my first journey ticket to ride

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• Ticket to Ride
• First Journey

Basic Game Rules

Tips and tactics, buy ticket to ride, other games, ticket to ride: first journey game rules.

• 1 Game Board
• 80 Plastic Trains
• 72 Train Cards
• 32 Ticket Cards
• 4 Coast-to-Coast Bonus Ticket Cards
• 1 Golden Ticket

Object of the Game

The goal of the game is to be the first player to complete 6 Tickets.

Place the game board in the center of the table. Give each player 20 trains of a single color.

Shuffle the train cards and give each player 4 random cards. Place the remaining cards facedown to form the Train deck.

Shuffle the ticket cards and give each player 2 random Ticket Cards. Place the remaining cards facedown to form the Ticket deck.

Keep all of your cards hidden from the other players! Place the Coast to-Coast bonus ticket cards next to the board.

The youngest player goes first. Play then proceeds clockwise around the table, with each player taking one turn at a time until the game ends.

On your turn, you can do ONE of two things:

Draw Train Cards: Draw two Train Cards from the top of the deck. Or

Claim a Route: Play Train Cards from your hand to claim a route and place your plastic trains on that route.

Train Cards

There are Train Cards in six different colors: Yellow, Green, White, Black, Blue, and Red.

They allow you to claim routes on the board. Locomotives are multi-colored and can be used as a wild card when claiming a route.

Claiming Routes

To claim a route, you must play Train Cards from your hand that match the color and num- ber of spaces of the route. Then you place one of your plastic trains in each of the route's spaces. All cards used to claim the route are discarded faceup next to the Train deck.

Example: if you want to claim a yellow route that is two spaces long, you need to play two yellow Train Cards.

You can claim any route on the board that hasn't been claimed yet, even if it is not connected to any of your other claimed routes. You can claim only one route per turn.

The color of a route does not have to match the color of your plastic trains in order for you to claim that route. Remember that Locomotives are wild and can be used in place of any color Train Card.

Double Routes: Some cities are connected by two parallel routes. You cannot claim both routes in a double route; leave some room for the others!

Completing a Ticket

When you have built a continuous line of trains between the two cities printed on your Ticket, congratulations - you've completed one Ticket!

Tell the other players and flip it faceup in front of you. Then draw one Ticket Card from the top of the deck.

Discard Tickets: If you know that you will not be able to complete your Tickets (because the other players have blocked your path, for instance), you can skip a turn to discard BOTH of your Tickets, instead of drawing Train Cards or claiming a route.

Draw two new Tickets from the top of the deck to replace them.

Coast-to-coast Bonus

When you have a continuous line of trains from one of the west- coast cities (Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles) to one of the east-coast cities (New York, Washington, or Miami), you have earned the Coast-to-Coast Bonus!

You must say "Coast to Coast!" and take one Bonus Ticket Card, placing it in front of you.

The Bonus Ticket Card counts as one completed Ticket.

End of the Game

The game immediately ends when a player completes his sixth Ticket. That player is the winner and takes the Golden Ticket as a reward!

The game also ends if a player places his last train on the board.

In this case, the player who has the most completed Tickets wins. If there is a tie, all tied players win together.

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Ticket to Ride: First Journey

Ticket to Ride: My First Journey – An Overview (Rules, Tips, Game Contents)

Game Summary

My First Journey is a scaled back version of the popular Ticket to Ride game. Ticket to ride was created by Alan Moon, and is designed in the mold of German-style board games (or Euro-style). While these games can have human interaction, that interaction is often more indirect than American style games. They are not typically considered “party games” like Trivial Pursuit or Cards Against Humanity. Instead, they require more in-depth thinking (note: this is why I like My First Journey, because it still requires critical thinking and planning but is straightforward enough to be enjoyed by my 7-year-old).

In My First Journey , you are racing to be the first player to complete six train routes in America. Each route connects well-known American cities. Players can also claim credit for a route if they build tracks that stretch all the way across the United States (called “coast to coast”).

Players turns are simplified in that you can only do one of three actions: 1) draw two cards, 2) place trains on the board (claiming a route), or 3) discard your two route cards in order to get new routes. More detailed rule explanations below.

The game is marketed as being for 6+, and the BoardGameGeek community seems to agree with that assessment. My current 7-year old loves playing the game, and initially learned it a few months prior to her seventh birthday.

Number of Players : 2-4 (while I enjoy the time spent with my daughter playing with the just the two of us, I find it more enjoyable when the wife or my niece joins in for at least three of us).

Time to Play : I’ve seen this listed as up to 30 minutes, but my experience is that most games are completed within 15-20 minutes; particularly once everyone knows exactly how to play.

Game Publisher : Days of Wonder (I suggest checking out their other games on Amazon! )

Game Contents

The game includes the following:

• 1 game board
• 80 plastic trains (plus a few extras of each color)
• 72 train cards
• 32 ticket cards
• 4 coast-to-coast bonus ticket cards
• 1 golden ticket

Key Concepts

Plastic Trains : You play these on the game board; each player has 20.

Train Cards : In order to claim a route, you must have the appropriate number of these that match the route (e.g., 3 blues or 2 greens)

Ticket Cards : These represent the tickets you are trying to complete (e.g., New York to Winnepeg)

Coast-to-Coast Cards : These are bonus tickets a player can earn by having routes that connect the east coast to the west coast

Golden Ticket : A fun add-on that the winning player earns; has not impact on the game

Claiming a Route : Occurs when a player plays train cards that match a route on the game board (e.g., New York to Washington requires a yellow train card or a blue train card)

Completing a Ticket : This happens when a player builds a continuous line of trains between two cities represented on one of their two Ticket Cards

Double Routes : Some cities have two routes connecting them; these are called double routes (and no player may claim both routes; stop being selfish!)

Starting the game requires:

• Placing the game board so all players can reach
• Giving each player 20 trains of their chosen color
• Dealing 4 train cards to each player; remaining train cards should be placed somewhere easy for each player to draw from
• Dealing 2 ticket cards to each player; if convenient, make it easy for each player to reach but not as important as the train cards

Ticket to Ride: My First Journey Rules

The youngest player goes first (which means I always go last in my household!). Play progresses clockwise.

On a turn, players have three options:

• Draw two train cards
• Claim a route
• Discard both ticket cards in order to draw two new ones (used primarily if your path is blocked late in the gam)

Claiming a route

As mentioned before, claiming a route involves playing train cards that match a route on the game board. To use the same example: claiming a route between Washington and New York would require a player to play either a yellow train card or a blue train card (not both!). Once a player does this, they place one of their plastic trains on the appropriate place (in this case, the yellow or blue rectangle).

You discard the played train cards faceup beside the train deck. These can be re-shuffled in the deck runs out during the game.

