Ticket to Ride is a fan-favourite, travelling adventure board game. There are numerous different locations available to explore-each immersing the players in various regions across the world. In the London edition of Ticket to Ride, players place iconic plastic double-decker buses across the board in order to make their destinations indicated on their destination ticket cards.
What’s New?
If you’ve only played the original Ticket to Ride, you may be surprised to hear that other editions are a bit different. Versions that cover cities or smaller pieces of the world involve other ways to score points and are typically shorter games.
Ticket to Ride has space for 5 players and takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, while the Ticket to Ride London version is played with up to 4 players and takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Game Setup
Getting the game ready to play is much like the original. Place the board in the middle of the table, pass out the coloured buses, and put the scoring markers on the start. Next, deal out 2 of the transportation cards (the cards with different coloured vehicles) to each player. Then, place the remaining cards within reach of everyone and turn over 5 of them. Just like the original board game, if 3 wilds are revealed at once, all of the cards showing must be discarded immediately.
Afterwards, deal 2 destination ticket cards to everyone. Players may decide to keep both ticket cards but can discard 1 if they would like. Remember to keep these cards a secret from everyone else.
During Your Turn
Players may do one of three actions during their turn. They can draw transportation cards, claim a route, or draw more destination ticket cards. Let’s go over what to expect when doing any of the three actions.
1. Drawing Transportation Cards
Transportation cards match the route colours on the board, with the exception of multicoloured buses that are wild. There is no rule for how many transportation cards someone can hold.
There are various ways to draw transportation cards during a player’s turn. Players can take a blind draw from the deck or take any face-up vehicles. If a card from the face-up row is taken, replace it immediately with one from the top of the deck.
However, if someone takes a wild as their first card, they may not take any other cards on that turn. This being said, a player also can’t pick a wild card as their second card.
2. Claiming a Route
A route is the space of the same colour on the board in between two adjacent locations. Some routes have two lanes and cannot be claimed by the same player. It’s important to note that when playing with only two people, once one lane of the double route is claimed, the other cannot be used.
In order to claim a route, players must discard the number of cards from their hand that equal the number of spaces in the route. Then, place the double-decker buses on each space. The coloured transportation cards must be the same colour as the routes. However, 10 of the 35 routes are grey. To claim these, players may use a set of cards of any one colour.
Once a player has claimed a route, they immediately score points based on the scoring system shown on the board.
Note: To complete a destination ticket card, players must have a continuous route, but players don’t have to put their buses down in that order during the game.
3. Drawing Destination Ticket Cards
Your final option during a turn is to take more destination tickets. Destination cards are the main way to score points at the end of the game. Players lay their double-decker buses on the board and try to connect the two locations shown on their destination cards. To make a route, players must have a continuous path connecting the two adjacent locations.
If they’re successful in connecting the places, they gain points at the end of the game. The value of each destination is shown in the bottom right corner of the card. It’s important to remember that if a player hasn’t made their route by the end of the game, that number of points is deducted from their final score.
Players may draw destination ticket cards for their turn. This is a typical strategy when players have completed their routes. However, it’s always an option no matter how far a player is in finishing their current tickets. Players draw two destination tickets from the top of the pile. They must keep at least one of the cards but are able to keep both.
How Does the Game End?
Once a player has 2 or fewer plastic buses left, each player (including the one ending the game) gets 1 more turn. You may want to recount your route points to ensure there were no mistakes made during the game. After that, each player reveals their destination tickets and adds up the points on the cards to their score. Remember to subtract the destination ticket points that players weren’t able to make.
Finally, players score points for every district they complete. Districts are made up of routes connecting the numbers on the board. To complete a district, players must link each location with others in the district. The district number is also how many points the players will receive for connecting them.
In the end, the player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, the tied player who finished the most destination ticket cards wins. If they still tie, they will share the win. There’s all you need to know about how to play Ticket to Ride London. This version is a fun take on the original board game and works as a great two-player game!
