I have to say that I love the New York map, just for how easy it makes teaching the basic idea of the game and you're only spending 15-20 minutes per game. You can get three to four games cranked out and have a new player learn most of the basic strategies they'll use and not get frustrated because those early game mistakes won't have them feeling punished for an hour until the start of the next game. Yeah, you're probably not going to get deep strategy and long term planning ever happening with the map, but it's amazing for beginners.
Absolutely love the Europe version. I do understand you not liking it if you are used to play with 3 people as I find it is much more suited to 4 or 5 players. The stations to me are anything but a get out of jail free card. They have a huge opportunity cost, as in, you need to expend: a card, a turn and 4 points without getting any points in that turn. Addionally, the stations can't compete in the longest route bonus, so if a middle section of your route needs a station, you are screwed for that. Generally though, it adds complexity as being blocked halfway through the game, you may still be able to go around, but it may be more efficient to pursue other ticets and in the last round you jam in a station. They are anything but freebies, and with 4 or 5 players especially, blocking is a lot more common What sells me most is that the point scoring on tickets is a lot more well distributed. Everybody will have about equal points on their tickets and the end scores are generally quite close together which will keep it tense to the end. The longer routes are also extremely limited and all require something extra like a ferry or a tunnel, so you can't just go around putting a lot of high point valued routes around and ending the game super quickly.
My top 10 TTR maps are: 1. Europe 2. London 3. Pennsylvania 4. Germany 5. UK 6. India 7. Switzerland 8. Asia 9. Nordic Countries 10. Rails and Sails - Yes, I must be one of the few people that loves it, especially the large map of the whole world. Yes, it is overly complex and bloated. But I enjoy the complexity. I do wish they had just kept one set of cards and tokens that could be used as either trains or ships. I think more people would enjoy this game if they didnt have to keep track of two different sets of cards. Not on this list 1. USA - as the first map, I have played it to death and I find it boring 2. New York - As a small map, it makes for a good quick game, but it lacks the depth from London. 3. France - As with the UK map, I initially found this map incredibly tedious and disappointing. But unlike the UK map, the France map never totally won me over. I enjoy playing it more now than I did at first but its still too long and overly complicated for my taste. Stay At Home - I appreciate the gesture of creating a new map free of charge that we could all play during lockdown. But travelling from the bedroom to the living room is not that exciting. LOL! It is a nice map to play when you want to break up the routine of other maps. I have not played the following maps but I hope to do so soon. 1. Africa 2. Japan 3. Italy 4. Netherlands 5. Old West 6. Poland 7. Amsterdam This is my wish list for new maps: 1. Spain 2. Paris (Small map like London) 3. South America 4. China 5. South Korea 6. Australia 7. Mediterranean (maybe as a Rails and Sails Expansion) 8. Caribbean (maybe as a Rails and Sails Expansion) 9. California 10. Los Angeles (small map like London)
I just got London. It's my first Ticket To Ride. The pros have been it's short, teaches basic rules, I know London locations well, and I like any London map. Good for getting my challenged gamer to play without hating it, and hoping will be good in a community setting where big games might be unreasonable. The cons it's so small every game involves the same patch and maybe some extension.
Somewhat recently got into TTR and this video has been really helpful, thanks! Pennsylvania makes sense for a TTR map because it was one of the main hubs for the American railroad industry starting in the mid-19th century. The state is large, abundant in natural resources, and stretches from the east coast (with Philly in it and close to NYC, Baltimore, and Washington DC) to the Great Lakes, so it essentially connects two major industrial/trade hubs. It had the most railroad mileage of any state for a long period of time after the civil war and is still #4 today. It’s also a convenient shape for a TTR map given it’s basically a large rectangle. (Edit - I found a BGG thread talking about this. The gist is that the map was originally going to be Colorado because of the rectangular shape and rich railroad history of the state, but it got changed to Pennsylvania when Alan Moon was having some issues designing the Colorado map. PA seemed to be chosen because it also has the rectangular shape as mentioned but also was inspired by a friend of Alan’s who is from PA plus it let Alan include Syracuse, NY which is the city he lived in while developing the PA map.) I haven’t played enough to have a top X but I can say Europe has been my least favorite so far by some margin, base/USA is kinda meh (a bit better with USA 1910), London/Berlin are fun fillers and great to teach the game in a 20-min package, and both UK and Pennsylvania are great. I think I like maps/versions of TTR that have a little added complexity to elevate it above base TTR, but I don’t particularly like tunnels or stations. I also loved TTR Legacy (which I know you didn’t) and am soon going to try out the post-campaign game for it with a few additions/houserules. Probably going to try Japan next and possibly get Germany in part just to have another set of trains.
Same here. I own many board games and ignored TTR until recently. The videos on Broken Meeple have been very helpful and fun to watch to catch up to speed. 🙂
Great to hear a fresh new take on the TTR maps. I don’t agree with your order but that’s the fun of it. Heck, I’ll be outrageous and say, Europe and Great Lakes, are Top 5 for me. I honestly don’t get the shade cast on Rail & Sails and its terrific resource management. Edited: spelling (lost my heart ❤️)
I would assume that Pennsylvania map was chosen because of all the Railroads that went through Pennsylvania. The Reading, B&O, and Pennsylvania railroads to name a few.
Hey man, I just really enjoyed your way to passionate talk about the maps! Thank you for the video! You've got a new subscriber all the way from Brazil! Keep it up!
I have to say that we bought that set specifically for the UK map. When we first tried playing UK, we found it tedious with all the tech cards. We didnt even try the Pennsylvania map. We shelved the game for months until I saw a TH-cam review that stated that Pennsylvania was one of the most fun maps to play. We gave it a try and it's now one of our favorites. Who would have thought? It even inspired us to give the UK map a second try and now we love that one too but PA is still by far one of the best maps. Never get tired of it.
