outside. Instead, players get little paper scoresheets like in mini-golf. In place of train markers, the game comes with little Taxi cabs. Players score extra points for hitting up tourist destinations.

#18 USA

Type: Base Game

Players: 2-5

Trains / Player: 45

The classic “Ticket To Ride” is simple to learn and is not very complicated. In the real world The United States is a very large country with limited passenger train service. Therefore it makes sense that this game is slow. It’s so slow, that almost every other Ticket to Ride set includes elements to speed up the gameplay (usually a reduced number of train pieces or a reduced number of players). The game is fun enough and novel enough that you want to own it, but you wouldn’t want to play it more than once per month. Almost every other map is actually an improvement on USA. The redeeming feature is that Americans will find it very easy to locate destination cities on this map (except possibly the Canadian locations). Buying the expansion to this set (USA 1910) is a good idea if you want the larger cards, however there is minimal added gameplay, so it’s really just a cash grab. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on the "Alvin and Dexter" expansion pack, the Alien and Dinosaur pieces can add a little excitement to your tour, but even this can fall flat when there are only 2 or 3 people playing. Though the simple gameplay of this board can be a boon to younger players, adults might find the game lacking. The Europe Map is the far superior starter kit for serious game players.

#17 France

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 40

France is notorious for being a “not-so-great” Ticket to Ride map, yet the concept is actually fascinating. At the start of the game the map is almost void of color and players must build the map as they go along, adding the colored routes to the mostly-grey board. There is actually quite a bit of strategy here which keeps you on your toes. The downside to France is that players must tip their hand in order to build their routes- everyone knows exactly where you are going next and it would be easy for another player to purposely sabotage your gameplay. Fortunately with two non-competitive players my wife and I have not found this to be an issue. However, the map-building concept is never as fun as it should be and ends up feeling procedural after a while.

#16 Netherland

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 40

 

Netherland is a gorgeous map with a fun new element where players pay tolls for every route they claim. Then, players who “own” routes get to collect tolls from the second player to claim that route. It’s a bit like Monopoly. The game is probably great when played with 4 or 5 players, but with 2 or 3, the whole concept is a bit of a letdown. There is a complex system that allows a neutral player to enter the game (when playing with only two people). As much as I want to love this map and the whole concept, I don’t think there is much of a payoff unless you play with a big group.

#15 Ticket To Ride: Stay At Home

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-4

Pieces / Player: 32

“Stay At Home” is a special “downloadable” map made available through the “Ticket to Ride” official website. It took my wife and I about an hour to cut and paste the game together. However, this set is no fan map. It is designed by Alan R. Moon and can be counted as an official addition to your collection. The set is designed to look homemade and it is quite beautiful when it is finally cobbled together. Up to 4 players take on the role of members of a nuclear family as they try to navigate a household- but it’s not as easy as it seems. The “Long Route” element seen in “Europe” and “Legendary Asia” is back and the fact that a house has walls makes connecting rooms harder than connecting cities. Special “Family Paths” are vital throughways that can be shared by multiple players. This expansion is probably intended for 3-4 players so playing with only two reduces the full effect of the Family Path element. Yet overall this set is aesthetic and oddly elaborate. Full marks!

#14 Team Asia

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 4 or 6

Pieces / Player: 27 (54 per team)

Team Asia is a novel edition to the Ticket to Ride lineup in that the game is played with teams. Players are paired up and are given 27 trains each. Players simultaneously work on their “secret routes” which are hidden from their partner and also their “shared routes” which both partners can see. There is also a shared train pool as well as a personal train pool. The toughest part of this game is having to keep so much secret from your partner and policing the other teams for outlawed table talk. I admit that I have only played this map once, (I forced my whole family to play it during Mother’s Day) so it was harder to judge this game based on my one play-through.

#13 Germany

Type: Base Game

Players: 2-5

Trains / Player: 45

Germany is one of the final maps I purchased. It is a gorgeous set and incorporates tiny passengers called “Meeples”. I looked forward to this game arriving in the mail, but upon reading the rules, I was a bit disappointed by the simplicity of the passenger element. Instead of sending Meeples from one side of the board to the other (I expected the passengers to actually want to go somewhere) the Meeples are just collected by players as they lay routes. This collecting of Meeples is actually not very fun with 2 players and I have yet to play this set with more than two people. Still, Germany is one of my favorite countries and the Meeples resemble the iconic East German crossing man lights.

#12 Italy

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 45

Italy is a very large vertical map which emulates the Rails & Sails collection. There are a lot of “Ferry Routes” and the Ferry Card Deck will help players to claim these long routes quicker than normal. Players also collect regions which contribute to their end of game “bonus”, but I have found that collecting the regions may not be a winning strategy. Italy is pretty, but ultimately a lesser version of Rails & Sails.

#11 Rails & Sails: The World

Type: Base Game

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 60

Rails and Sails is the most expensive Ticket to Ride set and its name speaks for itself. Players must cross the globe using trains and boats. Oddly, a lot of the strategy comes at the very beginning of the game when players choose how many boat pieces and train pieces they want to start with. If you don’t balance properly it can hurt you in the long run. The fact that many boat cards are “Double Boats” helps to speed the game along. Some routes even cross the international date line, starting on the right side of the board and finishing on the left side (or vice versa). Rails & Sails might be worth the hefty price tag, but not with The World map alone. The Great Lakes map on the reverse side is probably the stronger of the two.