You can claim any route you want as long as you have the appropriate number and color train cards.

You may only claim one route per turn.

Locomotives (wild cards) can represent any color.

Completing a Ticket

Once you build a continuous line of trains between the cities on one of your two ticket cards, you have completed a ticket. Once done, you:

• announce to the other players you have completed a ticket
• flip the ticket card faceup in front of you
• draw a new ticket card
• do a happy dance (optional)

Winning the game

The game immediately ends when a player claims their sixth ticket (either 6 ticket cards, or 5 ticket cards + 1 coast-to-coast card).

The game can also end if a player places their last train on the board. The winner in that case is whoever has the most tickets (which could result in a tie).

Common Questions

What happens when you run out of trains?

The game ends when any player runs out of their 20 trains. The player, or players, who have the most completed tickets so far wins the game. For this reason, it can be a late-game strategy to run yourself out of trains if you know you are ahead in the total number of completed tickets.

How do I claim a coast-to-coast card?

Once you have a continuous line of trains connecting the east coast (Miami, Washington DC, New York) to the west coast (Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles), you just need to announce to the other players that you have completed the coast-to-coast ticket. Make sure you add a coast-to-coast ticket card to your other completed tickets to count towards your 6-ticket goal.

Can a player receive more than one coast-to-coast card?

No. Each player can only earn one coast-to-coast card in a game.

What happens if I draw a ticket card and already have a continuous line of trains connecting the two cities?

Congratulations! You can immediately announce you have completed the ticket and draw a new card. This happened to my daughter in our last game. Needless to say, she was quite happy and won the game on the spot!

Game Strategy/Tips

1. You do not have to claim a just because you have the cards to match it. Sometimes a route does help you complete a ticket. And sometimes it would require you to use a wild card that you may be better off saving. I’ve had success holding my wild cards, but have also been penalized by never drawing the color(s) train cards I needed.

2. I don’t find it advantageous to pursue routes that are directly connected to me completing a ticket. The only instance where this is not true is if I am trying to exhaust all of my trains in order to claim the alternate victory (having the most tickets when someone runs out of trains).

Where to Buy Ticket to Ride: My First Journey

I purchased our copy from Amazon , but you can also purchase from Target or Walmart .

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Ticket to Ride First Journey Board Game - Fun and Easy for Young Explorers! Train Strategy Game, Family Game for Kids & Adults, Ages 6+, 2-4 Players, 15-30 Min Playtime, Made by Days of Wonder

First Journey

First Journey Europe

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About this item.

• ALL-AGES ADVENTURE: Ticket to Ride: First Journey is a family-friendly board game suitable for players of all ages, introducing them to the world of cross-country travel.
• BRAND-NEW MAP: Explore America by train on a brand-new map, simplified rules, and shorter routes, perfect for newcomers to the game.
• COLLECT TRAIN CARDS: Just like in Ticket to Ride, collect train cards, claim routes, and connect cities coast-to-coast to complete your journey.
• GOLDEN TICKET CHALLENGE: Race to complete six tickets and claim the coveted Golden Ticket as your prize, ending the game in victory.
• INTRODUCE NEW PLAYERS: First Journey is the ideal way to introduce friends and family to the joy of board gaming and cross-country adventures.

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Warranty & support, product description.

Players of all ages can now venture across America by train in Alan R. Moon's ticket to ride: first journey. With a brand new map and simplified rules, first journey is the perfect way to introduce new players to the game of cross-country travel. Just like in ticket to ride, players collect train cards, claim routes, and try to connect cities coast-to-coast. In first journey, though, routes are shorter, train cards are drawn straight from the deck, and the game ends when one player Completes six tickets, claiming the Golden ticket as their prize. Climb aboard, travelers, your incredible first journey awaits.

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What's in the box

• 1 Game Board; 80 Plastic Trains; 72 Train Cards; 32 Ticket Cards; 4 Bonus Ticket Cards & 1 “Golden Ticket” Card; 1 Rulesheet

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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the board game fun and entertaining for the whole family. They say the rules are well written and easy to learn. They also say it's a relatively quick game that holds their attention. Customers also appreciate the quality of the pieces and board. They mention that the content teaches strategy and cities.

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Customers find the board game entertaining enough for young children and adults. They also say it's a great way to get young children involved in the older game. Customers also mention that it'll be a good version for younger kids and teaching young kids.

"This version of ticket to ride is a huge hit in our home! It's great for little ones who are emerging readers too, since the destinations are marked..." Read more

"...Lastly, the theme is awesome for halloween fans ...." Read more

"...the process of picking the best tracks but it's still a fun game for the older people too" Read more

" Great game for age 10+ Teaches strategy." Read more

Customers find the rules well written and easy to learn. They also say the game is simple and entertaining enough for younger children. Customers also mention that the written instructions are clear and helpful.

"...Complex enough to keep adults engaged and simple enough for preschooler to understand and enjoy." Read more

"...Cards are bright and colorful. Boars is easy to read and navigate ...." Read more

"...It's got a great balance that helps support learning for younger ones , but it can still be just as competitive for adults playing along as well...." Read more

"Not nearly as fun as the adult game but easier to play for the kids . We enjoyed it" Read more

Customers find the board game relatively quick to play. They say it's educational, strategic, and kids are able to catch on really quickly. They also say the turns are much quicker than in the full Ticket to Ride. Customers also say it holds their attention and is great for family game night.

"...It also makes a great quick version of Ticket to Ride around halloween or if you are looking for a shorter version if you don't have a larger chunk..." Read more

" Great simplified version of Ticket to Ride ...." Read more

"...Super fun, even with the grown ups. It’s also a quick game , generally, which is a plus...." Read more

"...The game doesn’t go too long. It’s a great introduction to Ticket to Ride . It’s not complicated, kiddo caught in quickly" Read more

Customers like the quality of the board game. They say the pieces and board are of good quality, fun, and colorful. The components are top notch, and the cards and all parts are sturdy. Some say it's the best game they've ever played and a great version of the original.

" This is a great game . It is a very good way to get young children involved in the older game. It was at a great price too...." Read more

" This game was awesome ! It feels so good to win for some reason too...." Read more

"...Fun and fast game to hold his attention. The board is really good quality ." Read more

"... Quality board and pieces too." Read more

Customers find the content of the board game interesting, educational, and fun. They also say it teaches strategy and cities in the US and Canada. Customers also appreciate the different strategies to win. They say it's a great learning game about geography and history, and it encourages abstract thinking.

"Great game for age 10+ Teaches strategy ." Read more

"...It’s educational but also very fun and engaging." Read more

"...it and be competitive against adults as well because the game has an intuitive rule set ...." Read more

"... Gives a simple lesson of the geography and cities in the US." Read more

Customers like the geography of the board game. They say the pictures and colors help simplify everything. They also appreciate the distinct art on each destination, which helps kids who may not read yet. The game box and pieces are colorful and high quality.