France and the UK are two of my favourites, for the same reason as you. They are very unique and add a lot more depth. I am surprised Rails and Sails gets so much hate. I love it, it was the first Ticket to Ride game I bought, my family loved it as well. I find it more challenging than all of the others. Trying to plan out your game at the start, how many trains and boats you will need but trying to give yourself some leeway as someone is bound to take one of your routes making you go a different route. I have played India quite a lot on Steam. I have managed to get quite a lot of points for the Mandala scoring. I tend to try to find as many tickets that are close and just link them all in a circle. I have managed on several occasions to get 5+. it is hard and sometimes you fail due to being blocked, but when it works it is great, very much shooting for the moon.
I love Rails and Sails too. I have never seen one on sale or discount as this video implies. That map is always super expensive to buy. It was one of the reasons it took me over a year to finally get it.
France's laying then building is also pretty interesting and the tracks that cross and then block out is also pretty cool. not that I get to play it often. would definitely have it in my top ten but I have no idea where it would go.
Yeah I didn't want to get it because I heard it took so long and was very skeptical but to be honest the time people say it took was very much overblown in our games
@@talhaiqbal6798 like yeah if you’re playing a 5 person game especially with people who are new to ticket to ride you’ll need to set aside an entire evening but my mom and I can play 3 games in the span of an hour because we are so experienced and familiar with it. I think we like how high the scores can get and how it feels bigger and more expansive than others.
@@RugbyRyan Yeah my group was obssessed with that game much more than me and Rails & Sails was added late in our collection. I'm glad to see that someone else agrees though.
I have played most of the maps out so far (not played Marklin, Poland, Amsterdam and probably will never play Legendary Asia due to it being 4-6 players and I mostly play Ticket to Ride with 2-3), and here are a few of my favourite and least favourites: Best: 1) World Map - I love the wrap-around in this map 2) UK - love the technologies, plus being able to use 4:1/3:1 to use cards as wild, always miss that element when playing other maps 3) Switzerland - city-to-country and country-to-country tickets 4) Nordic - I'm biased as a Norwegian, lol, but I also love the tightness of it, you need to grab crucial connections to make your routes happen 5) France - I love the building the map element of this one Don't have a clear enough idea of where I would rank many of the other maps, there are plenty of middle ones there, so easier to point out the bottom ones. Worst: 1) Old West - the only map I actually hate, the having to always stay connected bit of it just takes away all freedom and fun, and by the time you reach the area of your destination you might already been unintentionally blocked out. It just sucks all the fun out of the game 2) The single-city maps - It's not that they are bad, but they really aren't for me, it's like getting a single bite when you are hungry for a meal, over before you can get started 3) Europe - I can understand why so many love it, but I really don't like the piggy-back element of the stations. In many ways it has the opposite problems that Old West has for me.
@Brad Rowe it's not so much the map itself that's the problem for me, but the narrow mechanics of always having to stay in network. I get that it "thematically" makes sense, but mechanically it works really badly. It zaps away the strategy of trying to connect things up, because all routes to the city can be gone before you have a chance of reaching that area of the map. So it winds up feeling more luck-based in a way, because unlike every single other map in the series, there was no way you could have prevented that outcome.
Yeah, I can agree with this list. Africa and The Netherlands are the only ones in your top 10 I haven’t played. And UK is indeed the best one for experienced players with those techs.
I don't have Germany, but I do have Märklin. The passenger mechanic in Märklin is very different: you have to turns to run passengers, who pick up destination tokens in the cities they pass through, but only if the token hasn't been picked up already. There is a very strong tension between when to pick up cards, when to build routes, and when to run passengers, since longer runs get you through more cities, but the tokens in those cities might be gone to another player if you wait too long. To my mind, it's the highest tension TTR game, which is great when that's the kind of game I'm looking for. But if I'm looking for a high-tension game, why would I be playing TTR again? 8-) I like Rails & Sails quite a bit. The mix of land and sea connections is very interesting. UK is quite good, but it requires more commitment than most TTR games, so it doesn't get played a lot. Switzerland is very good when you have three, as is Nordic. I still play a lot of US and Europe, because they're the easiest and fastest, especially for new players. NB: "Little Pennsylvania" is 90% as large as England* and the coal industry there built one of the biggest railroading areas in the 19th Century US. That and the competition between robber barons there is why it's its own map. * 90% as large as England makes it the 32nd largest US state, so there is that.
Found Pennsylvania one of the easiest to teach to new players and the shares is a nice addition. India's map was pretty nice and the mandala things were interesting but wouldn't put it high on my list.
I love Ticket to Ride series, although I have not played all of the maps or versions. I do need to strongly to disagree with you on Rails and Sails. I love it, and the people I’ve taught it, love it. Granted we’ve mostly played The Great Lakes map…maybe that’s the right combo of mechanics etc. Our game group loves Japan map with the shared bullet train concept. I’ve also played the Asia teams, 6 player game, prior to the pandemic, and found it very interesting since some information but not all information can be exchanged with your partner. Europe and Germany also popular with our gaming group. I definately need to try UK map and a map designed for 2 -3 players, like the Nordic map. I am curious about the late 2023 release of Ticket to Ride Lagecy: Legends of the West. Thanks for your fantastic and blunt review!
I know there are a lot of haters out there but Rails and Sails wasn't that bad. Played a friends copy so didn't have to buy it for myself which probably improved my opinion of it. still as many are hating on it, it will probably be one of those you can get at a good discount.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I know its not many peoples favourites and it is not exactly high in my list but it is the amount of hate this one gets that surprises me. All TTR games have random draw but this one does have rather a lot. Still thats the good thing about TTR, if you don't like one there are plenty more variations to choose from. Plus I don't think they will be done anytime soon.
We love the France board. We are new to the game and a bit older so we just fill in all the tracks before we start playing. Not so complicated and not so long.
