Ticket to Ride

Game Mechanics

Ticket to Ride included three different mechanics, card drafting, hand management, and route/network building.

What each student needed to do draw colored cards, lay down enough to build a route between two cities, and ultimately connect distant cities across the United States.

Critical Thinking

• Analysis (study the board and pieces)
• Being able to collect similar colored cards.
• Being able to recognize cities on the map of the United States.

Synthesis (understand the rules and how to play)

• Collecting enough cards to create a route between two cities gains you points.
• Fulfilling a long route between two distant cities per a Destination Card gains you points.

Evaluation (learn how to win)

• Building longer routes between cities gains you more points.
• Fulfilling more Destination Cards will put you in a position to win the game.

Geography and History

• The board on which the students played is the United States in the early 20th century, when rail and steam engines were the chief transportation system.
• Ride a steam train in the Santa Cruz Mountains
• Wikipedia listing on steam locomotives
• Documentary on the Golden Age of Steam Engines.

Some topics you can explore with your son/daughter:

• Looking at a map of the United States in Ticket to Ride, which city had the most connections going in and out?
• Why is it harder to build routes across the north than the south?
• Who do the small plastic trains represent in real life? Do you or your company own those tracks?

Resources and Links

• Board Game Geek - You'll find there's lots of expansions for Ticket to Ride, including train routes in Europe, Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavia.
• Pictures - During the class I had a slideshow set up to show pictures from Board Game Geek of the different boards people had made for places, including just California, Iowa, Mars, and Thomas the Train!
• Online - The company that produces the game, Days of Wonder, has very good online version that lets you play against people around the world.