#10 Legendary Asia

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 45

Legendary Asia is part of the first Ticket to Ride “Map Collection” and it is a very unique expansion. It is the only set to feature “Mountain Routes”, which cause players to lose some of their trains into deep gorges of the Himalayas. It is also the only set to feature the “Explorer Bonus Card” where players add up the number of cities in a given network. Perhaps this map falls in my Top 10 simply because I love Asia, especially the Himalaya region. I have been to several of the cities on this map. Overall, great set- although, my brother was disappointed when he discovered that the Yeti featured on the cover had nothing to do with the game itself- *missed opportunity*.

#9 Nordic Countries

Type: Base Game

Players: 2-3

Trains / Player: 40

When Nordic Countries is unboxed it is obvious that this is one of the most aesthetic “Ticket To Ride” games. The plastic train pieces come in white, black, and purple, which compliments the winter theme. Even the cards themselves feature trains beautifully blanketed in thick snow. Nordic Countries is the perfect set for 2 players (playing with the maximum 3 players can crowd the vertical board, but is still fun). The major countries featured on the map are Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, but you also get a bit of Russia and Estonia. The almost impossible-to-pronounce Nordic cities should be frustrating, but instead are charming because of the map’s romantic nature.

#8 Poland

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-4

Pieces / Player: 35

Poland is technically “Map Collection 6 ½”. It is not widely available and I had to have it shipped in from England. The game is marketed at a Polish audience, therefore the cards, map, and box are in strictly in the Polish language. However my set came with English instructions. Despite some tricky-to-pronounce cities, this set was a delightful surprise. Poland is the smallest map outside of the express “City” range. The small map combined with a low train count, makes it a fast-paced game and if you don’t start collecting the special country bonus cards quickly, you will be far behind on the scoreboard. The break-neck pace combined with large bonuses makes Poland a very fun map indeed.

#7 Europe

Type: Base Game

Players: 2-5

Trains / Player: 45

It’s fair to say that the Europe Map is the essential version of Ticket to Ride. The “Ferry Routes” and “Tunnels” introduced here are important elements if you want to eventually branch out to other map collections. The map also introduces “Long Routes” and “Stations” into the gameplay. When combined with the “Europa 1912” expansion this set is even more complicated- although the nice wooden Depots included in that expansion do speed up the game quite a bit. Europe also benefits from the fact that Americans usually have a general sense of European geography and can pronounce the names of the destinations. This map is a instant classic and is the gateway to the wider world of “Ticket To Ride”.

#6 Switzerland

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-3

Pieces / Player: 40

The Switzerland map has a lot going for it. Destination tickets connect not only from "City to City", but also "City to Country" or even "Country to Country". Some tickets give you multiple route options- this is a low risk, high reward scenario where you stand to lose the lowest route value, but stand to gain the highest route value. Switzerland has many “Tunnel Routes”, but the ability to pick up multiple rainbow cards on a turn, helps conquer this challenge. Switzerland is a highly competitive board even with 2 players, so plan your routes carefully.

#5 Old West

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-6

Pieces / Player: 40

Old West is the only Ticket to Ride map which can be played with 6 separate players (as opposed to the Team Asia set which features teams). The premise of the “Old West” map is that you must stake your claims and then expand your network outward. If any other player builds a route into one of your home cities, you get the points for their route. This map gets even more fun when you play the “Roswell Variant”. In this version an Alien named Alvin starts in Roswell and players compete to capture Alvin in a game of cat and mouse. Shipping Alvin within your routes to remote cities can protect him from other teams for a while, but with so many players on the board, it might be tough to retain him forever.

#4 Africa

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 45

The Heart of Africa map is a real treat. Many “Ticket To Ride” boards can look messy, but Africa is gorgeous and its aesthetic value is complemented by the fact that its routes are color coded in a terrain system. Pink, Blue and Green routes represent Jungle. Yellow, Red, and Orange routes represent Desert. Black, White and Grey routes represent Savannah. Players can score double points on their routes by picking up and playing terrain cards. The terrain cards are a good option when you don’t see any train cards you want to pick up and you don’t feel like a blind draw from the deck. The terrain card system isn’t perfect because if one player is hoarding the cards, other players lose their ability to benefit from this element. Yet overall, Africa is one of my favorite maps.

#3 Rails & Sails: Great Lakes

Type: Base Game

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 50

 

The Great Lakes follows mostly the same rules as "Rails and Sails: The World", but is a more beautiful board. The map includes my home state of Wisconsin with some great cities such as Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire and even Wausau. The map can be quite competitive, so it’s good to claim the central waterways early.

#2 UK

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-4

Pieces / Player: 35

It would be fair to say that the UK is the most complicated of all Ticket to Ride sets. Players start in England and then purchase technologies which help their rail networks stretch farther and faster. There are so many different strategies on this board including a 40 point path leading from Southampton to New York. Because of so many technologies and so many strategies, you could probably play this map dozens of times without ever “figuring it out”. Besides novel gameplay the map is gorgeous to look at.

#1 Japan

Type: Expansion Map

Players: 2-5

Pieces / Player: 20

 

Japan is the seventh set in the "Map Collection" and acts as proof that Ticket To Ride keeps getting better and better with each release. The premise of this version is that bullet trains can act as a faster way to get across the board. Each player is only given 20 normal train pieces each and therefore must rely heavily on bullet train pieces (which create shared routes between all players). Individual players are compelled to build as many of these shared routes as possible because they can score essential bonus points. The bullet trains themselves are gorgeous and the concept works surprisingly well. This map is also novel in that it includes two “zoomed in” sections (Tokyo and Kyushu) where players can snag local destinations. Like the country of Japan itself, this map seems complex at first but is actually quite practical and streamlined.