Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
When Ticket to Ride was released in 2004, it became popular the world over. That year, it was nominated for numerous international awards, even winning the prestigious Spiel de Jahres award. Capitalizing on the exposure, the following year designer Alan R. Moon released Ticket to Ride: Europe. By changing the map from the US to that of Europe—and introducing small but meaningful changes—Moon showed how the game’s concept could be expanded in challenging ways while still being familiar to anyone who had played the original.
As with my review of Ticket to Ride: Northern Lights, I’m going to skip the How to Play section of my usual reviews. If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride before, check out my colleague Kevin Brantley’s great review of Ticket to Ride: Refresh to learn how.
What’s New?
The first thing my TTR-playing friends ask when they see a new version of the game hit the table is, “What’s new?!”
Ticket to Ride: Europe introduces several new elements, both physical (new pieces given to each player) and on the board (new route requirements).
Train Stations
Ticket to Ride: Europe introduces Train Stations. Ever wish you could use another player’s route to get to a city that is blocked off? With Train Stations, you can.
On your turn, you can place a train station on any city that does not already have a station. Your first station will cost you one train card of any color. Your second will cost you two train cards of a matching color, and your third will cost you three cards of a matching color.
To make use of a Train Station, you need to have a train route connecting to that city. From there, you’ll take a turn to place the station in the city. You can now make use of one other player’s train route from that city to any other directly connected city.
Only one person can put a Train Station in a city; only you can use your Train Station.
Ferries
Ferry routes look like a standard gray train route, but they go over water. You can tell them apart from regular routes by the Locomotive icon on one or two of the spaces. To claim a Ferry, you must play a multi-colored Locomotive card for each matching symbol on the route. Then, as usual, you use the same number of matching color cards (your choice) for the remaining gray train spaces shown on the on the board.
Tunnels
Tunnels bring a push-your-luck mechanic to the TTRverse.
Instead of just putting down the same number of colored train cards as shown on the board to claim a standard train route, with Tunnels there’s an extra step. After displaying the required number of matching colored cards from your hand, another player turns over the top three cards from the Train card deck. For each card revealed that matches the color you used for the route, you must play an additional card of the same color.
For instance, say you wanted to claim a Tunnel route with two green train cars on the board. You would start by showing the other players your two green train car cards. If another player turns over two green cards from the top of the Train deck, you’ll need to have an additional two green cards in your hand, ready to be played. If you don’t, you take your cards back and lose your turn.
The multi-colored Locomotive cards are a double-edged sword here. For any additional card required from the top of the Train deck, you can play a Locomotive instead of the color of card used for the rest of the route. However, if one of those two cards is a Locomotive, you must play another train card, either one that matches the color on the board or a Locomotive.
Thoughts
A quick study of the European map shows several bottleneck areas. This makes Train Stations a well-designed, almost necessary addition to the game. In all of my games of Ticket to Ride: Europe, we each reached points where one of our Train Stations were needed. (Unused Train Stations are only worth an extra four points each at the end of the game, meaning there is little reason not to use them.)
The Choose-Your-Color-of-Card approach to claiming Ferries were a clever addition. There is little difference between a Ferry route and a standard train route. It’s as if you’re claiming a standard route with some Locomotive cards.
My regular review crew and I loved the push-your-luck uncertainty/extra planning of the Tunnels. My first Tunnel was only three train cards long, but in a crucial Southwestern area of the board. I decided to risk it with only five matching color cards. The top three cards from the Train deck showed only one matching color card, so I was safe. Later in the game, one of my opponents tried to claim a longer Tunnel, only using the exact number of cards. Two of the top three cards matched his chosen color, leaving him good-naturedly annoyed with his risky decision.
I also played Ticket to Ride: Europe with our neighborhood friends who enjoy the Ticket to Ride series. Other than one person misunderstanding the requirements for Tunnels, our five-player games ran smoothly, if crowded. At one point midway through the game, there was a rush to get Train Stations onto the board to keep from defaulting on some big point routes.
When I first looked at the European board, I was reminded of another Europe-based train game, Free Ride. Free Ride is a game with a clear lineage back to Moon’s Ticket to Ride, but with many new challenging features. I have an admitted soft spot for Ticket to Ride games, but, given the choice between the two games, I’d opt to play Free Ride with my review crew every time.
If you’re a fan of the base game of Ticket to Ride and wondering which game in the series to try next, Ticket to Ride: Europe is an easy game to recommend. About 80% of the game is unchanged, making it very approachable. That new 20% will only take seconds to learn but will give you an appreciation for the differences in traveling around the European map.
Ticket to Ride: Europe details
- Designer: Alan R. Moon
- Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval
- Publishers: ADC Blackfire Entertainment, Asterion Press, Boardgame Space, Compaya.hu - Gamer Café Kft., Days of Wonder, Edge Entertainment, Enigma (Bergsala Enigma), Galápagos Jogos, Gém Klub Kft., GoKids 玩樂小子, HaKubia, Happy Baobab, Hobby Japan, Hobby World, KADABRA, Kaissa Chess & Games, KDS Distribuzione, Korea Boardgames, Lautapelit.fi, Lord of Boards, MEBO Games, Ponva d.o.o., Rebel Sp. z o.o., Runadrake, Smart Ltd, Well Designed Game
- Release Date: 2005
- Player count : 2 - 5
- Age range : 8+
- Time range : 30 - 60 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Connections, Contracts, End Game Bonuses, Hand Management, Network and Route Building, Open Drafting, Push Your Luck, Set Collection
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.52379 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
- More articles about Ticket to Ride: Europe.