Top 5 1) Nordic - Love the compact map 2) Legendary Asia - A nice all rounder 3) Pennsylvania - Stocks make an easy additional concept 4) India - For the same reasons you enjoy 5) Europe - Love the balanced starter cards I’m indifferent to UK, however this may be due to the fact I only play TTR with family and this concept is too difficult for them to grasp. Dislike USA - Too much luck on destination drawing, going left to right will rack you a few 6 train routes (15points) and 20+ points per card Switzerland - Same as above but you can rinse the country to country routes Netherlands - Map / Concept is ok but the stupid illegible font on the city names makes the game unplayable! Rails - Just awful
Yes, The east-west routes in USA are where the points are. But once you know that, and realize that they are plentiful, play accordingly. If I don’t have a a major east west route in my initial hand, I’ll draw more tickets on my first or second turn.
TTR UK's technologies is pretty cool and always makes for some interesting games. Another map Iv'e not played all that often. Also has the single highest scoring route in any TTR route which I agree is very tempting indeed, although I have yet to see people actually attempt it.
Agree with all your comments but not necessarily the order, however, I do find that whichever one I played most recently tends to be my "favorite". 😅😊 Husband likes Asia best. Daughter 1 likes Nordic best. Son likes original best. Daughter 2 likes Europe best. I like Switzerland best. Pennsylvania and Old West are next on the list. Son-in-law likes Europe best. Africa gathers the most dust on the shelf. Don't understand the hate on Rails & Sails at all. Need to add Germany and Asia to my wish list to complete my set!
We have only played a few of these: America (of course), Europe, and UK/Pennsylvania. We kind of like the second chance that the train stations provide in Europe. Being relatively new to the whole TTR world, we have found the UK map unnecessarily complicated. Maybe that will change with time. Good information and we will probably get the Nordic Countries and the Japan/Italy boards next.
I am also quite bored with the U.S. version (and I’m from there). The second version I learned was the U.K. and it is easily my favorite as well! I play it online and do not tire of it due to the technology cards and the ability to connect multiple routes to rack up points. The next one that caught my eye was the Nordic Countries, so I will try it based on your review. Thanks so much!
On my Pennsylvania map the route scores are in the bottom left hand corner under Johnstown, above Morgantown-Cumberland. - so that's odd! Must have been a mistake they then rectified in the 2nd print run maybe?!
Not printing the route scores on Pennsylvania was a weird choice there given there is a length on it that is not in the other games. I think it was the long blue at the bottom of the map that I had to look up online how many points it was worth.
Not me sitting here with Rails & Sails being one of my favourites because I got my roommate into TTR with it and despite me having played the game for years before them we're evenly matched every time.
Nope not biased: I’m American and Ticket to Ride UK is EASILY the best The only thing I’d say it has probably the highest learning curve so you should prob start with another expansion first
Only played London, Europe and Pennsylvania so far. I like them all. London is great for a short game. I like the stock shares in Pennsylvania. Europe is favourite in our house hold. We play it without the stations though.
I just saw another reviewer who as I understand it, says something similar about Europe with the stations making the game less competitive(and why it's not really high among his favorites), and I wonder if it's possible to just play the game without using the stations to make it more competitive? Does the Europa 1912 expansion pack make any difference in amping up the game and strategy? Of course, I ask this as someone who has NOT played the game, or any TTR game for that matter, but I did just get my Europe game delivered(haven't opened it yet), I skipped the original game for now as I have seen so many say Europe is better than the "original" U.S. version, and I just like the look of the map better from the pictures I've seen.
I just played United Kingdom for the first time. I agree its a great map but I have reservations about the New York route. I feel it should be worth less points or need more technologies to complete it or even eliminate that route all together? We might play the game again with the N.Y. route as it should be played but I think the game might just become a race to be the first person lucky enough to complete the N.Y. route!?
Not really, I've lost games even when I've taken that route because you can spend too long trying to obtain it at the cost of getting tickets and technology point bonuses.
Hi..I like the ideas of Nederlands & Pennsylvania .. but do either of those play well w just 2 players? My husband n I played USA (base game) w just us & it wasn't terrible or anything but we felt clearly the game is more fun w more players. Thx
the uk map was the one i got first after the europe one since you need that to get the trains. and i must say i think i made the right choice cus where the uk changes the game a nice amount so it feels like playing a diffrent game i also love the other map pansilvania cus its really easy for people who need to learn how to play but also has the share mechanic that keeps it more interesting than the base game. I think i will have to grab the france map at some point cus the building the tracks sounds interesting and i also do like the sound of the japan map though id guess that both of thoses are probs not the best for getting new players into the game
Not played it, but what I hear about it is not enticing. However my brother just bought it for my Dad for his birthday...........so I guess I'll find out eventually!
Thank you, this is the best video on Ticket to ride hall of fame, because you give your pros and cons with a real player underground, and a reference to your Dad 😍🤩 : this game is magic because it's also a great family game, not as usual with on one side, adults getting bored or olders playing just to be out of the part, and on the other side, kids having fun. Everybody as fun and compete ! You convinced me to get Japan and U.K. Anyway, to be honest as you are, I completely disagree with you at the end : Rails and sails completely overwhelms all the other versions. It transferts the player from recreational league to professional league 😜With 3 usual players (the best !), it's 1h15 or 1h30 max, not 2 or 3h as you say. The selling has been low because this box is the most expensive one, that's all ! But it's a based game with 2 more items than the other ones (cards and boats tokens) and two marvelous huge maps. This maps only are the top 1 and the top two of all Ticket to ride maps !! Concerning Europe, I think it's the more strategical map with just trains. If you think that the "stations adding rule" makes the game wimpy, it's because you didn't succeed to integrate it in your strategy. First, you don't just loose points, but also cards and 90% of the time, it makes you out of the race for the longest road bonus, which is a big deal on this map. So, you do pay the price using this station tokens ! Second, it's a way to risk more tickets and reverse the leading, but you can regret it ... To resume, it's not a wimpy rule, it's just not for wimpy players 😜 Anyway, you're a real player and you wanted other real players thoughts. I did it, I give a big thumb and I do subscribe 👍
No, but it's ok. It has its limits particularly with some of the weirder map boards that got released in the late running. But for most of the sets it's decent. But of course, you can wonder whether it's necessary given you then have to lift the thing off the shelf!!