"...ones who are emerging readers too, since the destinations are marked with words AND pictures ...." Read more

"...There are even great pictures & colors to help along those that are still learning to read...." Read more

"...has sturdy folds, large (easy for people to crowd around), and has some nice visuals which are important for children to use if they cannot read yet..." Read more

"About an hour long game for 3 people. Graphics were great for little ones who could not read. Great family game!" Read more

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Ticket to Ride First Journey Board Game Review and Rules

By: Author Eric Mortensen

Categories Board Games , Children's , Reviews , Set Collection

Regular readers of Geeky Hobbies will probably already know that the original Ticket to Ride is my favorite board game of all time. That is saying a lot as I have played around 800 different board games. The original game is so elegant as it finds the perfect mix between being accessible while still having enough strategy to keep people interested. The game is close to perfect where I am always up for a game. Due to its success it has lead to quite a few different spinoffs over the years which mostly involve different maps and slightly tweaked rules like Ticket to Ride Europe and Ticket to Ride Marklin . Today I am looking at Ticket to Ride First Journey which is basically the simplified version of the game that is meant for younger children. I had some mixed feelings headed into the game as I was skeptical whether Ticket to Ride really needed to be simplified as the original game was quite simple in its own right. Ticket to Ride First Journey is a great game for families with younger children, but it doesn’t reach the levels of the original game due to the reliance on luck.

How to Play Ticket to Ride First Journey

• Place the gameboard in the middle of the table.
• Each player chooses a color and takes 20 trains of the corresponding color.
• Shuffle the train cards and deal four cards to each player. The rest of the train cards will be placed facedown to form the train deck.
• Shuffle the ticket cards and deal two cards to each player. Players should keep these cards hidden from the other players. Place the rest of the ticket cards face down on the table to form the ticket deck.
• Place the four coast-to-coast bonus ticket cards next to the gameboard.
• The youngest player will start the game.

Playing the Game

On a player’s turn they will be able to take one of three actions:

• Draw two train cards from the train deck.
• Claim a route.
• Draw new ticket cards.

After a player has taken one of these actions play will pass to the next player clockwise.

Claiming A Route

If a player wants to claim a route they will have to play cards from their hand that match the color of the route. They have to play one card for each space of the route. Locomotive cards (multi-color cards) can be played as any color. The cards that are played are added to the discard pile. After claiming the route the player will place their color trains on the spaces to mark that they control that route.

The blue player wants to claim the route between Chicago and Atlanta. The route consists of two green spaces. To claim the route the player will have to play two green train cards, one green and one wild train card, or two wild train cards.

A couple rules must be followed while claiming routes:

• You can claim any unclaimed route even if it doesn’t connect to any of your other routes.
• You may only claim one route each turn.
• If there is a double route between two cities a player can only claim one of the two routes.

Completing A Ticket

Throughout the game players are trying to connect the cities on their ticket cards. When a player completes a continuous line between the two cities listed on one of their ticket cards they will tell the other players and flip over the card. They will then draw a new ticket card to replace the card that they completed.

The blue player has a ticket to connect Chicago to Miami. As they have connected the two cities they have completed the ticket.

If a player completes a continuous route from one of the east coast cities (New York, Washington, Miami) to one of the west coast cities (Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles) the player has completed a coast-to-coast route. They will claim one of the coast-to-coast bonus cards which will count as a completed ticket at the end of the game. Each player can only claim one of these cards.

The blue player has successfully created a path of routes that connect Miami to San Francisco. Since they have completed a coast to coast set of routes they will take a coast to coast card.

Draw New Ticket Cards

If a player doesn’t think they will be able to complete the tickets in their hand, they may use their turn to draw new ticket cards. The player will discard the two ticket cards from their hand and draw two new cards.

This player didn’t like their current tickets/couldn’t complete them. They decided to discard their old tickets to draw two new tickets. One of the new tickets has the player connecting Calgary to Chicago. The other ticket requires the player to connect Calgary and Los Angeles.

End of Game

Ticket to Ride First Journey can end in one of two ways.

If a player completes their sixth ticket card they will automatically win the game. They will take the golden ticket to celebrate their victory.

This player completed six tickets so they have won the game.

If a player places their last train onto the gameboard the game will end immediately. Each player counts up how many ticket cards that they have completed. The player who has completed the most tickets wins the game. If there is a tie for the most ticket cards completed all of the tied players will win the game.

My Thoughts on Ticket to Ride First Journey

As most people are probably already familiar with Ticket to Ride I am not going to waste a lot of time going over my thoughts of the original game. Ticket to Ride is arguably my favorite board game of all time because it does a fantastic job balancing between accessibility and strategy. The game may be a little more difficult than your typical mainstream game, but you can generally teach the game to new players within ten or so minutes. The game is so accessible because the actions that you can perform are quite straightforward and are easy to understand. This makes the game work quite well with younger children as they should be able to understand what they are supposed to do. While the actions might be pretty simple they give players plenty of options. The game relies on some luck, but it mostly depends on what cards you take and how you use them to complete tickets and score points. The player with the best strategy will likely win the game.

In recent years there has been a drive towards creating kids versions of classic designer board games. Some of these make sense as they take more complicated games and boil them down to the main mechanics to be easily digested by younger children. I was curious about what Ticket to Ride First Journey would do though as the original game was pretty simple in its own right. Honestly most children around the age of eight or so shouldn’t really have any troubles with the original game. I was wondering how the main gameplay would be altered in order to appeal to even younger children. The game accomplishes simplifying the original game in a couple different ways:

• The game eliminates the traditional scoring entirely. Instead players are competing to complete six different tickets.
• In the original game you couldn’t get rid of tickets you chose to keep even if you couldn’t finish them. This was because uncompleted tickets would count as negative points. In Ticket to Ride First Journey you can use a turn to discard your uncompleted ticket cards and replace them with new cards.
• The gameboard is simplified. There are less stations and you need less cards to acquire each route.
• There is no longer a set of face up train cards that you can pick from. Instead players draw cards from the top of the pile.
• Ticket to Ride First Journey includes a coast-to-coast bonus card if you are able to connect a city from the east coast to the west coast. This is basically a more simplified version of the longest route mechanic from the original game.
• The game features less trains than the original game which means it takes less time to complete.

Those are basically the only differences between Ticket to Ride First Journey and the original game. In the goal to make the original game easier to play I think it does a good job. The original game was easy to play and yet First Journey is even easier. The game has a recommended age of 6+ and I think that is probably pretty accurate as most six year olds should be able to play the game without any issues. I could even see some kids that are slightly younger being able to play the game. Basically the game only requires children to recognize colors, have basic counting skills, and be able to spot the cities on their tickets and create a path between them. For parents that are sick of playing games like Candyland I think Ticket to Ride First Journey would be a great alternative. The game is not as engaging as the original, but it is a considerably better option than most games made for younger children. If you are looking for a good game to play with younger children I think Ticket to Ride First Journey would be a great choice.

