Days of Wonder | Ticket to Ride Europe | Board Game | Ages 8+ | 2-5 Players | Average Playtime 30-60 MinutesThe Forest Stewardship Council

So glad we got this. Good game for me and daughter (44 and 7 years old respectively). Fun and strategic but not too complicated. Good game and good for Europe geographical education (we travel a fair bit so its good for her to get perspective of how all the places we have visited are connected).

Ticket to Ride Europe is a board game in which players attempt to score the most points by building train routes , and stations where needed, between destinations over varying distances, whilst trying to build the longest continuous route.This is a new game for my family and we’ve been having a lot of fun with it. It’s enjoyable , easy to learn and doesn’t take a huge amount of time. An easy game to recommend.

I first fell in love with Days of Wonder's "Ticket to Ride Pocket" for iPhone. When I discovered there was a European version of the physical board game, I had to have it.Not only does this version of the game have the classic gameplay elements which made the original so enjoyable, but it also expands on them by adding new ones as well as the obvious new map, routes, etc.Ticket to Ride is all about conquest of the national rail systems. Your task is to connect a series of routes between cities marked on a set of "Route Cards" (distributed at the start of the game) by placing "wagons" (train car tokens)along the routes in question. You can only place your wagons along any segment of any route by "purchasing" that route segment with playing cards of varying colours. Each route segment requires a certain number of a certain colour of playing cards, and therefore your goal is to get the right numbers of the right colours of cards in order to place your wagons in the correct places and claim your routes.For each wagon placed you will receive a number of points. More wagons = more points. When your wagons connect from Point-A to Point-B, you've successfully completed your route and earn bonus points for doing so. When any one player has two wagons or fewer remaining in their inventory, the game ends. Any routes you failed to complete will not only forfeit your right to bonus points for that route, it will also subtract those points from your current score.You must therefore try to achieve as many points as you can and complete as many and/or the longest routes you can before the other players and before the end of the game.The rules can SEEM finicky to newcomers, but once understood you realise how very simple they are and the game play is exceedingly engrossing often resulting in multiple games on the trot.Additions in TTRE include even more ways to complete your routes and gain points such as adding train stations, tunnels and ferry routes.The quality of build for this set is very high. The game board is thick and sturdy, the artwork is vibrant and detailed. The player pieces, which keep track of each player's score, are wooden and add to the charm and quality. The playing cards are sturdy, of high quality and again the artwork is beautiful and colourful.The only real let-down is the wagons themselves, and this is really a minor gripe. The wagons are made of moulded plastic and it would be so much nicer if they were wooden as well. However I suspect that, due to the large number of wagons (45 x5 players), this would dramatically increase the cost of this game. If this were something that would bother you it's good to know that there are wooden third-party, aftermarket options available. Another positive worth noting is that several "extra" wagons of each colour are included...just in case one gets lost!Finally, there's even an educational element to each and every version of this game, as it does, in its own way, instil a bit of a minor geography lesson with each and every game played. With the European version, the various cities have their names as spelled in their native tongue...not English. For example, "London" is "London", but "Rome" is "Roma" and "Athens" is "Athina".Highly recommended, highly addictive, and best played with loads of people.

Amazing game! The details are so nice. This is such a nice game to play with friends and family

Brilliant board game, the reviews were right. The game lasts a reasonable amount of time, not too long so the kids get bored. My 10 and 12 year old enjoyed it and you can adapt the game to make it slightly easier when children are playing and focus on the strategy aspects of they are not. Overall a really great family board game.

After introducing Ticket to Ride Europe to our game's group last night, I had to write up on how much fun everyone is having with this great game.I had purchased the game merely 5 days ago, and my Girlfriend and I had played it non-stop. By the time we took it to our friends' house, we had come to realise that the game was not only incredibly easy to teach to others; but that it was also quite addictive. Following on basic game turn rotation like Catan, with the mixed element of linking rail lines, the game mechanics are notoriously simple. You draw cards, match the colours of the cards with the routes you want, lay down you trains, and subsequently create train networks. People tactically block off the routes you want, you use stations to by-pass this and the game ends when people get close to running out of trains. So if you're not into complex mechanics, or just want a simple game that has instant replay value, then this will be for you.Even playing with 3 new players, the game took no longer than an hour and a half of set up and play time. So the added benefit is that it won't consume your time if you don't have it like other games of mine do, like Arkham Horror or Dominant Species. The great thing I noticed is that within a short time, people were making quite complex strategies to win the game, and at no point was the game decided until the last few rounds due to a constant shifting power balance which also makes the game quite tense by the end.As a comment on quality and durability, the trains are made from good thick plastic in shiny colours and the board and cards are very brightly printed. One addition we liked was that our colour blind friend could play without much difficulty as all of the routes and the train cards are symbol printed. I rarely ever rate durability as full marks (despite my distain of the star system anyway), due to the fact that parts are cardboard and cards will at some point get damaged and deteriorate. Although I will add that if look after your game but still play it regularly, it should last you for many years.Lastly, mine and others only niggle is the limited long route cards (6) and ticket cards (45). Within a short amount of time, you begin to learn the long routes and the normal routes in the tickets. However, some may argue that this adds a tactical element to the game as you have to be a bit sneaky and clever to complete your routes. Regardless, we wanted more so I have purchased the 1912 expansion for Europe, which has made the overall game more expensive. So with this, the game is not perfect in my eyes, but it's so much fun and so widely playable to so many audiences it's very hard to fault it that much.A great game to play, easy to learn, quick and highly repayable.R. Evans 2012.