@@TheBrokenMeeple No joke, I wouldn't dream of putting it on top of a Kallax. I would consider either a Box Throne extra wide shelf or just leave it on my Ikea buffet thing (which I can't seem to locate on their website anymore). I think I might have been better off getting 2 of the "smaller" boxes instead of the 1 giant one. Even after removing my card sleeves I'm finding that I'm filling nearly all the card holders but having extra map space. I think it is due to the fact that I have 3 sets of "train" cards in the box (UK, Europe, Germany) as well as 7 colors of plastic trains and extra bags of some colors. If I had split them it might have worked better for all these extra "base" material. The Germany rulebook wouldn't fit so I printed out a copy that would fit. Yes a couple of new maps are a total pain but to bw's credit they have a new map box where they can fit at the bottom but too many weird new maps and I'll be in trouble.
Japan is my least favourite map... The bullet train bonus is too large in proportion to the availability of points in other areas (only 20 trains, low point tickets). Plus almost 1/3 of the tickets are completely on the bullet train route, so theoretically you could have completed tickets without playing trains, which is ridiculous to me 🤷♀️ I do agree UK is the best though.
I'm new to the TIcket to Ride franchise and would like to purchase one and although I greatly appreciate the list I'm left with a serious question. Can we play the game by just purchasing for example the UK version? When they are called "expansions" there is usually a base game I would wonder. Do I need to get a base set before purchasing an expansion? Thanks a lot.
Thank you for the intel. I've just bought the European version yesterday, looking to expand to the UK next, and this is not a Brexit joke. The review was top-notch, thanks a lot.
Ticket to ride 1910 (not the mega game or the big cities) but actually the 35 card 1910 set is by far the best ticket to ride, although Japan may give it a run for the money. Most other ticket to ride add too much complicated mechanics and slow the game down. I like fast unpredictable ticket to ride. That is why Usa will never get boring because it is not about discovering routes, it is about executing your plan with imperfect information.
Love the UK map with one caveat... playing with three players (as all my games are), the technology that gives you an extra card per draw is too powerful - there are just 2 available, the first two players grab them and the remaining player essentially cannot win the game. Two players having 50% more 'income' for the whole game leaves the third player just making up the numbers with little chance of victory.
Hmmm haven't seen that myself, I don't even always grab it. Extra cards are only useful if they are the colours you need as you can only trade them in so fast.
@@TheBrokenMeeple It's completely broken. The advanced game is literally just the first 2 players buy Water Tenders, then it's between those 2 players who will win every time as drawing an extra card is just a ridiculous advantage when you get it from the start, while the other 2 players have to play the next 30 minutes in a game they can never win. Water Tenders should cost at least 4 locomotives, it's far more powerful than the technologies that do, and there needs to be some opportunity cost where you actually have stunt your game plan to get it, even then I wouldn't be surprised if it's still too powerful. Pretty sure Alan Moon said the advanced version wasn't even tested, and it shows with that technology. UK is fine, but I would never play with the advanced technologies, I'd go as far to say the map is unplayable with advanced technologies in play.
Rails and Sails are the best, but I agree, persons with ADHD shouldn´t even try to play it. Legendary Aisia and Europe are also not really your thing - I mean you need to know some geography :(
This was the best overview of the various editions of Ticket to Ride I have ever seen. Good job!
Glad it was helpful!
I agree! Just watched it in March of 2024 and feel really good about my TTR purchases.
I have to say that I love the New York map, just for how easy it makes teaching the basic idea of the game and you're only spending 15-20 minutes per game. You can get three to four games cranked out and have a new player learn most of the basic strategies they'll use and not get frustrated because those early game mistakes won't have them feeling punished for an hour until the start of the next game. Yeah, you're probably not going to get deep strategy and long term planning ever happening with the map, but it's amazing for beginners.
Absolutely love the Europe version. I do understand you not liking it if you are used to play with 3 people as I find it is much more suited to 4 or 5 players. The stations to me are anything but a get out of jail free card. They have a huge opportunity cost, as in, you need to expend: a card, a turn and 4 points without getting any points in that turn. Addionally, the stations can't compete in the longest route bonus, so if a middle section of your route needs a station, you are screwed for that. Generally though, it adds complexity as being blocked halfway through the game, you may still be able to go around, but it may be more efficient to pursue other ticets and in the last round you jam in a station. They are anything but freebies, and with 4 or 5 players especially, blocking is a lot more common
What sells me most is that the point scoring on tickets is a lot more well distributed. Everybody will have about equal points on their tickets and the end scores are generally quite close together which will keep it tense to the end. The longer routes are also extremely limited and all require something extra like a ferry or a tunnel, so you can't just go around putting a lot of high point valued routes around and ending the game super quickly.
My top 10 TTR maps are:
1. Europe
2. London
3. Pennsylvania
4. Germany
5. UK
6. India
7. Switzerland
8. Asia
9. Nordic Countries
10. Rails and Sails - Yes, I must be one of the few people that loves it, especially the large map of the whole world. Yes, it is overly complex and bloated. But I enjoy the complexity. I do wish they had just kept one set of cards and tokens that could be used as either trains or ships. I think more people would enjoy this game if they didnt have to keep track of two different sets of cards.
Not on this list
1. USA - as the first map, I have played it to death and I find it boring
2. New York - As a small map, it makes for a good quick game, but it lacks the depth from London.
3. France - As with the UK map, I initially found this map incredibly tedious and disappointing. But unlike the UK map, the France map never totally won me over. I enjoy playing it more now than I did at first but its still too long and overly complicated for my taste.
Stay At Home - I appreciate the gesture of creating a new map free of charge that we could all play during lockdown. But travelling from the bedroom to the living room is not that exciting. LOL! It is a nice map to play when you want to break up the routine of other maps.
I have not played the following maps but I hope to do so soon.
