Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride (2 to 5 player, 45min) is a game where one claims routes with one's train cars and get's points depending on how long the route is. See route length chart below. But one needs to also try to connect their destination cities before the game comes to an end.
There are 12 each of 8 different color train cars and 14 locomotives which are wild cards. The color you choose has NOTHING to do with color of the train cars.
On your turn you can do only ONE of the following:
1) draw two new cards either from 5 face up or from pile. Or one from pile and one face up. If you take a locomotive you can't take another card. Drawing cards from the pile sometimes you'll get lucky and get some locomotives (in this case you can draw another one). Once you take a card immediately replace it from the pile so there are always 5 cards face up.
Special rule - If at anytime 3 locomotives are face up all 5 cards are immediately put in the discard pile and 5 news ones dealt face up.
2) claim a route
3) draw 3 new destination cards and keep one, two or three of them.
To claim a route (remember can only claim ONE per turn) you need the corresponding train card colors.
San Francisco to Salt Lake City is 5 orange route (10 points) so it's claimed with 4 orange train cards and 1 locomotive (wild).
Salt Lake City to Helena is 3 pink route (4 points) so it's claimed with 3 pink train cards.
Helena to Calgary is 4 grey route (7 points) and can be claimed with any color train cards as long as they are of the SAME color. This route is claimed with 4 green train cards.
Claiming a 6 length route will give you 15 points. Claiming a 1 length route is only 1 point. Remember only ONE route may be claimed per turn. I prefer to play instead of moving scoring markers each time one claims a route to instead just add it all up at the end of the game. This moves the game along a tad faster and prevents error if someone forgot to add their small 1 or 2 route lengths for instance.
Each player is dealt three destination cards at the beginning of the game and can discard one if they wish but must keep at least two destinations. At the end of the game if you had Los Angeles to New York destination card and you completed it you'll receive 21 points. If you fail to complete your destination you'll receive minus 21 points. This is where the tension is hoping you can complete your destinations before someone ends the game.
Red player had a destination of Portland to Phoenix (11 points if cities are connected or minus 11 points if unconnected).
Here shows red playing over the course of many turns completing the Portland to Phoenix route. Notice yellow and green train cars on a double route. In a 2 to 3 player game double routes are not used but in a 4 or 5 player game double routes are used.
When one player has 2 or less train cars (each person has 45 train cars) left then everyone gets one final play including the player who ended it and the game is over and destinations are scored (and route lengths scored if you prefer to do that at the end like I do). The player with the longest connected route gets 10 points. In this case yellow gets 10 points for longest route with it's 36 connected train cars compared to greens 29 connected train cars.
Ticket to Ride Rules tt_rules_en.pdf 3.06MB
Play Ticket to Ride online
Updated Nov 4, 2005
