Since Kevin and Isaac have expressed interest in Ticket To Ride, I though I would start a thread about RR board games. I will try to post a Microsoft Publisher file of my TTR NY state board tomorrow. Here a question to get conversation going: What is your favorite TTR board (besides the original, because that is arguably the best)?
Mine is the United Kingdom.
For Ticket To Ride, I prefer the original United States board with the 1910 card expansion package.
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For Empire Builder, I prefer the Mayfair Games 2004 edition shown here that includes Southern Canada and Northern Mexico on the map.
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-Kevin
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Railroad Rush Hour by Thinkfun:
A fun, hands-on logic game involving problem solving…
Tom
Train related board game don’t interest me at all, but I enjoyed the computer game Railroad Tycoon for a while years back when I was single. I enjoyed a lot of computer games back then. In fact that’s how I met my British wife, but don’t play them much anymore. The game I met her on was an MMORPG that shut down about a year ago I found out. CoffeeMuse was my main character.
You guys are going down a dangerous pathway with me here…
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I am a complete fanatic for board games. In a Koo-Koo-For-Cocoa-Puffs kind of way. I meet up with my boad gaming groups every chance I get.
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I have never mentioned my cardboard addiction on these forums because it is so non-related to the train hobby… but here we are.
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-Kevin
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I used to have Avalon Hill’s Rail Baron.
Sold it on eBay some years ago for a good price, probably should have kept it.
I have played Ticket To Ride and found it enjoyable.
But I generally play the 1830 family of games with 1830 being my favorite.
Rails of New England is also a good game.
Rail Baron is a fun game when playing with people who aren’t into playing games alot.
I played the PC game Railroad Tycoon game when it first came out. While I enjoy the graphics it’s more of a management game which is too much like work.
Paul
Taking a real chance of my own, here. Way back in the mid-50s I loved to play a board game that had railroad routes across America, likely with plenty of intermediate connections. Fell right in line with my budding interest in geography. Learned about the existence of a whole plié of cities I’d never heard of before - Spokane was one of my frequent stops. As I recall, players would race each other across the country by rolling dice, etc. The Lower 48 were all outlined. Routes were laid across the face of the country and cities were located by small circles on those routes, kind of like what we know of today as “radio buttons”. Have long since lost track of the name of that game but would sure like to have someone jog my memory!
John
Well, hello, I think I just came up with it - courtesy of eBay. It was “Across the Continent”, a Parker Bros. game. Nostalgia is nice, but not if it costs me $42! I’ll buy a small bulk pack of Kadees instead.
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Back in Middle School my circle of nerdy friends were deeply into an Avalon Hill board game called Magic Realm.
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I decided I wanted a copy of it for nostalgia, and had the same reaction you did. A few packs of Kadee trucks seemed like a better purchase.
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-Kevin
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Kevin- I have seen Empire Builder, but have not played it. It looks very interesting. I once tried to make a similar game.
Tom- Rush Hour Railroad was one of the first games I got, It’s really fun and frustrating.
Kevin(again)- You’re welcome for the excuse to talk about games.
KenK- That game was a bit before my time, but it sure looks fun! That was back before RR’s controlled their logos. The TTR Pennslvania had to use fake logos for the railroads…
Paul- Rails Of New England looks fun! I was thinking of doing a TTR map of the area.
On another note, the only computer games I have played are Train Simulator(bogs down the computer) and paper train.
In 1969 Avalon Hill released a game called C&O/B&O. To simplify, it’s a dispatching simulation done as a board game: keep your passenger trains (quite a few) on time as they wind their way across a large board (route map) while being interrupted by random freights, floods, signal failures, accidents, etc. There are lots of pieces to keep track of, and random bottlenecks arise due to the aforementioned freight traffic, etc. So one needs to keep in mind the location of, and likely arrival time at, sidings, possible detour routes, etc. Routes, train names and schedules are actually from C&O and B&O of the time. The Board Game Geek website has photos and other information about the game. Plentiful copies are on eeek-bay.