1. Africa
2. Japan
3. Italy
4. Netherlands
5. Old West
6. Poland
7. Amsterdam
This is my wish list for new maps:
1. Spain
2. Paris (Small map like London)
3. South America
4. China
5. South Korea
6. Australia
7. Mediterranean (maybe as a Rails and Sails Expansion)
8. Caribbean (maybe as a Rails and Sails Expansion)
9. California
10. Los Angeles (small map like London)
Thanks for the list. Europe is your fave?!
Great top 10 list!! Some of my favourites are on this list too. But my favourite is Rails and Sails hahaha
Madness! :P
Thats one of my favourite too!!
I just got London. It's my first Ticket To Ride. The pros have been it's short, teaches basic rules, I know London locations well, and I like any London map. Good for getting my challenged gamer to play without hating it, and hoping will be good in a community setting where big games might be unreasonable. The cons it's so small every game involves the same patch and maybe some extension.
Also quite heavily luck-based and with so few pieces to lay down, there's no hope for the player trying to get cards together for a big play.
Somewhat recently got into TTR and this video has been really helpful, thanks!
Pennsylvania makes sense for a TTR map because it was one of the main hubs for the American railroad industry starting in the mid-19th century. The state is large, abundant in natural resources, and stretches from the east coast (with Philly in it and close to NYC, Baltimore, and Washington DC) to the Great Lakes, so it essentially connects two major industrial/trade hubs. It had the most railroad mileage of any state for a long period of time after the civil war and is still #4 today. It’s also a convenient shape for a TTR map given it’s basically a large rectangle. (Edit - I found a BGG thread talking about this. The gist is that the map was originally going to be Colorado because of the rectangular shape and rich railroad history of the state, but it got changed to Pennsylvania when Alan Moon was having some issues designing the Colorado map. PA seemed to be chosen because it also has the rectangular shape as mentioned but also was inspired by a friend of Alan’s who is from PA plus it let Alan include Syracuse, NY which is the city he lived in while developing the PA map.)
I haven’t played enough to have a top X but I can say Europe has been my least favorite so far by some margin, base/USA is kinda meh (a bit better with USA 1910), London/Berlin are fun fillers and great to teach the game in a 20-min package, and both UK and Pennsylvania are great. I think I like maps/versions of TTR that have a little added complexity to elevate it above base TTR, but I don’t particularly like tunnels or stations. I also loved TTR Legacy (which I know you didn’t) and am soon going to try out the post-campaign game for it with a few additions/houserules. Probably going to try Japan next and possibly get Germany in part just to have another set of trains.
Yeah Europe has gone down for me a lot. An interesting read thanks!
Same here. I own many board games and ignored TTR until recently. The videos on Broken Meeple have been very helpful and fun to watch to catch up to speed. 🙂
Great to hear a fresh new take on the TTR maps. I don’t agree with your order but that’s the fun of it.
Heck, I’ll be outrageous and say, Europe and Great Lakes, are Top 5 for me. I honestly don’t get the shade cast on Rail & Sails and its terrific resource management.
Edited: spelling (lost my heart ❤️)
I would assume that Pennsylvania map was chosen because of all the Railroads that went through Pennsylvania. The Reading, B&O, and Pennsylvania railroads to name a few.
Spoiler Ranking:
10 - Africa
9 - Netherlands
8 - Switzerland
7 - Germany
6 - Pennsylvania
5 - India
4 - France
3 - Nordic Countries
2 - Japan
1 - United Kingdom
Hey man, I just really enjoyed your way to passionate talk about the maps! Thank you for the video! You've got a new subscriber all the way from Brazil! Keep it up!
Awesome, thank you!
France is a great map. Adds extra strategy and it’s different each game like you said.
My group likes Italy as much as Japan. Poland is tight and interesting, but hard to get on this side of the pond. Pennsylvania is tops!
I have to say that we bought that set specifically for the UK map. When we first tried playing UK, we found it tedious with all the tech cards. We didnt even try the Pennsylvania map. We shelved the game for months until I saw a TH-cam review that stated that Pennsylvania was one of the most fun maps to play. We gave it a try and it's now one of our favorites. Who would have thought? It even inspired us to give the UK map a second try and now we love that one too but PA is still by far one of the best maps. Never get tired of it.
France and the UK are two of my favourites, for the same reason as you. They are very unique and add a lot more depth. I am surprised Rails and Sails gets so much hate. I love it, it was the first Ticket to Ride game I bought, my family loved it as well. I find it more challenging than all of the others. Trying to plan out your game at the start, how many trains and boats you will need but trying to give yourself some leeway as someone is bound to take one of your routes making you go a different route.
I have played India quite a lot on Steam. I have managed to get quite a lot of points for the Mandala scoring. I tend to try to find as many tickets that are close and just link them all in a circle. I have managed on several occasions to get 5+. it is hard and sometimes you fail due to being blocked, but when it works it is great, very much shooting for the moon.
I love Rails and Sails too. I have never seen one on sale or discount as this video implies. That map is always super expensive to buy. It was one of the reasons it took me over a year to finally get it.
France's laying then building is also pretty interesting and the tracks that cross and then block out is also pretty cool. not that I get to play it often. would definitely have it in my top ten but I have no idea where it would go.
Rails and sails is my favorite
Yeah I didn't want to get it because I heard it took so long and was very skeptical but to be honest the time people say it took was very much overblown in our games
@@talhaiqbal6798 like yeah if you’re playing a 5 person game especially with people who are new to ticket to ride you’ll need to set aside an entire evening but my mom and I can play 3 games in the span of an hour because we are so experienced and familiar with it. I think we like how high the scores can get and how it feels bigger and more expansive than others.
@@RugbyRyan Yeah my group was obssessed with that game much more than me and Rails & Sails was added late in our collection. I'm glad to see that someone else agrees though.
@@talhaiqbal6798Exactly, the first time sure but when you’re playing with somewhat experienced players the game shouldn’t take longer than 1,5 hours.
Which (a) is almost never the case as teaching games is common place and (b) is still too long for TTR.
Love the new transitions!