Ticket to Ride First Journey also seems to play quite a bit quicker than the original game. I would say that most games of Ticket to Ride First Journey should take around 20-30 minutes while the original game usually takes around 45 minutes to an hour. This is a good thing as it will keep younger children’s attention where they won’t become bored halfway through the game. This could also make it a good filler game for people that don’t have the time for a full game of Ticket to Ride. I would think most people would just prefer to play the original game, but people who are looking for a shorter game may be interested in Ticket to Ride First Journey.

Ticket to Ride First Journey is a good/great game, but its biggest fault is that is is clearly inferior to the original game. You can have fun with the game as it is a good game. Unless you have young children though there is no real reason to play it over one of the other versions of the game. Even if you have children the potential audience is kind of limited as the original game is simple enough that you can play it with most children around age eight or so. Therefore the sweetspot for Ticket to Ride First Journey is basically around ages five to eight. Children younger than that will probably not understand the game while kids older than that will probably prefer the original game as it is simple enough and clearly better.

The main reason why the original is better than Ticket to Ride First Journey is due to the reliance on luck. The original game relied on some luck but the First Journey relies on considerably more. Most of the luck comes from the cards that you end up drawing. I honestly don’t know why the game decided to get rid of the face up train cards as this adds a lot more luck to the game than you would expect. In the original game you would have some choice over what train cards that you could take on your turn. If one of the cards you needed was face up you could just take it and complete the set you needed to claim a route. If you didn’t like any of the cards you otherwise could take face down cards. This choice is eliminated from Ticket to Ride First Journey though as you can only draw from the face down pile. You better hope you get lucky and draw the color cards you need or you will have a hard time claiming the routes you need. The game somewhat offsets this by adding more wild cards to the game. This doesn’t offset the amount of luck that was added due to the elimination of face up cards though. If you aren’t lucky when you draw train cards you are going to have a hard time winning the game.

Luck also comes from the ticket cards. Like the original game your fate is going to really depend on what ticket cards you end up drawing. Unlike the original game though there are no other ways of scoring points outside of completing tickets. So players who don’t get good tickets can’t find another way to win the game. The good news is that unlike the original game you don’t get penalized from failing to complete tickets, and you can easily discard them for new ticket cards. Pretty much all of the tickets in the game only require 1-3 routes to complete them. This usually equates to four to six train cards. Basically the key to winning in Ticket to Ride First Journey is to get ticket cards with cities that are near one another. A player that can get ticket cards that can utilize routes that the player has already acquired will have a much better chance of winning the game. You could end up drawing cards at the end of the game that you have already completed as you have already connected the two cities. As the game only relies on completing tickets there is no way to offset the luck from the ticket cards by claiming longer routes or having the longest overall route. The player who gets the most ticket cards that work together will probably win the game.

As Ticket to Ride First Journey is the children’s version of the original game I assumed that it would be less cutthroat than the original game. In some ways it seems less cutthroat and in other ways it seems more cutthroat. Ticket to Ride First Journey uses a lot of routes that only require one or two train cards in order to complete. This makes the game easier to play, but it also makes things more competitive if multiple players need the same route. Routes can easily be claimed before you even get an opportunity to claim them for yourself as it is easy to have one or two cards of the same color. This is somewhat offset by the game having considerably more double routes than the original game. The game also becomes a little less cutthroat due to there being no punishment for failing to complete a ticket. Outside of having to waste your next turn drawing new ticket cards there is no punishment for failing to complete one. While I have never been a huge fan of cutthroat games, one of the best things about Ticket to Ride is the tense feeling as you wait to see if another player is going to mess up your plans before you are able to claim a route. There are a few tense situations in the game, but First Journey never reaches the same levels of the original game.

I ultimately think the biggest problem with Ticket to Ride First Journey is that by simplifying the game for younger children it loses quite a bit of what made it great in the first place. The game is still fun but it will never compare to the original game. The original game works because it does a perfect job balancing simplicity and strategy. The game is easy to play and yet it gives you plenty of choices where it feels like you can truly impact your fate in the game. By simplifying the game in First Journey it is even easier to play which is a plus for younger children. The problem is this simplicity eliminates a lot of the strategy from the original game. There are still decisions to make, but they are usually really obvious where you don’t really need to form a strategy. The strategy is otherwise replaced by the reliance on luck. You still have some impact but it feels like your fate relies more on whether you are lucky than whether you made good decisions. This leads to the game not being quite as satisfying.

Like most Days of Wonder games I think the component quality for Ticket to Ride First Journey is quite good. The components are probably not quite as good as the original game but they should appeal to younger children. The artwork is quite good on the gameboard and cards. The artwork is colorful where it should appeal to younger children while still doing a good job serving its purpose. The quality of the board and cards is quite good as well and they should last if taken care of. The trains are also quite nice and are a little larger than the original trains. The trains are still made of plastic but they show quite a bit of detail. Basically there isn’t much more that you could have expected from the game’s components.

Should You Buy Ticket to Ride First Journey?

Ticket to Ride First Journey is an interesting game. Like the original game it is quite good and it is fun to play. It does a good job simplifying the original game to make is accessible for younger children. The game simplifies the original game where kids as young as five or six should be able to play the game without any troubles. The game also plays pretty quickly. The problem is that outside of playing with young children the game doesn’t really have an audience. The game is fun but there really is no reason to play it over the clearly superior original game. The original game isn’t even that complicated as kids as young as eight or so shouldn’t have too much trouble with the game. The problem with Ticket to Ride First Journey is by simplifying the game it relies on considerably more luck while eliminating a lot of the strategy. Drawing the right train cards relies entirely on luck as you can no longer choose from the face up cards. Ticket cards also become more important as you can only win by completing them. The luckiest player will likely win the game as there is no other way to score points.

This puts me in a unique situation as far as recommendations are concerned. Ticket to Ride First Journey is a good/great game that I would normally recommend, but I can only recommend it to very specific groups. If you don’t have younger children to play the game with there really is no reason to own the game as you are better off playing the original as it is significantly better. If you have younger children though and you don’t want to wait until they are old enough to play the original, Ticket to Ride First Journey is a fine option as it is considerably better than most games made for younger children.

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Tuesday 10th of August 2021

Hi, Can a player complete a ticket, take a new ticket from the pile, and if they already have the routes completed for the new ticket, complete it, take a new ticket from the pile, and if they have the routes completed for it, complete it, etc ... all in one turn? Or, if you complete the tickets that are in your hand and draw new ones, must you wait until the next turn to complete those, even if you have the routes already completed? Thanks!

