Game: Ticket To Ride: New York
Designer: Alan R. Moon
Published: Days of Wonder
Players: 2-4 players
Playtime: 10-15 Minutes
Play Type: Set Collection, Route Building
Synopsis:
Picture this, you have landed in the 1960’s in New York city. There are many different sites to see, like the Empire State Building, Central Park, China Town and Times Square. Your goal is to race around and see as many of the sites as possible, completing destination tickets along the way. Take in the sights, race through busy street and enjoy both familiar and different game play in Ticket to Ride: New York.
Game Play:
Ticket to Ride: New York will feel familiar to players familiar with other titles in the series. The concept and end goal are very much the same as the other games: score tickets and connect train routes. There are a few changes however to game play.
During set up, players will place the board in the center of the table. Then they will hand each player two colored transportation cards. The remainder of the transportation cards will be placed above the board to create the transportation market. From that deck, players will place five transportation cards face up. If three of the five cards are rainbow taxi cards, players discard the five and draw five new cards. Once the market is set, players will deal two destination cards to each player. The players will then look at these cards and select at least one card to keep. Any discarded cards go to the bottom of the destination deck, which is then placed by the board. That concludes set up.
During a player’s turn, they have three options: draw transportation cards, draw destination cards, or claim a route:
- When players draw transportation cards they draw from either the face up market or the deck. Players have the option to draw two cards in any combination (one from the deck, one from the market; two from the market; two from the deck) with the exception of if they take a rainbow taxi from the face up market. If a taxi is selected, players may only take that card. This does not apply to cards drawn blindly from the deck.
- Drawing destination cards is the second option. Players take two cards from the destination deck. They may choose to either keep one or both of these cards.
- Claiming a route is the final option. Players will play a number of corresponding transportation cards to the route they are claiming. They then place their taxis along that route. In two player games, a player may only claim one side of a double route. In three to four player games, players may claim both sides of a double route.
Turns continue like this until one person has two or fewer trains in their possession. At this point, each person takes one more turn. Scoring works similarly to other Ticket to Ride Games, with the exception that there is not a tracker on the board. Instead players will make use of a score pad.
While scoring players will first look at the routes claimed. Players will reference the scoring chart in the bottom left hand of the board, and give points based on how many taxis are in each of their routes. Then players display their destination cards and add up the points the receive for successfully completing destinations. If a player failed to complete a destination card, they will then subtract the number of any destination cards they did not complete. Finally, players will score one point for each route connected to a Penny (1) symbol on the board. After this, players will find the sum of the three rows. The winner is the person with the most points.
Components:
In Ticket to Ride: New York, gone are the trains that are iconic of the series, in their place are little taxi cabs. With the exception of the change from trains to taxis, players who have played a TTR game should feel familiar with the components in Ticket to Ride: New York. The cards display a vibrant art style, with a variety of buses, RVs and taxis illustrated on the cards. The cards and routes in this game each display a unique and distinct symbol that corresponds with their color. This ensures that the game remains accessible to people who are colorblind.
Overview:
Positives:
- Appropriate for Families
- High Quality Components
- Quick
- Easy to Teach
- Colorblind Accessible
- Tension Between Players
Negatives:
- Not as Portable as Other Microgames
- Target Exclusive
Ticket to Ride: New York will provide a great experience to those who enjoy the series, short filler games or games with quick decision making. This game was appealing, because it is very simple, and could be taught in under fives minutes, yet provided strategy that experienced gamers will enjoy. There is tension between players, despite a lack of direct player interaction. Every turn will matter, due to the short nature of game play. If a player makes a wrong move in this game, it can really make the difference between winning and not winning, as every player may only get 8-10 turns before the game ends.
With that tension in mind, Ticket to Ride: New York is still a family friendly game, that would be a good choice for parents trying to introduce children to board gaming. The short nature of the game may appeal to younger children who do not enjoy sitting still long enough for a full game of Ticket to Ride. The game will also appeal to players looking to get a game in during their lunch break, or looking to play a short filler game while waiting for other players during a game day. The only problem some may find that the box is still somewhat large for a filler game, so it is not as easily transported as some other filler games may be.
If you enjoy any of the Ticket to Ride games, Catan, Small World, Pandemic, Takenoko, Kingdom Builder or Sushi Go! I would highly suggest checking out Ticket to Ride: New York. It provides streamlined game play, with underlying tension between players without being overly complex or difficult to learn. If you are looking to add this to your collection it will be available in July, and in the United States it will be a Target Exclusive.
The Meeple Street 