Japan seems like a cool one to play although I would have to reserve judgement until I am able to go out and play with people again.
Nordic looks pretty epic and love the train cards in that one.
My #1
@@Coffeemaker1978 cool. I hope I actually get to play it one day
I have played most of the maps out so far (not played Marklin, Poland, Amsterdam and probably will never play Legendary Asia due to it being 4-6 players and I mostly play Ticket to Ride with 2-3), and here are a few of my favourite and least favourites:
Best:
1) World Map - I love the wrap-around in this map
2) UK - love the technologies, plus being able to use 4:1/3:1 to use cards as wild, always miss that element when playing other maps
3) Switzerland - city-to-country and country-to-country tickets
4) Nordic - I'm biased as a Norwegian, lol, but I also love the tightness of it, you need to grab crucial connections to make your routes happen
5) France - I love the building the map element of this one
Don't have a clear enough idea of where I would rank many of the other maps, there are plenty of middle ones there, so easier to point out the bottom ones.
Worst:
1) Old West - the only map I actually hate, the having to always stay connected bit of it just takes away all freedom and fun, and by the time you reach the area of your destination you might already been unintentionally blocked out. It just sucks all the fun out of the game
2) The single-city maps - It's not that they are bad, but they really aren't for me, it's like getting a single bite when you are hungry for a meal, over before you can get started
3) Europe - I can understand why so many love it, but I really don't like the piggy-back element of the stations. In many ways it has the opposite problems that Old West has for me.
@Brad Rowe it's not so much the map itself that's the problem for me, but the narrow mechanics of always having to stay in network. I get that it "thematically" makes sense, but mechanically it works really badly. It zaps away the strategy of trying to connect things up, because all routes to the city can be gone before you have a chance of reaching that area of the map. So it winds up feeling more luck-based in a way, because unlike every single other map in the series, there was no way you could have prevented that outcome.
Yeah, I can agree with this list. Africa and The Netherlands are the only ones in your top 10 I haven’t played. And UK is indeed the best one for experienced players with those techs.
I don't have Germany, but I do have Märklin. The passenger mechanic in Märklin is very different: you have to turns to run passengers, who pick up destination tokens in the cities they pass through, but only if the token hasn't been picked up already. There is a very strong tension between when to pick up cards, when to build routes, and when to run passengers, since longer runs get you through more cities, but the tokens in those cities might be gone to another player if you wait too long. To my mind, it's the highest tension TTR game, which is great when that's the kind of game I'm looking for. But if I'm looking for a high-tension game, why would I be playing TTR again? 8-)
I like Rails & Sails quite a bit. The mix of land and sea connections is very interesting. UK is quite good, but it requires more commitment than most TTR games, so it doesn't get played a lot. Switzerland is very good when you have three, as is Nordic. I still play a lot of US and Europe, because they're the easiest and fastest, especially for new players.
NB: "Little Pennsylvania" is 90% as large as England* and the coal industry there built one of the biggest railroading areas in the 19th Century US. That and the competition between robber barons there is why it's its own map.
* 90% as large as England makes it the 32nd largest US state, so there is that.
Never got to try Marklin so Germany is the best I can get!
Found Pennsylvania one of the easiest to teach to new players and the shares is a nice addition. India's map was pretty nice and the mandala things were interesting but wouldn't put it high on my list.
Alvin and dexter is fun not every game but once in a while really adds alot and usually brings alot of laughs and frustration
I love Ticket to Ride series, although I have not played all of the maps or versions. I do need to strongly to disagree with you on Rails and Sails. I love it, and the people I’ve taught it, love it. Granted we’ve mostly played The Great Lakes map…maybe that’s the right combo of mechanics etc. Our game group loves Japan map with the shared bullet train concept. I’ve also played the Asia teams, 6 player game, prior to the pandemic, and found it very interesting since some information but not all information can be exchanged with your partner. Europe and Germany also popular with our gaming group. I definately need to try UK map and a map designed for 2 -3 players, like the Nordic map. I am curious about the late 2023 release of Ticket to Ride Lagecy: Legends of the West. Thanks for your fantastic and blunt review!
Appreciate it :D
I know there are a lot of haters out there but Rails and Sails wasn't that bad. Played a friends copy so didn't have to buy it for myself which probably improved my opinion of it. still as many are hating on it, it will probably be one of those you can get at a good discount.
That being said it wouldn't be in my top ten.
Rails and Sails is my favourite version of Ticket to Ride, so it does have some fans. Mom and I always bust it out whenever I go home for a visit :)
I'm surprised by the love for it - 2 hours of random card drawing doesn't work for me.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I know its not many peoples favourites and it is not exactly high in my list but it is the amount of hate this one gets that surprises me.
All TTR games have random draw but this one does have rather a lot. Still thats the good thing about TTR, if you don't like one there are plenty more variations to choose from. Plus I don't think they will be done anytime soon.
We love the France board. We are new to the game and a bit older so we just fill in all the tracks before we start playing. Not so complicated and not so long.
It's fine for those familiar with TTR, I enjoy it but not for new players.
Your #10 is one of my favourites
Top 5
1) Nordic - Love the compact map
2) Legendary Asia - A nice all rounder
3) Pennsylvania - Stocks make an easy additional concept
4) India - For the same reasons you enjoy
5) Europe - Love the balanced starter cards
I’m indifferent to UK, however this may be due to the fact I only play TTR with family and this concept is too difficult for them to grasp.
Dislike
USA - Too much luck on destination drawing, going left to right will rack you a few 6 train routes (15points) and 20+ points per card
Switzerland - Same as above but you can rinse the country to country routes
Netherlands - Map / Concept is ok but the stupid illegible font on the city names makes the game unplayable!
Rails - Just awful
Yes, The east-west routes in USA are where the points are. But once you know that, and realize that they are plentiful, play accordingly. If I don’t have a a major east west route in my initial hand, I’ll draw more tickets on my first or second turn.
that was really helpful! thanks a lot man!
:)
Glad it helped!