Eric Mortensen

Wednesday 11th of August 2021

I have to give credit to Board Game Geek for the answer I am about to give as there was a discussion about this exact question. The designer of the game, Alan Moon, responded to the question as well so that is probably as close as you can get to the official answer.

Based on Alan Moon's response in your scenario you will be able to keep completing tickets and drawing new ones if you already have the routes to complete them. Thus you could complete multiple tickets on the same turn.

Board Game Review: Ticket to Ride First Journey

February 25, 2017 Iain Board Games , Reviews 0

Ticket to Ride holds something of a cult status in our household, solely down to my 4 year old and his love for all things train related. But with both of our existing versions (Europe and Rails & Sails) we tend to simplify the rules heavily to suit his ability, meaning the only time we played those games to their full is with an older group of players. It always seemed a shame that a game which could be enjoyed by kids of almost all ages never had a version specifically for the younger gamers out there; this is until First Journey arrived, and provided us with a game that we could play with its full intended set of rules without needing to simplify it for the little ones. There’s something else interesting about this too: it works equally well with an exclusively adult audience too, something I absolutely didn’t expect.

Heading back to America for the map, the changes are immediately obvious. Stations are fewer in number, and have large text with bold images next to each one. That’s great for kids not able to fully read the city names, and means you can form a route between “the big bridge and the dinosaur” instead of having to read San Francisco and Denver for example. The number of cards needed between each station has dropped too, meaning there’s more routes you can easily make without needing to hoard cards for half the game, something very handy when trying to keep kids engaged throughout. We certainly found that regular achievements throughout the game was a sure fire way of keeping everyone interested from start to finish.

Things are also trimmed down a little by only having three route cards at once, with each completed route simply being worth a single point and the winner being whoever can fill 6 routes first. There’s little need to prioritise or decide which routes are most important, you just take them however you choose. For the first few games we simplified things even further by just having one route card at a time, but then as we played more we upped it to two and then up to the full quota as everyone got to grips with the strategy of deciding which route to complete. It’s nice to be able to just abandon routes without fear of being penalised later down the line, and is another example of just how well this game has been adapted for a new audience. There’s still the decision of whether to nab a quick route or take some more cards on your turn which might lead to more direct journeys, but that’s the very core of the Ticket to Ride gameplay, and to take that out would probably  over simplify things.

The playing pieces are bigger too, with chunky train carriages being far easier for smaller hands to grab hold of and position effectively, and combined with the more spaced out board certainly means there’s very little help needed in terms of handling the components and moving things about. But as I mentioned earlier this isn’t going to solely appeal to just kids; one criticism I had of Rails and Sails was that the games took ages, and weren’t suitable for casual gamers. First Journey takes that criticism and smacks it out the park, to the point that it also makes a brilliant quick game for a few adults or older kids to enjoy without having to worry about time. You can easily play a game of this in 20-30 minutes, and therefore serves nicely as a quick end of evening game or an introduction to the main games for those who are interested in finding out without an epic learning session.

So the summary is an easy one – if you’ve got younger gamers, or non-gamers, or just people who want a quick game of something fun, slightly strategic but easy enough for a 4 year old to understand, then Ticket to Ride First Journey is perfect. A fantastic new direction for a hugely popular series of games.

Ticket to Ride: First Journey Available Now, RRP £25.99 Find your local stockist here

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How to play Ticket to Ride: rules, setup and how to win explained

Get on board with the classic train game.

Ticket to Ride is one of the most popular modern board games of this century. Since its release in 2004, Alan R. Moon’s beloved train game of cross-country competition has sold millions of copies, inspired numerous expansions and spin-offs set in different regions across the globe, and become a firm favourite for countless players. Whether you’re setting off on your first journey or are a regular traveller looking to refresh your familiarity with its rules, this beginner’s guide is the best place to learn how to play Ticket to Ride.

Ticket to Ride is fairly easy to learn how to play if you’re a newcomer. Players take turns doing one of just three different things on their turn - drawing train cards, claiming a route or drawing new destination tickets - in order to help fulfil their destination tickets and score points. While Ticket to Ride can be learnt in just a few minutes, the board game’s head-to-head race to claim routes before your opponents offers hours of competition and fun.

How to play Ticket to Ride

• Number of players, game length and overview

How to set up Ticket to Ride

Ticket to ride rules, how to win ticket to ride.

Once you know how to play the original Ticket to Ride, which sees players travelling across North America, you’ll be able to quickly pick up its many spin-offs and expansions exploring countries and continents from Europe to India. While other Ticket to Ride games offer new rules and gameplay ideas, they all build on the basic Ticket to Ride rules, letting you ride full steam ahead wherever the series takes you.

So consider this guide your express ticket to a first-class board game adventure, as we teach you how to play Ticket to Ride. All aboard!

Ticket to Ride: Number of players, game length and overview

In Ticket to Ride, players are competing to claim train routes between major cities on the board. In standard Ticket to Ride, the map depicts North America in the early 20th century. By claiming routes and completing their hidden destination tickets, players earn victory points that decide the game’s final winner.

Ticket to Ride can be played by two to five players, with the board game recommended for players aged eight and up.

Ticket to Ride takes between 30 minutes and one hour to play, but the game’s length may vary based on the number of players and how familiar they are with the rules.

• Put the main game board in the middle of the table.
• Give each player 45 train car pieces in their player colour. (Be sure to count the exact number of cars, as there are a handful of replacements included in the box!)
• Place a scoring marker for each player on the zero/100 space of the scoring track around the outside of the board.
• Shuffle the deck of train cards and deal four cards to each player. This is their starting hand.
• Place the remaining deck of train cards next to the board and draw the top five cards face-up into a row.
• Put the Longest Continuous Path card next to the board.
• Shuffle the deck of destination ticket cards. Deal three to each player. Each player must keep at least two of their tickets of their choice, but can choose to keep all three. Any discarded tickets are returned to the bottom of the deck.
• Place the destination ticket card deck next to the board.
• You’re ready to play Ticket to Ride! The official rules suggest that the most well-travelled player goes first; otherwise, choose randomly.

Ticket to Ride contents: What’s in the box?

Listed below are the standard contents of the original Ticket to Ride; other editions may include similar but different components. Some copies may also include additional promotional cards and materials.

• Game board, showing a map of North America
• 240 train cars (45 in each player colour: blue, red, green, yellow and black, plus some spares)
• 110 train car cards (12 in each of eight colours - pink, white, blue, yellow, orange, black, red and green - plus 14 wild rainbow-coloured locomotives)
• 30 destination ticket cards
• Longest Continuous Path bonus scoring card
• Five wooden scoring markers, one in each player colour
• Scoring reference card

On their turn, a player can do one of three different actions:

• Draw train cards
• Claim a route
• Draw destination tickets

Drawing train cards

When a player draws train cards, they may draw up to two tickets from the face-up row of train cards and/or the top of the train card deck (without seeing what it is first!)

