Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails

The maker says Rails & Sails takes players on a railroad adventure across the entire globe, from Los Angeles to Sydney and from Murmansk to Dar Es Salaam. Players collect cards of two types, trains and ships, to claim railway and sea routes on a double-sided board with the world map on one side and the Great Lakes of North America on the other. The designer, Alan R. Moon, writes on the maker's page that since the planet is about 70% water, adding ships to a world map seemed natural, and that he added double ship cards to accommodate the longer sea routes and placed all the wild cards in the train deck to balance them. He adds that the rules let players choose their own mix of ships and trains at the start.

At the table, the maker lists the game for two to five players, ages 10 and up, with a playing time of 90 to 120 minutes. The box holds one double-sided game board, 165 colored train cars (33 each in blue, red, green, yellow and black), 250 colored ships (50 in each color), 140 travel cards (80 train cards and 60 ship cards), 120 destination ticket cards (65 for the World, 55 for the Great Lakes), 15 harbors and 5 scoring markers. The maker offers rulebooks in several languages, with separate rulebooks for the World and the Great Lakes boards. The English rulebook for the World map deals each player 3 Train cards and 7 Ship cards, and 5 tickets of which at least 3 are kept. Each player receives 25 trains, 50 ships and 3 harbors, then secretly chooses an assortment of 60 pieces to keep in supply and reveals it simultaneously with the others; first-time groups are advised to start with 20 trains and 40 ships. On a turn a player does one of five things: takes Travel cards, claims a route, draws four tickets and keeps at least one, builds a harbor, or exchanges pieces, which costs one point per piece. A harbor needs two Train cards and two Ship cards of one color with harbor symbols, and scores 20, 30 or 40 points depending on completed tickets into that city, but costs 4 points if left unbuilt. The game ends once a player's supply holds six pieces or fewer, after which everyone takes two more turns. The rulebook states that, unlike other games in the series, there is no bonus for Longest Route or Most Completed Tickets. It credits Alan R. Moon for the design, Julien Delval for the illustrations and Cyrille Daujean for the graphic design.

It suits railfans and families who already know Ticket to Ride and want a longer game on a world map, with players aged 10 and up as the maker lists it. Younger children or a shorter evening point to a different edition.

Ticket to Ride (Days of Wonder, the edition already in this catalogue) is shorter, at 30 to 60 minutes.

Image: Ravensburger · source

Ravensburger Railway Station 60-Piece Children's Puzzle

Ravensburger · Budget

A 60-piece children's jigsaw puzzle from Ravensburger on a railway station theme, recommended by the publisher for age 4 and up.

Why railfans pick itCheck price on Amazon (affiliate link, opens Amazon in a new tab)

Image: Days of Wonder · source

Ticket to Ride

Days of Wonder · Mid-range

A cross-country train adventure in which players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities across North America.

Why railfans pick itCheck price on Amazon (affiliate link, opens Amazon in a new tab)

Image: Days of Wonder / Asmodee · source

Ticket to Ride: First Journey (Europe map)

Days of Wonder · Mid-range

The Europe-map edition of Days of Wonder's children's version of Ticket to Ride is a route-building board game for two to four players aged six and up, with playing times of 15 to 30 minutes.

Why railfans pick itCheck price on Amazon (affiliate link, opens Amazon in a new tab)