TTR UK's technologies is pretty cool and always makes for some interesting games. Another map Iv'e not played all that often. Also has the single highest scoring route in any TTR route which I agree is very tempting indeed, although I have yet to see people actually attempt it.
Agree with all your comments but not necessarily the order, however, I do find that whichever one I played most recently tends to be my "favorite". 😅😊
Husband likes Asia best. Daughter 1 likes Nordic best.
Son likes original best.
Daughter 2 likes Europe best.
I like Switzerland best. Pennsylvania and Old West are next on the list.
Son-in-law likes Europe best.
Africa gathers the most dust on the shelf.
Don't understand the hate on Rails & Sails at all.
Need to add Germany and Asia to my wish list to complete my set!
We have only played a few of these: America (of course), Europe, and UK/Pennsylvania. We kind of like the second chance that the train stations provide in Europe. Being relatively new to the whole TTR world, we have found the UK map unnecessarily complicated. Maybe that will change with time. Good information and we will probably get the Nordic Countries and the Japan/Italy boards next.
Those are solid boards. UK is the more complex of the expansions but it's such good fun and doesn't take that long to get used to.
I am also quite bored with the U.S. version (and I’m from there). The second version I learned was the U.K. and it is easily my favorite as well! I play it online and do not tire of it due to the technology cards and the ability to connect multiple routes to rack up points. The next one that caught my eye was the Nordic Countries, so I will try it based on your review. Thanks so much!
On my Pennsylvania map the route scores are in the bottom left hand corner under Johnstown, above Morgantown-Cumberland. - so that's odd! Must have been a mistake they then rectified in the 2nd print run maybe?!
Very possibly yes.
Such a good list! My favourites by far are Japan and Nordic, followed by India. Seems like I need to check out the UK map! 🙂
You should! But those are 2 great maps also.
Not printing the route scores on Pennsylvania was a weird choice there given there is a length on it that is not in the other games. I think it was the long blue at the bottom of the map that I had to look up online how many points it was worth.
Great list. I enjoyed watching that.
For me, my top 5:
1. Europe
2. U.K.
3. Nordic
4. France
5. Africa
Any chance for an updated video for this and the small box one?
The small box TTRs wouldn't be in my top ten, they are all basically the same game. London is the best of the lot.
Not me sitting here with Rails & Sails being one of my favourites because I got my roommate into TTR with it and despite me having played the game for years before them we're evenly matched every time.
I couldn't get on with Rails - doubling the length and luck really didn't work for me.
someone I know had Marklin so I got to play it. was enjoyable.
Sam Healey loves TTR Marklin, I thought Luke would also have it in his collection
Never seen a physical copy of it, impossible to get hold of for most part.
🤩🤩how do i create custom maps to play online?
Damn, here in Brazil we don’t have these many maps of TtR, but I was expecting to see at least a Europe map in the video haha
Prob my 11
Alvin & Dexter is great! Works on all maps except Old West
Nope not biased: I’m American and Ticket to Ride UK is EASILY the best
The only thing I’d say it has probably the highest learning curve so you should prob start with another expansion first
Only played London, Europe and Pennsylvania so far. I like them all. London is great for a short game.
I like the stock shares in Pennsylvania.
Europe is favourite in our house hold. We play it without the stations though.
Yeah I hate the stations.
I just saw another reviewer who as I understand it, says something similar about Europe with the stations making the game less competitive(and why it's not really high among his favorites), and I wonder if it's possible to just play the game without using the stations to make it more competitive?
Does the Europa 1912 expansion pack make any difference in amping up the game and strategy?
Of course, I ask this as someone who has NOT played the game, or any TTR game for that matter, but I did just get my Europe game delivered(haven't opened it yet), I skipped the original game for now as I have seen so many say Europe is better than the "original" U.S. version, and I just like the look of the map better from the pictures I've seen.
Honestly it's just more for variety.
I just played United Kingdom for the first time. I agree its a great map but I have reservations about the New York route. I feel it should be worth less points or need more technologies to complete it or even eliminate that route all together? We might play the game again with the N.Y. route as it should be played but I think the game might just become a race to be the first person lucky enough to complete the N.Y. route!?
Not really, I've lost games even when I've taken that route because you can spend too long trying to obtain it at the cost of getting tickets and technology point bonuses.
TTR USA is my no 1
TTR India is my no 2
TTR Nordic is no 3
TTR Switzerland is no 4
TTR europe is no 5
Hi..I like the ideas of Nederlands & Pennsylvania .. but do either of those play well w just 2 players? My husband n I played USA (base game) w just us & it wasn't terrible or anything but we felt clearly the game is more fun w more players. Thx
Both are OK with two, but really if you want TTR for 2, then get Nordic, Switzerland/India or the mini-sets.
the uk map was the one i got first after the europe one since you need that to get the trains. and i must say i think i made the right choice cus where the uk changes the game a nice amount so it feels like playing a diffrent game i also love the other map pansilvania cus its really easy for people who need to learn how to play but also has the share mechanic that keeps it more interesting than the base game.
I think i will have to grab the france map at some point cus the building the tracks sounds interesting and i also do like the sound of the japan map though id guess that both of thoses are probs not the best for getting new players into the game
Nope they are not. UK and France are not newbie friendly. You could maybe get away with Japan.
Ticket to Ride UK is my favorite, too! My husband hates it, he can't keep it all straight.
Takes TTR to a new level for gamers.
You are the only person who likes the Netherlands map!
It's a minority I agree!
😊 I do!
is UK out of print in the US...i cant find it anywhere?!?
Maybe, I'd have thought Asmodee US would bring it over?
What are ur opinions on rails and sails
Not played it, but what I hear about it is not enticing. However my brother just bought it for my Dad for his birthday...........so I guess I'll find out eventually!