If a face-up card is drawn from the row of cards, it is immediately replaced with the top card of the deck. If there are ever three rainbow-coloured wild locomotive cards in the row, the entire row must be immediately discarded and a fresh row of five cards drawn.

A player can choose to draw both cards from the row or the top of the deck, or one from each, in any order. If they claim a wild locomotive card from the face-up row, it must be the first and only card they claim that turn. However, if they draw a locomotive from the top of the deck, they may still claim a second card (except a face-up locomotive from the row).

If the deck runs out, simply reshuffle the discard pile to continue drawing. Players can have any number of cards in their hand.

Claiming a route

To claim a route on the board, players discard cards from their hand matching the number and colour of spaces between two locations on the map. Rainbow-coloured locomotive cards count as wild cards and can replace cards of any other colour. Grey spaces can be claimed with a set of cards in any colour, but those cards must all be matching (or wild locomotives). Once you’ve discarded the required cards, claim the route by placing your train cars on the spaces.

Players must claim an entire route between two cities as their action; you can’t claim partial routes. If another player has already claimed a route, you cannot claim the same route. Some routes are double-routes with two parallel tracks; in four- and five-player games, each route may be claimed by a different player. In two- and three-player games, only one track may be claimed.

When a player claims a route, they immediately score a number of victory points depending on the length of the route (count the number of car spaces):

• One car: 1 point
• Two cars: 2 points
• Three cars: 4 points
• Four cars: 7 points
• Five cars: 10 points
• Six cars: 15 points

Drawing destination tickets

On their turn, players can draw new destination tickets from the destination tickets deck. A player’s destination tickets are kept secret until the end of the game, at which point they are scored.

Any completed destination tickets - where the named cities are connected with an unbroken line of routes in the player’s colour - score the number of points stated on the card. Claimed routes can count towards multiple destination tickets. Any tickets left uncompleted deduct that number of points from the player’s final score.

Players can draw new destination tickets on any of their turns. To acquire new destination tickets, they draw three cards from the top of the top of the destination ticket deck. They must keep at least one of the cards drawn, but may choose to keep two or all three of the cards. Any unwanted cards are discarded to the bottom of the deck. There is no limit to the number of destination tickets a player can have.

To win Ticket to Ride, you must collect the most victory points by the end of the game. The end of the game is triggered when a player has two or fewer trains left in their supply at the end of their turn; the game concludes after every player, including the player who triggered the end of the game, takes one final turn.

In the case of a tiebreaker after scoring, the player who has completed the most destination tickets wins. If players are also tied on the number of completed destination tickets, the player with the Longest Continuous Path card wins.

Ticket to Ride scoring explained

Victory points are earned by claiming routes on the board - the number of points depends on the length of the route - completing routes on your destination tickets and having the Longest Continuous Path of train cars at the end of the game.

Points for claiming routes are scored immediately; each player’s destination tickets are kept secret and only scored at the end of the game. Any destination tickets that were not successfully completed are worth negative points, deducted from a player’s final score.

How does the Longest Route bonus work in Ticket to Ride?

The Longest Continuous Path in Ticket to Ride is awarded to the player with the longest unbroken chain of cars in their colour on the board at the end of the game.

Loops can be counted and the route can pass through the same city multiple times, but no individual train car can be counted twice. The Longest Continuous Path card is worth 10 bonus victory points, as stated on its reference card. (Put it next to the board so you remember!)

Can you play Ticket to Ride with two people?

Yes, you can play Ticket to Ride with two people. The board game’s official player count supports from two players up to five players.

To play Ticket to Ride with two people, follow the standard rules as explained above. There is only one notable rule difference for smaller groups: when playing with two or three people, only one person ever may claim each of the double-routes on the board. (The other track must be left empty.)

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Ticket to Ride: First Journey (Rules)

Come along as we take a cross-country road trip! Players in Ticket to Ride: First Journey travel from city to city by mapping their train cars on this colorful game board in hopes of reaching their destination first.

Players draw ticket cards and build trains on the map to represent their travels. The player who can complete their journey successfully wins! 

Learn how to play Ticket to Ride: First Journey by reading the rules below for step-by-step gameplay instructions.

What is Ticket to Ride: First Journey?

Ticket to Ride: First Journey is a board game created as a child-friendly version of its original game, Ticket to Ride. 

Beautifully designed, this colorful board serves as a map with train tracks leading from one destination to another. 

Number of Players:  2-4

Ages: Recommended for 6 years and up

Difficulty: Easy

Length of Play: 15-30 minutes

Category : Children’s games, trains

Similar to: Ticket to Ride , Rivers, Roads, and Trails , Catan Jr. , Ticket to Ride Europe

Main Objective: Players strategically place their train cars on the tracks to complete a series of tickets or destinations. The player who completes their travels first wins! 

Why We Love It: There is nothing better than being able to share your favorite board games with your children. The original Ticket to Ride game is more challenging; therefore, this junior edition allows younger children to participate in the family gameplay. 

A Brief History of Ticket to Ride: First Journey

In 2004, Days of Wonder released a well-known board game, Ticket to Ride . Over the following years, newer editions were released, including Ticket to Ride: First Journey, developed in 2017. 

Alan R. Moon created both the original and First Journey versions of this board game. While they follow similar gameplay, the First Journey edition is simplified and designed to appeal to a younger age range of 6-15. 

What You’ll Need to Play Ticket to Ride: First Journey

Everything you need to play Ticket to Ride: First Journey is included in the box.

The original box contains: 

• 1 game board
• 80 plastic trains
• 72 train cards
• 32 ticket cards
• 4 “bonus” ticket cards
• 1 golden ticket card
• 1 rule sheet

Area of Play

Setting up this game is very straightforward. After opening the gameboard, shuffle the cards into stacks based on card type: train cards , ticket cards , and the Coast-to-Coast bonus cards . Keep the golden ticket nearby as well- the winner of the game will claim this ticket at the end.

Each player draws 2 ticket cards and 4 train cards for their starting hand. Players also gather the plastic trains in the color of their selection; red, green, blue, or yellow. Use your trains to represent your travels on the map throughout the game.

Ticket to Ride: First Journey Rules

• On your first turn, you can draw two cards from the train card deck or play some of your trains onto the map using the cards in your hand. If you choose to draw two cards, your turn ends, and you cannot complete any other actions until your next turn.

For example, if you are traveling from Los Angeles to Dallas, you need to place train cars on the tracks from Los Angeles to Albuquerque first, then on your next turn, you can then travel from Albuquerque to Dallas as long as you have the required cards. 