Here is the final board and destination cards for TTR NY state. To print, download the board PDF from my google drive, and open it in Adobe Reader or similar program. set scaling to actual size, and set page size to poster. It should print on 8 sheets.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3-DWh6PMhgpeVdQUTNtaXdNeExSS3F3Y3VUeTY5dnRGTWhv/view?usp=sharing
To print the destination tickets, it’s just a regular sheet, and there should be 9 sheets.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OtwOBd-zx0cpEXvF6pQ5y7uelaZJ-xx1/view?usp=sharing
If you like ticket to ride, please print, play, and give feedback.
SpringStreet- that game reminds me so much of the D&H dispatching system, I am going to have to get it sometime.
Harrison, how many people are in your normal game group? Are they friends, foes, or family? I prefer to board game with well-natured foes, but my family is serious and cut-throat about board gaming, so that is insane fun too.
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I find TTR works best with four players. That opens up the parallel routes, but it does not cause congestion to force one player into a losing situation early.
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-Kevin
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I usually play with my family(3 or 4 players) or my friends (4-5 players). My NY board is a 4-player max, due to it’s size. We are pretty much casual gamers, but I do try to win, and will block my friends, but not my family, because then they won’t play with me. [:-^]
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Oh I wish you could play with my family… we are so mean to each other in board games… I mean REALLY MEAN!
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If you are going to play with family, I would strongly suggest a game called “Formula-D”. It is a formula car themed “calculated risk taking” type of game.
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It come with two sets of instructions. We never use the advanced rules, the basic rules are just too much fun.
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You can’t do anything mean to another player (well, not much), so there are rarely any hurt feelings. A game only takes about 10 minutes, so it is a great choice for ending game night. I have NEVER won a game of Formula-D with four or more players. I take too many risks.
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-Kevin
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I used to play Dispatcher by Avalon Hill. I got it when I was a teenager, and gave it to a local gaming shop a couple of years ago when I moved. It had been in the attic for a long time, along with my other Avalon Hill games. I hope somebody enjoys it.
The best Ticket to Ride expansion in my opinion is the UK-Pennsylvania map pack. The UK map is a bit of a slog due to trying to add a RTS-like Tech Tree to the game; but the Pennsylvania wins hands down as the best addition to the game. Pennsylvania brings a stock collecting mechanic based on the real railroads in the area. I.E. building a certain route can allow you a choice of Pennsylvania Railroad or New York Central stock. At the end of the game, the majority holder of one stock company gets extra points, while the smaller holders get a few extra points themselves. Its a simple but surprisingly effective mechanic.
The 1910 card deck is a fun expansion for the original game, and I honestly haven’t played the original USA map without the 1910 deck in a long time because the 1910 deck is such an essential addition to the game. The other packs I have played are the France-Western USA dual pack and the Heart of Africa one; France is a fine map and the Western USA has a few mechanics in building to really mimic that Transcontinental Railroad type expansion. The France-Western USA pack also includes a new player color, white trains. The Africa one has a weird balance to its route layout, and I am not much of a fan of that pack.
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Yes, the Pennsylvania map and rules mods are very good.
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My least favorite expansion is Marklin. I have never played Africa.
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-Kevin
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Ticket to Ride is OK, but I got burned out playing the app on my phone. Then when they changed the AI where there is no longer a focus on completing actual routes, I pretty much stopped playing it. My favorite railroad board game is by far Empire Builder. Rail Baron is also fun. Double Crossing plays more like a traditional board game, and is one my kids enjoy playing with me. Express (card game) is enjoyable too, and similar to another non-train card game, but I can’t put my finger on which one. As for computer, my favorite railroad game will probably always be Railroad Tycoon II. Still play that with some regularity. Sid Meier’s Railroads is fun, even if not as challenging. Railroad pioneer had potential, but is glitchy. Bounty Train has a fun twist to it. Train Fever would be great if it had gameplay other than sandbox. Some objectives and challenges would be nice. Railway Empire is decent, but I still prefer the RRT2 design better. Waiting for Railroad Corporation to go on sale for a decent price. God I love train games.