How to Play Ticket to Ride

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I am using the original Ticket To Ride map which happens to be the USA. In this example I will show how to play as if there were 5 players.

by Seth Urquhart

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Step 1 of 37

Place your board anywhere.

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Choose one of five colors; Blue, Green, Red, Yellow or black. Place all scoring markers in space next to the '100' on the board. These will keep track of some of your points throughout the game.

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Grab the same color of trains(45 total trains for each color). These will be placed on the board to designate the routes you have taken.

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Shuffle the train cards and deal a starting hand of 4 cards to each player. Place 5 train cards face up along the board and the remaining cards are set next to these cards as a draw pile.

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Train cards are used throughout the game to claim routes you'll need to finish Destination Tickets.

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Place longest path at edge of map. These 10 points will be awarded to the player with the longest consecutive trains.

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Shuffle the Destination Ticket cards and deal 3 to each player.

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You have to keep at least 2 Destination Ticket cards, but can keep all 3 if you choose. The number on the card is possible points at the end if they are completed.

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If these tickets are not completed by the end of the game they will count against you. So grab Destination Tickets conservatively.

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Completed Tickets are only scored at game end so do not announce upon completion of your routes. This adds a bit of mystery to the game and makes for a thrilling game of blind competition.

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Place remaining Destination Tickets below Train Cards. These will be your two different draw piles to draw from throughout the game.

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Object of the game: Score the most points. Points are scored by: 1. Claiming a route between two adjacent cities on the map 2. Completing your destination tickets. 3. Completing longest path bonus.

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Most experienced player goes first. You can do one of three things during your turn. 1. Draw Train Cards 2. Claim a Route 3. Draw Destination Tickets

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Drawing Train Cards: You may draw 2 train cards with one exception.

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He may take one of the face-up cards or...

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...draw the top card from the deck (this is a blind draw).

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If you draws a face up card, you immediately turn over a replacement card face-up from the deck.

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Then you draw your second card, either from the face up cards or from the top of the deck.

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Exception of 2 card draw: If you choose to draw a locomotive from one of the five face - up card, you may only draw that card instead of two cards.

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If at any time, three of the five face-up cards are locomotives, all five cards are immediately discarded and five new ones are turned face-up to replace them.

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Claim a Route: To claim a route you must play a set of cards equal to the number of spaces in the route. (In this case 4 orange train cards are needed to claim this route).

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Routes that are gray colored can be claimed by any set of train cards that are the same color and equal the number of spaces in their routes. ( 2 red, 2 blue, 2 orange, etc... Could claim these).

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You will notice that some routes have double spaces with different colors. This allows two different players to use the same route. *Note: This rule only applies to games with 4 or more players.

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You then are rewarded points based on the length of the rout you claimed. 1=1, 2=2, 3=4, 4=7, 5=10, 6=15.

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DON'T FORGET TO MOVE YOUR SCORE MARKER. It makes for a quicker scoring at the end of the game.

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Draw Destination Tickets: Draw 3 tickets from the Destination Ticket draw pile.

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You must keep at least one, or two or all three if you choose. If there are less than three cards left you draw the rest of the cards left. The cards you don't keep are put at the bottom of the deck.

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Destination cards and Train cards are kept secret throughout the game. Destination tickets are revealed at the end of the game to add or take away points based on if the my were completed or not.

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The game ends when any player at the end of their turn has either; 2, 1, or 0 trains left. Everyone gets one last turn including the player who ended the game.

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Points for routes completed should already be accounts for, but if its a close score you may wish to re-count.

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Now you reveal your tickets and add or subtract based on completed an in completed train routes.

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Next the player withe the longest continuous path, is awarded 10 extra points.

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In case of a tie the player with the most train cards left is the winner. If there is still a tie the player with the longest continuous path between the two wins. If its a tie still then it's a tie.

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Where to buy? I recommend the Internet. Some bookstores will sell it but you can find it at least $10 cheaper online including shipping. The game is a must have for the family board collection.

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Still confused? Here is the original rule book to clear things up: http://cdn0.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/img/tt_rules_en.pdf

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