• The tracks are color-specific, so to play your train cars on a blue route, for example, you must have blue cards in your hand. Use wild cards to account for any color on the board. 
• The board does offer different colored tracks to many of the locations, which is a nice feature. The same player cannot occupy both routes on the same path, and if a road is occupied by another player’s train, it can no longer be used by another player.
• You do not have to travel the most direct route to get to a location. You can also use your previously played train cars to help you reach another destination. 
• Players can only place one train car per card, but you must complete an entire route on the same turn. Discard the cards once used. 

For example, there are two track spaces between Denver and Kansas City, so if you are traveling this route, you will need 2 white cards or 2 green cards and play both of your trains simultaneously on the same turn. 

• After completing a ticket, immediately draw a new ticket card to begin travel to your next destination. Flip met tickets over in front of you on the table. Once you have six completed tickets, you win the game.
• If you cannot complete a ticket, you can use one of your turns to trade both ticket cards for replacement cards. 

Coast-to-Coast Ticket

If a player travels from one of the cities along the east or west coast across the map to the other side, they can pick up a Coast-to-Coast ticket. This ticket accounts for one of your completed travels. Each player may only get one Coast-to-Coast ticket during the game. 

 How to Keep Score in Ticket to Ride: First Journey

Once you complete all 6 tickets or finish 5 tickets and 1 coast-to-coast ticket, you are declared the winner. 

You can also win the game if you run out of train cars. If two or more players run out of train cars, the player with the most tickets completed wins. If two players are tied, they will both win. 

The winner of the game picks up the golden ticket as a representation of their achievement. 

How to Play Ticket to Ride: First Journey – Video Tutorial

Frequently asked questions , where do you start on ticket to ride: first journey.

This game board does not have a designated start or finish space. Players start by playing trains on routes based on the destination listed on their tickets. 

What happens if you run out of trains in Ticket to Ride: First Journey? 

If a player runs out of trains, the game ends. At this point, the player with the most tickets wins the game. 

Which Ticket to Ride game should I buy first?

Ticket to Ride: First Journey is an excellent choice for beginners, especially playing with children. The original Ticket to Ride game is also widely popular, so you can start with that if you are looking for something more challenging. 

How many versions of Ticket to Ride are there? 

There are several editions of the Ticket to Ride board game, and the original game comes in the United States and Europe editions. However, expansions are also available for Ticket to Ride: Japan, Nordic Countries, Africa, Germany, Netherland, France, Asia, and Amsterdam. 

Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails includes travel by boat, and the New York City edition features taxi cabs as the mode of transportation. 

Other Similar Games to Ticket to Ride: First Journey (Our Guides)

If you enjoy Ticket to Ride: First journey, be sure to check out these other fun group games: 

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Ticket to Ride: First Journey Find it in the CML Games Section. Click to see availability .

Ticket to Ride: First Journey  takes the gameplay of the  Ticket to Ride  series and scales it down for a younger audience.

In general, players collect train cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect the cities shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of the United States with certain cities being connected by colored paths. Each player starts with four colored train cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two cities, and you're trying to connect those two cities with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket.

On a turn, you either draw two train cards from the deck or discard train cards to claim a route between two cities; for this latter option, you must discard cards matching the color and number of spaces on that route (e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow route that's two spaces long). If you connect the two cities shown on a ticket with a path of your trains, reveal the ticket, place it face up in front of you, then draw a new ticket. (If you can't connect cities on either ticket because the paths are blocked, you can take your entire turn to discard those tickets and draw two new ones.)

If you connect one of the West Coast cities to one of the East Coast cities with a path of your trains, you immediately claim a Coast-to-Coast ticket.

The first player to complete six tickets wins! Alternatively, if someone has placed all twenty of their trains on the game board, then whoever has completed the most tickets wins!

(Description from boardgamegeek.com)

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Our company publishes top-quality, family-oriented board and online games that are easy to learn and fun to play.

Ticket to Ride  is a cross-country train adventure in which players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America.

The longer the routes, the more points they earn.

Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway.

The countdown begins and sudden deep roars cut through the air as all the cars leap away from their starting lines; the Grand Prix is underway. Dust and wind rush past your helmet as you enter the first corner. Pushing your engine to the limit, you almost spin out but tightening your grip on the steering wheel you slide through the corner apex still in first. You got this!

In Small World, players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all.

Published in collaboration with the  Mission for the 60th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings & Liberation of France , Memoir ’44 is a uniquely fun, simple and engaging game.

Discover Gang of four and Fives Tribes for more aventures, and all our other games…

Which version of Ticket to Ride should you get? All the versions explained…

Ticket to Ride is a great board game with lots of different versions available, so we'll help you choose which one to buy

• How the game works

One of the most successful board games of all time, Ticket to Ride is a family favourite and, if that's the way you like to play, a fiendish and tactical experience. There are loads of Ticket to Ride game versions out there, a ton of Ticket to Ride expansions, even a free print-and-play extra map, and we've rounded them up here. While some Ticket to Ride versions that you might find on eBay and so on are no longer available, the rest each have their own distinct qualities.

Some versions of Ticket to Ride are better suited as kids' board games , one is a perfect two-player board game , and some fit in our list of the best cheap board games while others are bigger and more expensive. The good news is that there'll be the perfect version for everyone, and we'll help you find it.

We've broken this guide into two sections: Full games; and Expansions. You'll need to start with a full game version, since expansions are only designed to add extra options and won't come with everything you need. The different versions of the full game vary by offering different rules and maps – they're all unique.

The expansions tend to offer two new maps to play on and two sets of special rules to explore in one box, but bear in mind that you'll need to own either Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe to play them. (The expansions won't work with the other versions of the full games.)

All that said, here are all the different versions of Ticket to Ride you can consider in 2023.

How Ticket to Ride works

In the basic version of Ticket to Ride, you'll all aim to become the owner of railway routes between different cities across a board. At the start of the game, you'll receive Destination cards telling you two cities, and challenging you with connecting those two via a continuous route that you own. If you achieve it, you get the points on the card; if you don't, you lose the points on the card. You can actually pick up more Destination cards during the game, adding a risk/reward element.

To claim a route, you need to have some coloured Locomotive card in your hands that match the colour of the route you want to claim, and then you can lay down some of your stock of train cars on it. It takes time to collect the cards in the right colour, and there are a finite number of routes, which means you need to make sure that someone doesn't claim a nice direct route between two cities that you need, otherwise, you'll be taking the long way around.

It's really easy to understand and it's super fast-paced because you can only do one thing on your turn (draw new cards or claim a route), and it still gives the brain a nice workout if you like to play tactically.

