One Last Ride with Ticket to Ride: Farewell, Nostalgia
Build train routes across North America to connect cities from coast to coast and complete goals with Ticket to Ride.
One of the oldest board games in my collection is Ticket to Ride, which rarely makes an appearance. As I continue to work on freeing up shelf space, I figured it was about time to give the solo variant another whirl! After all, it was roughly 4 years ago since I last played. Choo, choo! This time, I even had some special trains to spice up gameplay!
Game Overview
Game Name: Ticket to Ride
Publication Year: 2004
Designer: Alan R. Moon
Artists: Cyrille Daujean and Julien Delval
Publisher: Days of Wonder
Solo Mode: Unofficial Solo Variant
Train cards provide the basis for completing routes of different colors. Connecting cities is important for earning extra victory points for tickets. However, routes are often blocked and figuring out how to do the most with all of the train cars can be an interesting sort of puzzle!
First Play
April 16, 2018
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 20, 2023
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
26
Play Time
25 Minutes
High Score
143
Game Area
40" x 30"
Low Score
5
Little Plastic Trains
Ganesh ordered a number of little trains a few years ago, and I haven’t found a reason to use these… Until now!
Each set uses a different color and style of train. I don’t know what other games might support them, yet they look pretty nice and add some more subtle colors to the map.
Note, though, that these are rather pricey. I know we’ll find some more ways to use them, but this game series is going to be entirely leaving our collection soon.
I appreciate the nice tins and included scoring markers that help make these trains a little more multi-purpose.
Wildly Dangerous
This solo variant is mainly about working around all of the routes that get blocked off during setup. However, it is extremely reliant on the luck of the draw with the cards.
Wild train cards look awesome and can help with any train route, yet there are negative victory points associated with using them too often. But what to do when a lot come out?
I think I enjoyed the setup process the most that filled in the map with these little trains! Gameplay was mediocre.
At this point, I’ve moved past these mechanics. It’s still an excellent game for new players to start with, though!
Filling in Routes
These trains were certainly a lot of fun! I played with the yellow set, which reminded me of school buses a little bit… Loved it! These were all very easy to tell apart by style.
Naturally, completing tickets was also very much a situation where I either got lucky, or found routes that were completely outside of the main route I worked on.
Once again, this solo variant differs in that it’s mainly about creating a single connected route of trains.
The puzzle can be interesting, provided luck holds out. For me, it didn’t, and I knew it was time to part with this one.
Across the Continent
It was very fun to complete these tickets at various points, but it was almost like I was punished… The new tickets I drew typically didn’t match up with my strategy.
There were times when I could try to complete multiple routes at the same time, which was exciting! Yet those moments were few and far between.
I think the solo variant is fun for those who want to work on the puzzle, but with the goal to play with others.
My old memories of a few plays will stay with me as I look back at some of the games that got me into the hobby.
Knowing When to Let Go of a Little Nostalgia
This game has been on my shelf for over 4 years, and it’s never an option when playing multiplayer. New players I know would prefer many other options, and even the memories of playing this with my family around 20 years ago aren’t all that strong. With that said, I still have a generally positive opinion about the game in general… But is that enough?
Keeping a game for the sake of saying it’s been around the longest or vaguely looking at the box and remembering a quick memory isn’t possible for me anymore. Shelf space is at a premium! There are some solo variants I don’t enjoy, yet still keep the games because they have a good chance of being played fairly regularly. This one, though, is not one.
I don’t want that to sound like a negative, though. I think we all outgrow certain games that we once had a lot of fun with. Even old favorites might not stand up over the years, and for me, it’s better to accept that and find new homes. Hoping to enjoy a game when it hits the table every 4-5 years sounds nice, but simply isn’t practical. Moving on!
Session Overview
Play Number: 25 and 26
Expansion: Ticket to Ride: USA 1910
Accessory: The Little Plastic Train Company Train Sets
Solo Mode: Unofficial Solo Variant
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: 70, 45 (2 Losses)
It was neat to look at the finished maps, but I didn’t come anywhere near the victory point threshold needed to win. Too much randomness and a set of mechanics that doesn’t keep me interested were the highlights… Time to find a new home for this copy and use those trains elsewhere!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
3
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- The rules are very simple and even after not playing for years, everything is very clear in a matter of minutes.
- Some interesting decisions need to be made about how to reach certain cities with longer routes.
- Placing the train cars is a very fun experience that slowly fills in the map and makes it look very interesting.
- Setup involves blocking a number of routes, which adds some variety to change up the puzzle each time.
- Although artwork might not be a big part of the game, the map and cards feature lovely illustrations and details.
- Gameplay moves along pretty quickly and doesn’t overstay its welcome with clear end game triggers to track.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Luck is a major component of success, both in terms of the train car colors and order of the tickets that come out.
- Winning is a difficult prospect, even at the easy difficulty level, as this is mainly designed to be played by experts.
- There are some interesting choices, but plans can be spoiled based on the available train cars that come out.
- Not a lot of variety exists in overall gameplay, aside from finding different routes around blocked or claimed areas.
Victory Conditions
Score 110+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 120 points.
Score at least 140 points.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Do you have memories of playing Ticket to Ride from long ago? What are some other board games that got you into the hobby? I don’t think this one is very well-suited to being a solo game for me, but that’s OK! I now have some more shelf space and a copy that will be moving on to a new home. Too bad I can’t guarantee it will arrive by train… Ha ha!
I have these trains too, they’re so cute! They’re going to do another Kickstarter eventually for more, including orange, my favourite colour!
I’ve never played TTR solo. I have lots of solo games or games with solo mode, but I’ve never played any game’s unofficial solo mode, and I don’t really have any interest to. I have almost all the TTR games, and I just prefer to play them with my kids. Oddly enough, the solo mode here seems to be similar to the official one for On the Underground, at least for the setup (the rest of the game is quite different), and I do enjoy that one. In any case, thanks for sharing your experience!
Oh, that’s awesome to hear about more colors! Nice to hear you enjoy playing this one with your kids. It was a great introductory game about a decade ago for me, and I can appreciate why it continues to do so well. Interesting comparison to On the Underground, which I’ve heard great things about.
Thanks for stopping by to read and comment!