I bought it a few months ago and haven’t got around to playing it because I can’t convince my family to learn new rules 😂
Cant't find the part 1 video in his channel. Link pls?
th-cam.com/video/tTTjOTcydyE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, this is the best video on Ticket to ride hall of fame, because you give your pros and cons with a real player underground, and a reference to your Dad 😍🤩 : this game is magic because it's also a great family game, not as usual with on one side, adults getting bored or olders playing just to be out of the part, and on the other side, kids having fun. Everybody as fun and compete ! You convinced me to get Japan and U.K.
Anyway, to be honest as you are, I completely disagree with you at the end : Rails and sails completely overwhelms all the other versions. It transferts the player from recreational league to professional league 😜With 3 usual players (the best !), it's 1h15 or 1h30 max, not 2 or 3h as you say. The selling has been low because this box is the most expensive one, that's all ! But it's a based game with 2 more items than the other ones (cards and boats tokens) and two marvelous huge maps. This maps only are the top 1 and the top two of all Ticket to ride maps !!
Concerning Europe, I think it's the more strategical map with just trains. If you think that the "stations adding rule" makes the game wimpy, it's because you didn't succeed to integrate it in your strategy. First, you don't just loose points, but also cards and 90% of the time, it makes you out of the race for the longest road bonus, which is a big deal on this map. So, you do pay the price using this station tokens ! Second, it's a way to risk more tickets and reverse the leading, but you can regret it ... To resume, it's not a wimpy rule, it's just not for wimpy players 😜
Anyway, you're a real player and you wanted other real players thoughts. I did it, I give a big thumb and I do subscribe 👍
Ha ha, glad to hear it, thanks for subbing! And glad you like the video! Though I still dislike Rails to Sails! :P
@@TheBrokenMeeple Well, probably 'cause you get easily seasick 😅 Strange for a UK guy ...😅
Why is asia not on your list....
I'm not a fan of the team mode and normal Asia isn't bad, it's just nothing particularly standout.
have you reviewed your basically wooden ticket to ride box? I just got mine and was curious how you filled yours up.
No, but it's ok. It has its limits particularly with some of the weirder map boards that got released in the late running. But for most of the sets it's decent. But of course, you can wonder whether it's necessary given you then have to lift the thing off the shelf!!
@@TheBrokenMeeple No joke, I wouldn't dream of putting it on top of a Kallax. I would consider either a Box Throne extra wide shelf or just leave it on my Ikea buffet thing (which I can't seem to locate on their website anymore). I think I might have been better off getting 2 of the "smaller" boxes instead of the 1 giant one. Even after removing my card sleeves I'm finding that I'm filling nearly all the card holders but having extra map space. I think it is due to the fact that I have 3 sets of "train" cards in the box (UK, Europe, Germany) as well as 7 colors of plastic trains and extra bags of some colors. If I had split them it might have worked better for all these extra "base" material. The Germany rulebook wouldn't fit so I printed out a copy that would fit. Yes a couple of new maps are a total pain but to bw's credit they have a new map box where they can fit at the bottom but too many weird new maps and I'll be in trouble.
Many people despise swiss map and say it's broken...What's your take on that
I know not a lot like the map, but I think it's fine. I don't see why it's "broken" at all.
Japan is my least favourite map... The bullet train bonus is too large in proportion to the availability of points in other areas (only 20 trains, low point tickets). Plus almost 1/3 of the tickets are completely on the bullet train route, so theoretically you could have completed tickets without playing trains, which is ridiculous to me 🤷♀️
I do agree UK is the best though.
wish someone did a good for 2 player top 5 etc
I'm new to the TIcket to Ride franchise and would like to purchase one and although I greatly appreciate the list I'm left with a serious question. Can we play the game by just purchasing for example the UK version? When they are called "expansions" there is usually a base game I would wonder. Do I need to get a base set before purchasing an expansion? Thanks a lot.
Most are just map pack expansions, they usually stipulate if they are standalone. Those include USA, Europe, Nordic Countries and Germany.
Thank you for the intel. I've just bought the European version yesterday, looking to expand to the UK next, and this is not a Brexit joke. The review was top-notch, thanks a lot.
Heart of Africa was nice but not one I would want to play often.
I do really like France.
I like the France map also.
Ticket to ride 1910 (not the mega game or the big cities) but actually the 35 card 1910 set is by far the best ticket to ride, although Japan may give it a run for the money. Most other ticket to ride add too much complicated mechanics and slow the game down. I like fast unpredictable ticket to ride. That is why Usa will never get boring because it is not about discovering routes, it is about executing your plan with imperfect information.
It's a great expansion but its not a map pack in itself.
😃
One of my friends is card hoarder... maybe I should buy Africa and watch the world burn :D
Love the UK map with one caveat... playing with three players (as all my games are), the technology that gives you an extra card per draw is too powerful - there are just 2 available, the first two players grab them and the remaining player essentially cannot win the game. Two players having 50% more 'income' for the whole game leaves the third player just making up the numbers with little chance of victory.
Hmmm haven't seen that myself, I don't even always grab it. Extra cards are only useful if they are the colours you need as you can only trade them in so fast.
@@TheBrokenMeeple It's completely broken. The advanced game is literally just the first 2 players buy Water Tenders, then it's between those 2 players who will win every time as drawing an extra card is just a ridiculous advantage when you get it from the start, while the other 2 players have to play the next 30 minutes in a game they can never win. Water Tenders should cost at least 4 locomotives, it's far more powerful than the technologies that do, and there needs to be some opportunity cost where you actually have stunt your game plan to get it, even then I wouldn't be surprised if it's still too powerful.
Pretty sure Alan Moon said the advanced version wasn't even tested, and it shows with that technology. UK is fine, but I would never play with the advanced technologies, I'd go as far to say the map is unplayable with advanced technologies in play.
Rails and Sails are the best, but I agree, persons with ADHD shouldn´t even try to play it. Legendary Aisia and Europe are also not really your thing - I mean you need to know some geography :(
Why is switzerland on this list plz
Coz I like it! ;-)
My list:
None of them 🙃
Oooooh harsh!! ;-) And I always thought you were the nice one! :P
I have never known africa got trains and railways.. i thought is elephants and camels carriages