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Ticket to Ride: Full game versions

1. Ticket to Ride

The classic, the daddy, the gold standard. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the standard version of Ticket to Ride, and it's a great jumping off point if you're just getting started. Its map is based on the 1900s railroads of the United States and southern Canada, and you get enough plastic train components to start playing with up to five players. If you're just starting out with Ticket to Ride this is probably the version to get.

The rules aren't complex, even if you later add in the 'USA 1910' expansion, which gives you a bunch more options if you've started to become seasoned. Other versions are interesting for adding new ways to play, but this original came is kind of the purest version of a true modern classic.

2. Ticket to Ride London / New York / Amsterdam

Smaller boards and fewer pieces make Ticket to Ride's three Cities versions (also known as Ticket to Ride: Express) feel rather different from the main-line train editions.

In the New York map you get 15 taxi pieces per player, and earn bonuses for connecting your routes to tourist attractions; London gives you 16 London buses each (despite London's rather convenient tube network) and offers district bonuses if you manage to connect all routes in a certain region; Amsterdam goes back in time, with 16 merchant carts per player and goods to ferry around.

The idea is that you get the core tactics of a Ticket to Ride game, but it plays in 20 minutes instead of 40 mins to an hour, even with the maximum of four players. It's so fast, but still a lot of fun – and is so cheap that it makes a perfect gift. It also takes up much less space than the full game.

Check out our review of the New York edition for more information!

3. Ticket to Ride: Europe

Another standalone game, Ticket to Ride Europe adds a few new features to the original – tunnels, ferries and train stations make their first appearance here, putting extra demands on your locomotives and route cards. While they don't vastly increase the complexity, they do offer up a few more things to think about, and make Europe a much more gamery game – the original is probably preferable for beginners overall.

Many players consider Europe's map to be the best of the bunch, and we're inclined to agree overall – there's a lot of potential strategy to it, particularly if you're snatching up routes around Paris. The Europa 1912 expansion does similar things for Ticket to Ride Europe as 1910 does for the US edition: more routes, a big cities mode, and an all-in cardfest.

4. Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries

While other variants of Ticket to Ride are perfectly playable (and really rather good) at two or three players, Nordic Countries is specifically built for that player count, with a tight map and some much more aggressive blocking to be done. If you have a small, passionate play group, they'll love it.

There are slight changes to locomotives here – you can take two on a turn, but only to use on ferries, tunnels or the extra-long route between Murmansk and Lieksa. For players who like a close, tactical knife-fight, this is the Ticket to Ride version to get.

5. Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails

Not that Ticket to Ride ever feels like a grind, as such, but you absolutely get your money's worth with Rails & Sails: the double-sided map covers the Great Lakes on one side, and the entire world on the other, with the average game taking you between 90 minutes and two hours. Too long? That's for you and your group to decide.

Strategically, you'll find some unique mechanics here. At the start of the game, after picking your Destination cards, you'll need to decide how to split your stock between trains and ships – once that's done, you can't change your choice. There are also tours to complete, covering multiple locations. Hefty bonuses are on offer if you manage it, but penalties loom if you don't.

6. Ticket to Ride: First Journey

Although we've found children as young as six can start getting to grips with the core Ticket to Ride box, you can foster slightly younger kids' game obsessions with these stripped back versions – there's one with a USA map, and another with a Europe map. The art is simplified, the rules cut down, but some of the additions – including the concrete rule that you must slam any completed tickets down on the table and yell 'TICKET' as loudly as possible – add a silly edge that can make First Journey fun even for adults just looking for a shorter diversion.

7. Ticket to Ride: Germany

What does a good railway need? It needs passengers, and you'll find them in this version, congregated in their greatest numbers within cities like Munich and Berlin. This makes a rush for those key cities a big part of the early game. Of course, that means you'll have more tickets, too – which means you'll need to balance your train numbers. A big headache-inducing juggling act, then, but the Destination piles are split between short and long routes, so you do get a little more control in that respect.

Map-only expansions

1. Ticket to Ride: Asia

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. You get two very distinct game types here. On the Asia side of the board up to six players can compete in teams of two, which is sure to test the odd friendship; on the Legendary Asia side, tricky Himalayan mountain passes demand that you sacrifice train pieces in order to make it across. Possibly best if you don't think about the implications too hard, but it makes for an interesting tactical addition.

2. Ticket to Ride: India

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. India is widely regarded as the best 2-3 player map there is for Ticket To Ride, with a growing bonus available for those who can string their routes together to complete a continuous loop. On the other side you'll find the Switzerland map, probably the tightest out of all the Ticket to Ride maps, which offers hefty bonuses if you can connect any of the neighbouring countries.

3. Ticket to Ride: United Kingdom

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. On the UK map (2-4 players) Ticket to Ride's formula is turned on its head perhaps more than anywhere else. You'll be fighting to research technology at the start, meaning your expansion opportunities will be limited, but the late game can take any number of paths. On the flip side is Pennsylvania (2-5 players), which doesn't mix up much but does introduce stocks and shares, adding a little wheeling and dealing action.

4. Ticket to Ride: France

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. What if the board didn't already have the routes mapped out? On the France board that's precisely the gimmick, with each card draw forcing you to lay a route on the board – one which could be beneficial for you, beneficial to your opponent, or a straight up bluff. The Old West map, also included, supports six individual players and forces you to build logically, starting at your home city and working outwards from there.

5. Ticket to Ride: Japan

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. The Bullet Train makes an appearance here (how could it not?) but it's not something you'll just be able to snatch up: it's a shared project that helps all players complete their destinations. Contribute to it and you might aid someone else in winning, but if you don't put the effort in you'll be penalised at the end. Also included is Italy, which includes loads of long routes and a new kind of ferry.

6. Ticket to Ride: The Heart of Africa

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. One of the earliest expansion maps for Ticket to Ride, The Heart of Africa offers only one map in the box– but its terrain card deck makes a big difference to the way the game plays, and its map is deliberately one of the more connected maps in the series with a lot of colour options available for linking up multiple sites.

7. Ticket to Ride: Nederland

This expansion works with Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe. Canals and waterways are handled differently in this version, with money coming into play. Double-track bridges cost a toll to build on the first time, and earn you a bonus if you're snapping up the second track, with the amount of tokens you have left at the end of the game affecting the final score.

8. Ticket to Ride: Stay at Home

A printable bonus from the guys at Days of Wonder, which can be played with the pieces either from the original, Germany, Europe or Nordic Countries. Stay at Home sees you building routes around a family home, cooperating on certain paths and competing for others, with a collection of special tickets to print and change the game. Head here to download it .

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T3 magazine's own Gadget Guru is a 25-year veteran of the tech writing wars, and has the scars to prove it. He's written for the UK's biggest technology publications, and knows everything from smart doorbell voltage needs to how to bend Windows to his every whim.

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